Re-Emergence

I'm sure many of you have been wondering if I'd ever write a new blog post. I have to admit, I've been wondering that too! It seems like life took on... well... a life of its own. Pulling up stakes on the mainland, moving to an island, building a house, moving in, and getting re-settled all took up an incredible amount time and energy (not to mention the impact of the pandemic on these activities). I didn't stop making art but it was at a fraction of my usual output. Now, just over a year after my building project was completed, life has finally shifted into a more "normal" pattern. I feel like I have emerged from a haze of unsettled busy-ness and can now take a deep breath, smell the air, listen to the birds, and concentrate my thoughts on art making.

I have just spent a number of blissful weeks getting back into the type of routine I enjoy most, and it includes a block of creative time in my studio each day. It's my favourite way to roll and the results have been most satisfying! I have been able to focus on some of the inspirational moments I've been storing away in my mind, nursing them, cogitating, and planning what I would do with these ideas when the opportunity arose.

Like the day I was able to observe a pair of violet-green swallows scoping out a nest site in an arbutus tree. The couple flitted and chattered and clearly seemed to be quite taken with a hollow knot in the tree trunk...

Or the time I was eye-to-eye with a great horned owl (I think a juvenile) who seemed just as interested in observing me as I was in her/him...

Or the delightful few weeks when a Pacific-slope flycatcher couple decided to build a nest and rear a family on the light fixture over my studio door...

Flycatchers had chosen this same site a couple of years earlier (I wrote about them in a 2021 blog post), and I was thrilled to welcome them back. They would whistle companionably to me as I tip-toed past so as not to disturb them more than necessary. I particularly enjoyed watching them pose on the old horse skull that adorns a tree stump outside my studio. When the babies fledged and flew away into the wide world, I felt a mixture of regret that I'd no longer be greeted by the familiar whistle and relief that I could stop sneaking around!

These new artworks plus a few more have come together for a solo exhibition at a local gallery-café here on Mayne Island. I call the exhibition "Feather & Bone" in deference to the flycatchers' liking for the horse skull. It feels good to have been working in the studio and to be able share these new pieces in combination with some other works that aptly fit the theme. 

If you're on Mayne Island during the show dates, be sure to visit Shavasana Art Gallery & Cafe to see my latest work. If you miss the show, my studio is open to visitors year round (check my website for details). As I re-emerge into the world of art-making after a distracting few years, I look forward to spending more quality time in my art studio and sharing the outcomes with you!

Please note that the afternoon concert scheduled for Friday, September 8 has been cancelled.

Road trip!

There's nothing like a few days away - particularly when glorious spring weather is combined with a destination like Vancouver Island. Last week I unexpectedly made just such a trip. The reason for my trip was to assist a friend in need but I felt I also benefited from taking myself out of the studio for a breather.

There are places on this planet that seem to nurture us simply by being there, and I find Vancouver Island to be one of them. Even from on board the ferry, one gets the sense of moving into a different place of beauty and serenity.

Behind my friend's home in the quaint town of Port Alberni is a network of trails where walkers and cyclists enjoy the quiet of the forest with its moss laden trees, beaver ponds, carpets of ferns, and, at the moment, an abundance of my favourite spring flowers: trilliums. Roxy, my cocker spaniel buddy whom I blogged about last year (see Portrait of a Best Friend), is staying with me while her family is away travelling. Both she and my old collie Riley accompanied me on this trip, and the three of us enjoyed meandering through these serene trails on several occasions. Apparently black bears and cougars are common visitors to the area, but the only bear we saw on this trip was one that galloped lickity-split across the highway in front of my car, and we did not have any up-close-and-personal encounters with large wild animals while on foot.


Roxy enjoying a walk in the forest.

On the journey home, we paused at Cathedral Grove - a truly magical place. Just steps from the main road, ancient, moss shrouded, old-growth trees tower above some of the biggest, most lush trilliums I've ever seen. Birds flitted about, including delightful Winter Wrens shouting their spring songs from tree stump podiums, and a gorgeous Varied Thrush that paused briefly on a branch. Kestrels called from the tree-tops and an unseen tree frog added an amphibian song. This place is soothing to the soul.

A massive trillium sprouting from the base of a giant tree

A Varied Thrush on a mossy branch

 

Can you spot the tiny Winter Wren?

Before heading to the ferry terminal, we made a diversion to the town of Crofton to call on another friend. We took the dogs for a stroll on the sea-walk at Crofton Bay where I was hoping I'd see one of my favourite bird species, the Pacific Oyster Catcher. What I did see was this plump otter happily munching on a large fish on the beach just a stone's throw from where we stood. A beautiful pair of Mergansers rested nearby, also observing the feasting otter.

Seafood lunch in Crofton Bay

Merganser couple

 

A silk painting of mine featuring an Oyster Catcher

Back on the mainland I made one last stop. In the trees growing against some bluffs near the ferry terminal is a heron rookery. The trees were dotted with the shapes of Great Blue Herons flapping to and fro or standing guard over their nests. Spending a few moments observing this natural wonder was a fitting conclusion to my trip.



And now I'm back in my studio, feeling refreshed, renewed and ready for the tasks at hand.