One on One with Markus - Elizabeth Creith

When Elizabeth Creith met her current husband David, she says one of the things she loved about him is how kind he was to a squirrel he found.

The couple met in southern Ontario. She met him through The Society for Creative Anachronism.

"He found a baby squirrel on the sill," she said.

"He took the squirrel in and he fed it and he would take it class with him in his shirt and one day it hopped out and ran away and he let it go."

Creith crew up in southern Ontario and attended the University of Toronto to study fine arts.

"I've always wanted to be an artist, a visual artist. I can't remember when I didn't draw" she said.

Coming north

"My mom says … that when we moved into the house in Oakville, we were so broke that the only paper that there was for me to draw on was yesterday's newspaper and that's what I did."

Eventually, she and David wanted to purchase a home but couldn't afford to in southern Ontario. The couple made their way north and settled in Wharncliffe, north of Thessalon.

"I love rural life," she said.

"There are people who say, how can you stand the isolation? It takes a special kind of person to live where we live."

Creith, an author and artist, also does farming. She learned to spin wool and decided she wanted her own sheep. They got sheep and had them on their property for about 10 years.

"Eventually, we did have to get out of it," she said.

"There are predators up where we are. I chased a bear out of the mudroom the year we didn't have a dog."

Sharing her work

Her sheep became a national topic of conversation. Creith has been featured on CBC Radio as a columnist and was the Shepherd in Residence on Richardson's Roundup, a national program that used to be broadcast weekdays on CBC Radio.

"That was such a big thrill and it's still a thrill," she said. "I haven't been on CBC for probably over 15 years and there are still people who say to me 'I remember you from Richardson's Roundup.'"

She says she wrote a letter about her sheep about every month and it was featured on the program for about 15 months. She eventually compiled those stories into a book.

Creith says writing and art have always been a part of her life and always will be.

"It's as though art is like a disease in the blood," she said. "I can't not do it. I'm edgy and cranky and awful if I don't do art. And now I have to do art every day."