Many of today’s art galleries are designed with relaxation in mind. Subdued lighting, comfortable seating, peaceful surroundings, and beautiful artwork make a gallery visit pleasant and worthwhile. All these features are also characteristic of a gallery of sorts at the home of Walter and Bertha Frankoski in Nanaimo.

The walls in this home are covered, from floor to ceiling in some rooms, with the couple’s artwork. Sculptures and vases rest on pedestals, shelves, the custom-carved fireplace that Wally made from local wood, and even the kitchen counter. Sculptures on the lawn and trees, fountains shaped from stone, paintings on every wall - their entire property is a showcase of their creativity. Bert and Wally have created an artistic haven for themselves in a semi-rural setting, but also close to family and amenities. The journey to this place has been colourful and busy.

It started in Saskatoon, where their eight daughters were born and raised. Wally worked in various jobs over the years; Bertha kept busy with the family and spent six years working as a real estate agent. When they finally retired to Summerland, B.C., Wally devoted more of his time to his creative efforts, which include landscape artistry, gardening, sculpting, stonework, woodwork, painting, sewing and inventing. Bertha harvested and marketed the produce from their two-acre property, maintained the books and kept track of the family’s activities.

This was a period of amazing creative activity. The Frankoskis’ park-like gardens were the site of photo sessions and weddings. Art shows, charity events, and marketing of Wally’s work earned them a certain measure of fame in the area. When they chose to relocate to Vancouver Island, Wally was commissioned to create a centrepiece for the city: a sculpture of a mermaid holding a basket of flowers, inscribed with the words “Fruit of the Earth.” The sculpture is made of wire and concrete, a medium Wally still uses. “I always pursued art, even as a child going to school,” says Wally.

A self-taught artist who claims El Greco as one of his influences, Wally always held other jobs while their family was growing up. Art was a hobby. In the last six years, however, since moving to the Island, he has spent 14-hour days in his workshop carving stone, treating wood for his own picture frames, painting and sculpting.

Wally uses local wood and stone for much of his work. “I can look at something and see the piece of artwork in it before I even start,” he says of the creative process.

Many of the woodworking and stoneworking tools Wally uses he designed and built himself out of parts of other machinery. “I have to watch what he goes out of the house carrying,” says Bert, with a grin. His workshop is an amazing testament to the power of recycling. An old floor polisher made into a stone grinder/drill combination, a fluorescent light casing, and a converted potters’ wheel are some of the dozens of reclaimed items that have become part of Wally’s inventions.
Many of Wally’s paintings have non-traditional shapes, for which Wally stretches the canvases. He prepares his own distinctive frames.
“I wanted to set myself apart from other artists,” he says. “My paintings can’t be reproduced in print form and put in factory-made frames. So, I make my own frames that complement the paintings in texture and shape.”
Wally emphasizes that his work is one-of-a-kind. He is a meticulous artist, drawing everything out in pencil before setting it in oil. Many of Wally’s paintings are inspired by the vistas of Guayabitos, Mexico, where the couple spends two months every year.

Gardening is another passion manifested on a smaller scale than in earlier years. Nowadays, Wally looks after a garden on a rock wall he built himself, situated near a pond that he also built. The pond includes a concrete fountain sculpture with a carved stone centrepiece that rotates - like all of his works, a Walter Frankoski original. He has designed and built many ponds on the properties they have owned over the years.

Bertha came to art later in life. Fed up with being an art widow, hearing about paint and painting all day from Wally, she was surprised one day when he gave her a paintbrush, canvas and paint, and said, “Here. Paint.”

“I didn’t even know I could do it until I tried,” says Bert of an art career she started in her 50s. She specializes in realistic acrylic paintings of natural settings, some on canvas, some miniatures done on wood that Wally prepares for her.

Bertha’s other great interest is the computer. She recently upgraded her chip downloader so she could get higher-resolution images from her camera. She keeps track of the clan via Facebook, and is an avid surfer of the Internet. She recently connected electronically with a long-lost cousin, whom she encouraged to take up painting in her 50s, as she did. “You never know what you can do,” she says.

These self-taught artists celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and their 78th birthdays in 2011. Their work is on display at West Coast Classic Floral Design in Nanaimo and online at www.frankoskiart.com

JANUARY 2012 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER ISLAND