Full time artist, part time gypsy

And so the journey continues…

With a grateful nod to the gods of fortune, the internet and a couple of good friends in particular, I end up here, on Mayne Island. While it wasn’t in the ‘what to do next’ plans, it feels so right that it certainly can’t be wrong. I landed four weeks ago (…already?!!) and I feel quite happily settled in. I know where (most of) the light switches are, I know which blinds to lower at what time of day depending on the sun; I watch with interest as the barn that I see from the kitchen windows changes stance and hue depending on the time of day and I have unpacked the essentials from my studio in order to continue the work that I started at the Ranger Station. A long sentence, a long breath, and an elongated state of being in motion. Of not quite settling down. I can hear my family laughing from all the way out here…like I ever had any intention of being in one place for too long…

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been shown the best swimming spot on the island

the best hikes and walks

and was escorted on water, through the straight to Galliano and Salt Spring Islands by friend and motorboat

and as good timing would have it, was invited on a stunning 58′ bullnose schooner built thirty five years ago to help unravel the rigging. I stayed on deck offering my quiet support , adept ability to get out of the way and to toss over a rope when required

and to finish a few paintings that were started in August and begin a few new ones for the Vancouver commercial gallery I will now be represented by (more on that soon)

and to take in the limitless sky of stars, soak in the quiet syncopated only by the sound of the ferry horn, loudly munching deer and a very occasional car whizzing by on the road a hundred feet away. The new experience of having to vacuum up a hoard of queenless wasps that were piling themselves into a corner of the skylight, making preparation to hibernate right there above the kitchen table, and escorting them in the vacuum bag up the street at dusk to the blackberry bushes with the hope that my relocation services would be both appreciated and effective was not a chore but a charm. Three times a charm, in fact.

The island fog rolls in and I roll on, new plans and goals unfolding. I feel particularly lucky to be right here in this most beautiful place, surrounded, if not geographically but certainly emotionally, by the some of the most wonderful people there are. Thank you, thank you, thank you.