This version of the Loo was a watercolour, painted 1978. Sold as reproductions and the one that made this work so famous , twenty by thirty inches and is in the collection of Brian Herchenrader.There are two dark blotches on this painting in the upper right hand corner. I had just finished this painting and Stew Seegmiller a close friend while viewing the completed painting slapped me on the shoulder in congratulations. I had a beer in my hand and two spots of beer landed on the painting. I didn't remove them but rather just let them dry and they too have become part of this iconic image.
The Waterloo Hotel which still stands at the corner of Erb and King Street in downtown Waterloo has because of its age seen many transformations and will continue to do so as the edifice outlives its tenants. The hotel in the days I frequented it was a popular watering hole for Wilfrid Laurier students during the late sixties and seventies. "The Loo" a basement bar was the place to be in those days. If you wanted to find a friend or know what was going on this was the place to find out. It was called "the Loo" but its namesake was established when two patrons, Pat Hoy and Jane Longo took it upon themselves to paint simply above the doorway the name that it is still remembered and revered by today. It is no longer a pub although it had a brief couple of years revival when John Turvey tried to ressurect it but that charm it once had has receded into the past.
When I was sitting in a lawn chair on the corner doing some of the study drawings for what would become the painting in 1977 the proprietors Kerry Long and Stan Huston thought I was counting traffic. They were quite surprised to learn that I was in fact doing a painting of "the Loo." This side doorway at night with slightly damp pavement says everything about the building and the comraderie that was enjoyed behind those glass brick windows. Perhaps some day in the future when we have vehicles that can drive themselves and their occupants home without the occupants need to drive them the day of the small pubs, city and country will be revived. They were wonderful carefree days.
This version of the Loo was a watercolour, painted 1978. Sold as reproductions and the one that made this work so famous , twenty by thirty inches and is in the collection of Brian Herchenrader.There are two dark blotches on this painting in the upper right hand corner. I had just finished this painting and Stew Seegmiller a close friend while viewing the completed painting slapped me on the shoulder in congratulations. I had a beer in my hand and two spots of beer landed on the painting. I didn't remove them but rather just let them dry and they too have become part of this iconic image.
The Waterloo Hotel which still stands at the corner of Erb and King Street in downtown Waterloo has because of its age seen many transformations and will continue to do so as the edifice outlives its tenants. The hotel in the days I frequented it was a popular watering hole for Wilfrid Laurier students during the late sixties and seventies. "The Loo" a basement bar was the place to be in those days. If you wanted to find a friend or know what was going on this was the place to find out. It was called "the Loo" but its namesake was established when two patrons, Pat Hoy and Jane Longo took it upon themselves to paint simply above the doorway the name that it is still remembered and revered by today. It is no longer a pub although it had a brief couple of years revival when John Turvey tried to ressurect it but that charm it once had has receded into the past.
When I was sitting in a lawn chair on the corner doing some of the study drawings for what would become the painting in 1977 the proprietors Kerry Long and Stan Huston thought I was counting traffic. They were quite surprised to learn that I was in fact doing a painting of "the Loo." This side doorway at night with slightly damp pavement says everything about the building and the comraderie that was enjoyed behind those glass brick windows. Perhaps some day in the future when we have vehicles that can drive themselves and their occupants home without the occupants need to drive them the day of the small pubs, city and country will be revived. They were wonderful carefree days.