Canvas to the Imagination

Boris and I were in need of a short getaway from the city and after exploring our options we settled on a weekend trip to Galiano. I’ve always wanted to visit Galiano Island but it’s taken me almost six years of living in Vancouver before I could get around to going. We took transit to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen on Friday morning and caught the 10am ferry direct to the island. Boris’ friend Christian Nally met us on the other side, with a welcoming smile and a car he would end up lending us for the weekend.

Our first stop was lunch at the Flying Black Dog, a small food caravan serving freshly made delicious food which we sat in the sunshine to devour. Christian suggested a hike up Mount Galiano as our next activity, since the weather was good and we had time to kill before checking into the B&B. So off we went through mossy cedar forest along overgrown trails that wound up and up to the very top with a magnificent view of the surrounding Gulf Islands. We saw many birds up there, small ones in the trees and large ravens and an eagle riding the wind above. Not far from the bottom of the trail is the original cemetery with gravestones dating back to the mid-eighteen hundreds. The cemetery has a lovely view out over the water and not far off was a small island covered in a colony of seals basking in the late afternoon sun.

The Bed and Breakfast we stayed in, Sands of Morning Beach, was a lovely spot to wake up to. The front of the house looks out onto Morning Beach and the morning light shining on the water was just stunning. The owners of the B & B have multiple feeders set up in the trees to feed a multitude of birds so the view is also filled with non-stop bird watching. I saw at least five or six hummingbirds zooming around at high speed, plus goldfinches, crows, sparrows, juncos, chickadees, and many more I’m not sure what to identify as. On the inside of the house there is a pet Senegal Parrot named Mango, and two energetic small dogs named Howie and Pogo.

Saturday we spent our day driving around the island exploring whatever we came across. Galiano Island Books is one stop in town I highly recommend. They have an excellent selection of books, and one very demanding cat that commands customers for attention with a loud yowl. My favorite part of the day was having a picnic in sunny Spotlight Cove, with me exploring the tide pools looking for tiny crab while Boris sat on a log reading a book.

I also enjoyed our stop at Stone World, a fantastic Bodega Ridge landscape of standing stones and ritually decorated rocks created by stone carver Steve Ocsko. His wife Barbara gave us a tour of the indoor studio explaining the evolution of Steve’s carving work, which led to a fascinating and inspiring conversation about geology, art, and using the internet. Along with the stone sculptures the studio had many lovely found natural objects, such as a wasp’s nest, a hummingbird nest, the largest barnacle shell I’ve ever seen, and much more. It was a fascinating visit and Boris and I really hit it off with Barbara. Stone World seems to have an odd reputation with locals, or at least that’s the impression I have from talking to people. Lots of people know of it but have strange ideas because of the standing stones, and so they haven’t visited themselves. Our friends were surprised when we told them about our visit and what we found there (nothing weird, that is).

Our hosts for the weekend, Christian and Martine, invited us for dinner with friends at their place on Saturday evening. It was a cozy time spent laughing, talking, eating and playing games. Martine runs a catering business on Galiano and as you can imagine, she makes delicious food. Part of the meal was a dish of lentils cooked with bacon, which is something I’d be happy to revisit again since I love both lentils and bacon. Boris was hijacked by Lili, Martine’s six year old daughter, shortly after our arrival and she had him bouncing around on the trampoline which was fun to watch.

Our final day on Galiano was a rainy one, but we went out exploring anyway. A walk around Morning Beach with Howie the dog revealed interesting formations in the sandstone and a large water-carved cave to take shelter in when the rain came down hard. There were tiny gardens of succulent plants on the top of large boulders which were very colourful and beautiful. Our last stop before departing the island was a drive on Bodega Beach Road which led to a hike down a slug covered trail and then to a view overlooking the Strait of Georgia with rainy Vancouver across the way.

It was a lovely weekend away, and much needed for Boris and I. We managed to cover a lot of ground on our short trip, but I’d be happy to go again and see more.

Ariane is in San Francisco this week, and last night her tweet about Alamo Square had me revisiting my photos on Flickr taken in SF on a trip there a few years ago. The trip down memory lane reminded me of these shots taken in the deYoung Museum of three sculptures by Ruth Asawa.

She’s a San Francisco based artist best known for her sculptures created by crocheting or tying wire. The work is delicate and beautiful, and captures organic forms that remind me of micro-organisms or seedpods. Ruth is also a painter and has numerous large scale public art installations located around San Francisco.

I’m really glad to have this reminder of her because it’s very much in line with the more craft oriented work I’m interested in at the moment. It’s also the perfect inspiration for a thread-based piece I keep wanting to experiment with.

Visit Ruth Asawa’s website for more information about her work.

It’s hard to write about Artfest a week after my return. Things just don’t feel as fresh in my mind, and it wasn’t the transformational experience for me that it seems to have been for lots of people that have attended over the years. I think the reason why is because I feel very in touch with my art and have found ways to keep myself working on projects in a consistent way. I am also lucky enough to be part of a group of very creative friends who help me stay inspired and challenged.

I like traveling on my own because I am much more relaxed about meeting and talking to new people. I stayed in a dorm room with three other women – Michelle from Texas, Jamie from Atlanta, and Cathy from Edmonton. I also met Emily from Portland during dinner on the first evening and she was lovely to hang out with as well. There were nice people in all the workshops I took, but I tend to get so focused on what I’m working on I don’t talk very much in class.

My first workshop was Portable Shadowbox Shrines with Laurie Mika. She showed us how to create mixed media mosaic tiles from polymer clay (sculpy) using rubber stamps, acrylic paint, mica powders, and other random objects. Laurie had everyone raring to get started as she did her demo at the start of class because she made it look so easy. By the end of class everyone had a stunningly beautiful finished shadowbox shrine. I could barely take my eyes off my own.

The finished shrine with all of the little random objects I brought with me to use. The whole thing is finger painted rather than brush painted.

The little orange bird, key, metal stars, and other objects are all things I picked up at Ruby Dog over the years.

My workshop on the second day was Mystery Play Inside with Theo Ellsworth, a wonderful artist Boris and I came across when we were in Portland last July. I was excited to take a workshop with him because I really like his work, and admire his ability to recreate his own inner world through drawings. Theo provided everyone with a person-shaped piece of thick paper and did three different drawing exercises throughout the day to get us to “loosen up” our drawing skills. I found it difficult to sit and draw all day because I am more of a doodler these days, and it’s not my strongest ability.

The photo above are Theo’s examples to share with the class. The photo below are of Theo’s desk papers that he uses to test things on when drawing. These eventually become drawings of their own.

On the third and last day of class I took a metal working workshop with Richard Salley to make a Formfolded Copper Box. I loved playing with the metal, pounding it with hammers and folding into shapes. The lid of my box was much more bumpy and organic looking than everyone else’s work, and it made it difficult to attach to the hinge in the end. I was reminded of how much I hate soldering, but by the end of class I was much better at it.

Examples of copper boxes by Richard Salley to get us inspired.

My box with the crazy bumpy lid. I wasn’t happy with it when I finished but it has grown on me since then.