The Group of Seven is probably the most famous Canadian artists. Best known for their landscape paintings, there are few portraits that have become Canadian national icons, including Frederick Varley's Vera (1930). Perhaps the most treasured of all Canadian portraits, this mysterious woman's rendering arouses our curiosity through her captivating eyes and shy smile. It reappears in many of Varley's paintings and in photographs by John Vanderpant and later Harold Mortimer Lamb. The muse of many famous Canadian artists, her value as an artist is often underestimated. Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art, Vera Olivia Weatherbie was an accomplished painter in her own right, regarded as such more now than during her lifetime. She was born in 1909 in Vancouver and attended Brittania Secondary School. She grew up in the Strathcona neighborhood near Chinatown in Vancouver's east end. Her parents were strict and conservative Presbyterians, but she somehow managed to convince them to let her attend the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (VSDAA) at the young age of 16. In her second year, Vera became one of Varley's drawing students. . The two grew closer over the years, but it wasn't until their graduate years at VSDAA that their relationship flourished. As a “shy and beautiful” young woman who “moved with a grace” similar to that of a Japanese tea party, Molly Bobak Lamb points out that it was easy for men to become infatuated with Vera. The success of Varley's Vera paintings as a Willingdon Prize winner, a collector's piece at the National Gallery of Canada, and ultimately praised with her creation on a postage stamp only confirms Molly's suggestion of Vera's enchanting abilities. Her painting... middle of paper ...thus, like Varley's 1930 Vera, remains a mystery, a forgotten artist, best known for her work as muse, model and wife. We often wonder what kind of work she would have done if she had remained solely focused on her art like the famous Emily CarrWorks CitedAmos, Robert. Harold Mortimer Lamb: the art lover. Victoria, BC: TouchWood Editions, 2013. Print.Tuele, Nicholas. Female Artists of British Columbia, 1885-1985: An Exhibition. Victoria, BC, Canada: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985. Print.Michael Clark. “Vera Weatherbie: Vancouver Artist,” Visions in the Making: The Official Publication of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. 2 (September 1995). Vancouver Art Gallery. “True Olivia Weatherbie: Artist Biography.” Vancouver Art Gallery. 2006. http://projects.vanartgallery.bc.ca/publications/75years/pdf/Weatherbie_Vera_55.pdf