Mary Pratt's friend remembers how the Canadian painter found beauty everywhere

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Canadian painter Mary Pratt looked at mundane, household objects and made them appealing to the everyday Canadian, Emma Butler said. 

"She made us see the inside of our homes and the domestic part of our lives as beautiful," Butler, Pratt's longtime friend and gallerist, told As It Happens guest host Matt Galloway. 

Pratt died at her home Tuesday evening in St. John's. She was 83.

• Mary Pratt, famed Canadian painter, dead at 83

The Fredericton-born painter, who spent much of her life in Newfoundland, is known for her distinct style of realism. She painted items she saw around her, such as her famous painting of four jars of jelly that seemed to glow from within. 

Butler, who owns Emma Butler Gallery in St. John's — where many of Pratt's paintings were first shown — spoke with Galloway about her friend's legacy.

Here is part of their conversation. 

I'm sorry for your loss.

Oh thank you, Matt. It's way more than my loss. It's a loss to the whole country. Very, very sad day I'm afraid.

How are you remembering Mary Pratt today?

She had her own imagery that was so easily recognizable. People know her work. People would come into our gallery and right away say, "Oh that's Mary Pratt. Look, that's a Mary Pratt."

But for me today, I'm spending more time thinking about the woman, because I just admired the way Mary Pratt lived her life.

I think if you've seen her paintings, you will recognize them. And you've said this as well. But for people who don't know her art, describe that imagery.

Well, you know, it's not as easy as that really, because people think of ... how she made us see the inside of our homes and the domestic part of our lives as beautiful.

Because of her, a dinner table with everybody gone holds a beauty. An unmade bed holds a beauty. Jars filled with jelly, fish on a plate, fruit on a plate.

All of a sudden and forever these images now have a beauty that they didn't have before Mary Pratt painted them.

She played a big role for you and helping you open your first gallery. This is an amazing story. What's the story behind this?

I used to work at CBC, so every now and then I would have to interview her and [her husband] Christopher and never dreaming that I'd be opening an art gallery and be their dealer.

But when I did try to do that and had to go to the bank to ask for a fair amount of money, and of course they wouldn't give it to me because the bank was saying. "How many paintings do you expect to sell?"

So Mary Pratt was one of the artists who wrote to the bank, and I still have that letter, and said that she believed that, you know, this would be a successful venture and she vowed to keep me supplied with her images.

What did it mean ... for her to say that? To say that that she would stand by you?

Oh well, she's like that, though.

When she was called up, she was there like a dog with a bone.

And of course we have [The Rooms], which is an art gallery, archives and museum, because of Mary Pratt. I can say that without reservation. Because of Mary Pratt.

She thought it was time for us to have it. She got hold to the politicians who could make it happen. And she didn't let go until we had it.

How do you think she has changed how we see beauty in our lives?

She's changed it by assuring us that you don't have to look far. It's everywhere. It's under your nose.

Knowing her work as well as you do, is there a painting that you'll look at in the days ahead to remind yourself of her and who she meant to you?

There is one.

I also represent her daughter Barbara, and there's a picture of Barbara in her wedding dress done by her mother. That's very powerful and very special to me.

Mary Pratt was beloved here and everywhere. Everywhere. People came from all over to visit her.

Just as a friend, what was she like to talk to?

Very forthright. She would talk about anything and everything. And she was elegant, you know.

Written by Sarah Jackson with files from CBC Newfoundland. Produced by Kevin Robertson. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.