Ann Mitchell’s life can be described as novelistic or possibly “movieistic,” should such a word exist.
Her Yorkshire childhood could be drawn from a book by Catherine Cookson. The marriage, motherhood and work years are a portrait of a lady with a twist of the movies Shirley Valentine and Enchanted April to the tale. Now in her golden years, Ann is writing her own script according to the motto she lives by: We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails.
She was born Ann Helliwell two years before the Second World War in Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax in West Yorkshire. On the Helliwell’s street, Monday was laundry day, the front step was scoured every week (sometimes this was Ann’s job) and the weekly bath was taken in a tin tub before a coal fire. Home at the back of the family shop was the gathering place for family and friends. An only child, Ann never lacked for companions, growing up surrounded by aunts, uncles and many cousins.
Ann became engaged to her childhood sweetheart on her 19th birthday, on Ilkley Moor. A popular location for courtship, the moor inspired the folksong, and unofficial Yorkshire anthem, “On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at” (On Ilkley Moor Without a Hat) the story of a doomed romance involving worms and ducks.
The newlyweds set up in “a charming cottage in a village just outside Oxford,” as Ann remembers. With the addition of a daughter and a son, life was complete.
The Mitchell family’s move to Canada came in 1967. Though “it was hard to leave friends, family and home, that’s what you did in those days.”
Life resumed its even keel as the family put down roots in West Vancouver. Ann co-ordinated the school district’s special education program and served on the West Vancouver Community Arts Council in the days when Harmony Arts Festival was getting started.
All stories come to an end and another begins. For Ann, a chapter of her life closed when her marriage ended.
“I took myself on a voyage back to my childhood, staying with aunts and cousins and old school friends in Yorkshire. Visiting art galleries and art shows with them reminded me that I used to be an artist.”
As Ann’s new life took shape, she began to ask herself, “What would mum say?” One day, her mother’s voice said, “Yes, go!” And off went Ann to France to travel, look at art and to make some art of her own with Paul and Babette Deggan at their artists’ retreat in the Auvergne.
One of the most valuable experiences contributing to her self-restoration, Ann says, was writing her life story. In “The Journey of My Life,” Ann wrote about her family and life at home in Yorkshire, the years of teaching and living in West Vancouver with her own family and about the new life she was creating.
These healing journeys helped restore herself to herself. For Ann, this meant learning how to “go back and reclaim the person we used to be.”
After retirement, Ann continued with the school district as artist in residence in West Vancouver’s elementary schools. She developed a thriving tutoring business to the point where young teachers were recruited to help, and best of all, Ann was painting and selling her work.
This new life includes a home in North Vancouver, purpose-built, thanks to her daughter and son-in-law who operate a contracting company, with the plan that Ann can age in place in her new neighbourhood.
“I’ve learned to stand alone. I’ve learned to love my women friends who are always there for me through thick and thin. I spend as much time as possible with my children and grandchildren.”
These words from an artist, educator and storyteller with a talent for making and keeping friends, represent a life fulfilled.
Ann continues to work as a tutor, enjoys her regular writing and painting groups, and finds time to create paintings for her biannual sale. Working in oil, acrylic and watercolour, she particularly enjoys painting landscapes and bold florals.
Ann Mitchell’s art in the garden sale is on June 4 and 5, from 1 to 5 p.m., at 642 East Fifth St., North Vancouver.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. 778-279-2275 [email protected]
