Ocean
We had a day trip to Vancouver to see the exhibition “Interface” the woven work of Jaad Kuujus at the Bill Reid Gallery We also went to the Vancouver Art Gallery for the exhibit How do you carry the land? - by artists Ayumi Goto and Peter Morin
Vancouver skyline in the early morning, approaching Horse Shoe Bay.
Skyline of Vancouver as we are leaving with the sunset reflected into the sky.
The image above is a panorama, the railing really isn’t contorted. Going home into the sunset.
We had a wonderful 12 days on the west coast staying at the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet, BC. We ate a few meals at Howler's Family Restaurant and Amusements where I photographed the sign "Life is Short - Break the Rules". The next two images with trees are view from our balcony, a sunset image and rainy day image, which has flames from our fire place reflected in the window. Interesting seaweed clusters on the beach again this year like last year. Collected some interesting seaweeds and debris. The ocean-worn beverage can echoes the look of the mussel shell. I got a nice little collection of shells and was lucky to find half of an abalone shell - fully intact. The last picture shows the snow at the top of Sutton Pass on our drive home, this pass is half way between Ucluelet and Port Alberni. It was a great holiday, laid back - I miss it already. I always feel so connected and immersed in Nature when I am at Long Beach.
We were so busy while at Bamfield moving from one activity to another that there really wasn't much time for doing art. I managed to get the following sketches done. I have tons of photos for ideas.
Click on this link to see a more detail version of this trip, sketches and sketch books.
Quick pencil sketch of a Copper Rock Fish from the Aquarium in The Rix Centre. I painted the background later at home using a techinque that Mark Hobson demonstrated for us.
Quick Sketches from the invertebrate tank in the Whale Lab
Pressed seaweeds
Pressed seaweeds
Algal Art
We had a really good lecture on seaweeds by the Bamfield Marince Sciences Centre Public Education Coordinator Anne Stewart. Anne's team had gathered dozens of examples of seaweed for us to look at which were displayed in water-filled glass dishes. Anne described how to make "Algal Art": select pieces of seaweed, lay those on top of a piece of wet paper that has a fibre content that is low in acidity and high in absorbency. Lay this in a press to dry flat. Heavy duty wax paper was laid over top of the piece and then placed between many sheets of newspaper, j-cloths and cardboard. This takes several days to dry.
