Lynda Henderson started painting 17 years ago and for that same amount of time she has been selling her paintings.
Now retired, she sells many of her works down at Ambleside on weekends to help supplement her income.
That’s why she’s holding out hope that 12 of her paintings that were stolen from her car over the Canada Day long weekend will turn up.
“I sell my paintings down at Ambleside at the beach. My car was loaded with paintings and I locked my car but I left my window open a bit, so I think they just stuck their hand in and opened the car,” Henderson said.
The West Vancouver resident said the value of the paintings is around $1,500.
She had been selling her paintings down at the beach Saturday, July 1, before returning to her home on the 400 block of Sundance Crescent just west of the Lions Gate Bridge.
Henderson intended to go back to Ambleside the following day and decided to leave her paintings in her car overnight instead of lugging dozens of her paintings, which were contained in a basket and bag, back indoors.
“I get up and I jumped in my car, I think I’m loaded, I’ve got my dog, I’ve got all my stuff – I get to the beach and I start unloading and I go, ‘Where’s my basket? Oh no. Where’s my bag?’” she said.
Henderson said the 12 paintings were gone.
“They didn’t take my really big ones, which I’m really grateful for. But it was still $1,500 worth of art, which is a lot of work on my part,” she said.
Jeff Palmer, spokesman for the West Vancouver police, said the department is hoping the public can be on the lookout if they see anyone – other than Henderson – trying to sell her paintings.
“At this point the investigation hasn’t identified a suspect, but we’re just hopeful that if somebody takes note of the images of the paintings and notices somebody trying to sell them, that would certainly be information that might be helpful to our investigators,” Palmer said.
Painting has been an important part of Henderson’s life for almost two decades.
She explained that in 1999 she was honoured in a First Nation naming ceremony and was told that her life was about to change.
Henderson, who has indigenous heritage, discovered that change in her life would be painting, especially after a friend kept badgering her to give it a try.
“She’s bugging me saying, ‘I think you’re an artist. Come on, let’s go get you some paints,’” she said. “I’ve been painting ever since.”
Henderson is an active participant in Painters’ Landing in West Vancouver, a Ferry Building Gallery program that invites a limited number of artists to work, exhibit, and sell their artwork on the grassy areas near the gallery at Ambleside Landing and at Millennium Park.
She said her fellow artists in the Painters’ Landing program were dismayed at the news that 12 of her paintings had been stolen.
“We all know each other very well. They all know I lost my paintings,” she said. “They were devastated too, they felt really bad.”
However, whether or not she gets her paintings back, Henderson said she’ll continue exhibiting and trying to sell her paintings down at Ambleside week after week.
“It helps supplement my income. I’m retired, but if I can make a little bit on the side it’s wonderful,” she said. “I’ll be going again on the weekend.”
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call West Vancouver Police Department Const. Melissa Major at 604-925-7300.
