Jennifer Marguerite Stowell

STOWELL _ Jennifer Marguerite RCA (nee Sturgess) Born December 11, 1919 in Tossac, Pyrenees, France and died December 13, 2006 in Vancouver, two days after a wonderful celebration of her 87th birthday. Jennifer is survived by her only child Georgina (Geordie), daughter-in-law Petra VanderLey, her brother Richard and many nieces and nephews and their families. She was predeceased by her husband Keith (1988), sister Sydney Morse (1999), niece Melanie (2005), and beloved brother Robert (2005). Jennifer had a career as a freelance artist and illustrator spanning more than 70 years. Her career began in England as a book illustrator before being interrupted by World War II and her work with Hawker Aircraft Ltd. building Hurricanes and Spitfires during the war. She emigrated to Canada from London England in 1948, beginning her new life in Montreal and resuming her artistic career, before continuing to Toronto and then Vancouver. She was the Fashion Illustrator for Holt Renfrew, Lily Simon Boutiques, Mary Rose, Simpsons, Ron Leal, the Lida Baday Collection as well as illustrating for Flare, Style, and Applied Arts magazines. Her prodigious and eclectic talent produced a wide variety of artworks from illustrations, portraits, cartoons, murals, etchings, textiles, sculpture and paintings to taking her talents to the theatre, acting and creating stage sets and costumes. She also wrote and illustrated articles for Toronto Life Fashion, Homemakers, Globe and Mail and En Route magazine. Her work is included in the collections of the McCord Museum, Seneca College, the Canadian Film Centre, and the C.A.P.I.C. Archives, as well as in private collections nationally and abroad. She was proud to have her original 1948 Dior sketch used as the ad promotion for the Royal Ontario Museum's 50th Anniversary Christian Dior Celebration and in 1996 she received the Fashion Illustrator Award from the Montreal Gazette, and the Arts Directors Club of Toronto recognized her with their Award in 1977, 1978, 1983. She was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in the category of Fashion Illustration in 2004. Jennifer had an unrelenting curiosity and zest for life which she shared with family and countless friends, young and old, worldwide. She will be remembered as a woman, muse and friend of incredible talent with the wisdom of the very old soul that she always was. Although proud of her work and of the associated awards and recognition that came from it, her greatest strength was her incredible spirit and passion for life that she shared with all those who came into contact with her. She was a powerful beacon in the lives of many and the loss of her illumination saddens us all. She will be greatly missed but the memory of her wicked wit and contagious laughter will carry us through this darkness. Celebrations of her life are planned for early next year in both Vancouver and Toronto for friends and family - in lieu of flowers, Jennifer wished donations to be made to Amnesty International in her name.