A passionate woman

Gimli woman loved her husband George, her art and her garden

By: Janine LeGal

Known as the Sky Lady, artist Suzanne Louise Barrow’s vibrant lifelike sky paintings filled rooms, walls and hearts.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Barrow grew up in East Kildonan. In 1990 she met George through mutual friends and he quickly became the love of her life. The two became inseparable and dedicated to each other in every way to the very end.

Barrow died on Jan. 20 at age 73 from lung cancer, with George by her side, at the Gimli Community Health Centre. The Interlake had become home to the couple when she decided it was the perfect place to go when they retired. The lifelong business analyst for MTS wanted to follow her dream and paint.

While George was her first love, her art came in a close second. She found her calling for painting early on and was especially known for painting sky scenes and prairie landscapes in oil, watercolour and acrylic.

She also created works of art in clay and soapstone and occasionally enjoyed doing abstract paintings. Her pieces can be found across Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and as far away as South Africa, Iceland and Australia.

And in the place she loved most, it was common for Barrow to catch the attention of visitors from Winnipeg and other surrounding cities and towns. During the pandemic she decided to set herself up on her deck in Gimli and start working on a giant canvas to bring beauty and joy to people during an especially challenging time.

The giant skyscape became one of her most famous paintings. What began as a demonstration on the deck so others could feel good while out and about, turned into exactly that and more: opportunities for people to come by, visit and chat. And Barrow enjoyed every minute of it. She took it seriously and did everything she could to make people comfortable and welcome, including putting out refreshments.

“She used to love doing that, sitting outside and painting at the Barrow house home studio,” said her nephew, Randy Heiland. “If the banner was out, she was open, and George was always so supportive.”

She became a local fixture in the community, getting involved with the Gimli Art Club, the Wave Interlake Artist Studio Tour, helping with classes and showing her own work in her home studio.

Visitors to Barrow House Studio would often ask, “Did one artist really do all these?”

Barrow wanted any donations made in her honour to go to the kids art programs at Hidden Treasures Studio in Gimli, a special place she loved to stop in to visit and donate art supplies.

Heiland now looks after his Uncle George, making the hour-and-a-half trip to visit him two or three times a week. It’s what his Aunt Suzanne would have wanted and he’s happy to help look after family.

“Suzanne and I were following up on paperwork. Around Christmas, she was having a hard time breathing. We took her to the hospital on Jan. 16 and on the 20th she was gone. It’s still a huge shock. George has dementia and lives at the Gimli hospital,” Heiland explained, adding that George is now 90 and can’t be left alone.

Remembering his aunt, he recalled her passion for adventure and travel.

“She did a couple of backpack trips. She was my artsy fartsy hippie aunt,” he said with a chuckle.

And when it came to the dynamic between his aunt and his uncle — well, their closeness had an impact on everyone around them.

“They had a love for each other, they were always together. They did everything together. They took lots of trips and lots of walks. For the last 10 or 15 years she doted on George,” Heiland said, explaining that George moved to Canada from Manchester, England after his first wife had died, also from cancer.

“With Suzanne, I think the big thing is how she devoted a lot of time to whatever cause she was working on — volunteering for the cancer walk, painting the Gimli seawall, she was 100 per cent focused on the task at hand. If she felt she was right, she was sticking to her guns: she could get feisty. It was amazing. She got a lot done.”

One of Barrow’s initiatives was to get work from art clubs displayed on the hospital walls, which continues to be appreciated by staff, residents and visitors. Showcasing local artists, the paintings are for sale and help beautify what would otherwise be viewed as sterile and unpleasant spaces.

“Even with dementia, George would walk down the halls, stop and look at the artwork and say, ‘That’s my wife’s painting,’” said Heiland, who is currently sifting through about 300 pieces of art at the Barrow house. He plans to have people from the art club go through them and eventually donate some to their memorial wall.

Gwen Dyck maintained a close friendship with Barrow for 55 years and still recalls meeting her through a mutual friend.

“She worked with a friend at MTS and was invited to join us for a girls’ night and brought another friend along. All of us are still friends today. She and I just seemed to mesh. Even though we had different experiences and opinions, we just became and stayed friends. Our husbands also became friends and the four of us spent a lot of time together,” Dyck said.

“She was a mentor to anyone who wanted to learn about art and painting. The art club and art community were very important to her, and she loved the friendships she made there. She had three passions in life: her husband George, her art and her gardening. She really enjoyed spending time with both her family and her friends, both the ones that she made in her childhood and the new ones as they came into her life over the years.”

For eight months after her brother’s death Barrow didn’t paint, but when she started again, she created one of her most meaningful canvases. In one of Barrow’s online videos, the artist shared what painting meant to her.

“I paint from the heart. It’s a passion. Sometimes it’s very touching to me and that’s why I paint. It helps me get through life.”

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca