Arnold Lim recalls the days when noted Greater Victoria artist Ted Harrison would come into his restaurant, Korean Gardens, for dinner with his son.
The two were fast friends, to the point where Harrison donated a framed print of one of his colourful paintings as a wedding gift to Lim and his wife 10 years ago.
While that piece of artwork sadly was destroyed later in a flood, Black Press freelancer and former staffer Lim has been gifted another Harrison print. This time it's a donation to help his fundraising efforts as a media rider on the 2013 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock.
"That's pretty exciting for me," says Lim, who leaves for Port Alice this weekend to start the tour with his fellow media and police riders. "He's just a really special guy and part of the fabric of the community in Victoria."
The print of "Land and Sea," a 1989 work by Harrison, was donated by a Black Press staffer and framed professionally by Prestige Picture Framing Etc., located two doors away from Harrison's former gallery space on Oak Bay Avenue.
Online auction bids for the beautifully finished artwork are being accepted at vicnews.com/contests. Bid deadline is Oct. 4.
If you'd like to donate otherwise to Lim's Tour de Rock fundraising efforts, or any other rider, visit tourderock.ca and follow the links.