Helen Marguerite Haszard (1890-1970) was born in Charlottetown. She received her first art lessons from the Catholic sisters and grew up to be an independent, self-supporting artist. At the age of 12, while convalescing from pneumonia, she began studying art at Notre Dame Convent. Her passion for painting and outdoor sketching became the driving force of her life. She studied art in Boston from 1912 to 1913 and later, in Ontario, under a renowned art teacher named J. W. Beatty. During the 1920s and 1930s, Haszard kept a studio and taught painting in Toronto. But from June to September she would return to Cavendish to paint, sell her work, and gather art commissions for the winter. Her watercolour scenes of Prince Edward Island were popular with both Islanders and tourists alike. The influence of the Group of Seven and J. W. Beatty can be seen in Haszard’s strong sense of composition and design, and the vivid use of colour. In fact, it was this use of colour that cost her the job of illustrator for her friend L.M. Montgomery’s books. The publisher claimed her sunsets were unreal and the colour of the Island soil untrue.

North Rustico is a coastal town located on the northern shore of Prince Edward Island, in Queens County. It’s located next to the Prince Edward Island National Park.