megram - Index

megram - 55JulGTA - Index

overload work for Cartier’s in the early days of his career in the
U.K. As a motorbike aficionado, he is past president of the
BMW Motorcycle Club of Ottawa.
Eric is also a photographer with a keen eye for detail — the
work of Faberge always attracts, intrigues and amazes him.
An artist who learned to draw as a form of communication,
he cherishes his copy of
Cellini, with illustrations by Salvador
Dali.
A teen when rock ’n’ roll was
born, his favourite tunes —
Elgar’s Cello Concerto and John
Lennon’s Imagine — reflect
an eclectic taste.
Eric explains his diverse
interests by saying,“I like anything
that is design-wise
interesting, historically interesting,
and technically intriguing.”
Upon completion of a fiveyear
apprenticeship and after three
years as a journeyman goldsmith in
London, England, Eric opened his own
store and workshop. Located in Henley-on-
Thames, he closed the shop in late 1976 and moved
to Ottawa to become a business partner in a jewellery manufacturing
company.
It is Eric who restored the candelabra and “Freedom
Caskets” given to Sir Wilfred Laurier — now located in Laurier
House — by the cities of London and Bristol, England.
From 1979 to 1982 he taught “Techniques of Precious
Metals and the Fabrication of Jewellery” at Algonquin College.
Eric Brackenbury does not just accept opportunities, he
creates them.And his appreciation for the limitless possibilities
of computer technology is a case-in-point.
“I’ve been playing with computers since my old Amiga
nearly 20 years ago,” he adds.
A PC for graphics work, Linux for the Internet, and a network
of printers assist him with his jewellery design business
and the artwork both he and Christine produce.
Eric balks at being confined by traditional definitions,
especially of age. Indeed, he refuses to allow age to dictate
what he should be doing or how he ought to be doing it.
“Age never came into it and age has never come into it
with me,” says Eric.
He keeps fit throughout the year with the assistance of
personal trainer Marshal Page. He has the physical ability to
keep going, to keep pursuing his interests, and so he does.
“I’ve always had an idea of what I wanted to do next,”says
a confident Eric.
In the early 1980s for example, when oil prices were soaring,
Eric added a south-facing room on the back of their home
July/August 2008 • 14 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
in Carp, now on the western-most fringe of Ottawa. It was a
solar energy project.
“This is another life-long thing for Eric — saving energy,finding
alternative ways of doing things, doing as much as you can
with what you have,” explains Christine.
The Brackenbury’s live modestly but largely.
They are engaged in living. They support
each other’s interests; rejoice in each
other’s successes.
A youthful perspective permeates
every area of Eric’s life. One
could say that it defines him.
“It was my husband’s 97year-old
grandmother who
challenged my perspective
on aging when she said that
she still felt the same on the
inside as she did at the age of
18 — it was only when she
looked in the mirror that she
saw an old person,” says Myra,
when reminiscing about her friend.
“Over the nearly 30 years I have
known Eric he has always been, and continues
to be, filled with the enthusiasm, interest,
energy, curiosity, humour, drive and daring of the
‘internal 18-year-old’ — only now the 18-year-old is fortified
and mellowed with life experience.A great combination.”
In 2007, Eric not only challenged himself to go whitewater
rafting with young guests from the U.K., he also went zip-lining
in the Gatineaus.
This summer Eric is on the road with his BMW GS1150
and a group of motorbiking buddies. They are riding to the
Galliano Islands in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia,then to
the east side of the Rocky Mountains near San Francisco.When
all is said and done, Eric estimates that they will have driven
14,000 to 15,000 kilometres.
“I’m not just one of those old guys trying to re-capture my
youth,” he says.“I’ve been motorcycling my whole life.”
In fact, he bought his first motorcycle — an NSU Quickly
— for £5 when he was only 15. Betting that his youngest son
couldn’t get it working, his father told him that he could only
have the motorbike if he could repair it himself.Within three
weeks, Eric had stripped it, had it running and was riding it.
Before long he was fully engaged in traditional European
trail riding.
“There is a tremendous sense of freedom on a motorbike,”
he says.
Lately, Eric has been exploring another aspect of his creative
personality. He is working on his own art exhibition and
sale. It will be hung at the Almonte Municipal Offices in
September and the Almonte Library in October.The show will
be a collection of his photographs, printed on canvas, and