Happy 2008!

It's New Year's Day , 4 degrees Celsius and raining on North Vancouver Island. My last blog was in September and since then I've taught two workshops in October, the first at Hills Helth Ranch at 108 Mile in the Cariboo and the next one at Moorecroft Camp in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island. For three weeks in November my wife, Ann and I took our first trip to Hawaii on Maui. We both loved it! I took a small set of watercolours with me and I sketched on most days. The included pencil sketch is one of many I did on the beach just minutes from our suite in a private home. Look for some Hawaii paintings on our website this spring.

I have a 93 year old mom who lives a day's drive from here and has suffered ill health during 2007. We,ve spent a lot of time with her and had to forego time from art. Moms are one of a kind and it's payback time.

We are going to make some big changes in Henschel Fine Arts this year. Probably the biggest changes in ten years. Plans are in the making. We'll keep you posted!

Plein Air Painting

September! My favourite time of year for some plein air painting. This is a term introduced by the French Impressionists who broke away from their studios to paint outdoors! Imagine - the nerve of those guys to break away from established rules of painting in your srtudio. The reason I love to paint outdoors this month is because of the light. During June, July and much of August, painting during the middle of the day(when it's warmest and comfortable to sit quietly for hours) gave you a sun directly overhead and very few shadows. Light and shade is what make landscapes come alive, so painting is limited to early morning and evening for interesting shadows. During September you get those beautiful long shadows all day long and the weather is still comfortable to sit out there. Usually it's not as rainy either, which is nice. October brings the autumn colours but you better take along some warm clothing! Al in all, we are in for some exciting outdoor painting during the next couple of months. Time to gather sketches and ideas for some winter studio painting. This was the usual routine of The Group of Seven: out to Algonquin Park or Great Lakes country to get some autumn material for their winter studio painting. A.Y. Jackson, one of the group, rarely painted in the summer as he quite disliked green! But we must give the hardy old boy his due because he often sat out in the snow drifts and painted during the winter. So, painters, let's take a lesson from The Group, grab your paints and get out there!

Hazy but not Lazy

Hi, folks. Don't give up on my blogging just yet. I intend to get on this blog more frequently and my intentions are honourable! WE ARE BUSY with our gallery. The summer of 2006 showed a decrease in tourism of 40% on North Island, probably due to the sinking of the Queen of the North, the very popular cruise between here and Prince Rupert. This summer the visitors seem to be making up for it and showing up in unprecedented numbers. Today, a Sunday, was a good example - from 9 a.m. to after 6 p.m there was always somebody in the gallery! Often the parking lot was full of cars. It is wonderful visiting with everyone. The nicest people in the world walk through the door; everyone is in a good mood. They are on holidays and are interested in ART! They come from all over the globe but we are getting more visitors from B.C. than usual. I believe they have finally discovered the incredible beauty and tranquility of North Island. I'll keep you posted ---SOON!!!

Summertime

Our gallery here in Nimpkish Heights becomes more busy as summer gets closer, with visitors from all over the world. It's only June and the Brits and the Germans seem to be here in full force. It is great fun visiting with them all. The nicest people in the world walk through our doors for when people are on holidays they are in a good mood and tuned in to having a good time.

As the weather warms, the great outdoors calls me to paint "en plein air" and I do a lot of pen and wash sketches that I often use to create larger paintings in the studio, but everyone, in order to stay healthy, must get some exercise, so we do most of our own gardening, keeping flower beds and an acre of lawn in some semblance of order. This time of year you can watch the grass grow and mowing is my main activity, while my wife, Ann, plants and tends to the flowers. We buy our hanging baskets each year from Carter's Hanging Baskets in Nanoose. This is their specialty and our baskets bloom from May to October! Here are some photos of what our yard looked like on June 18th.

Last week's "Odysseys"

Time flies!!! May 22nd to the 25th was 4 day workshop at the Fairgrounds in Saanich. A WIN WIN workshop- fun for me and fun, by all reports, for the "students". The end of May found me itching to do my "en plein air" thing and paint in the great outdoors of North Island. Where to go? Since there are hundreds of great places here, I usually decide to go where I have not painted for some time, mostly to see if there have been any changes.

Wednesday found me down a logging road that led to Ledge Point, a beautiful spot across the bay from Port McNeill, where I did a 12 x 16 in. oil on Canvas. While I was out someone had come into the gallery at home looking for something of Coal Harbour and found nothing. I had not painted there for nearly three years, so guess where I went on Thursday!

Coal Harbour was delightful as usual and I took my watercolours, ending up sitting on the old ramp on which they used to pull up whales and cut them up, during the old whaling days. From here I did a pen and wash sketch of the Government Wharf and some of the town. When you are out painting, there is often a side show that happens quite unexpectedly. On my way back home I saw a mother bear with three cubs, probably last years, since they stay with them for up to two years. Here is a quick photo of them.

On Friday I took some prints to hang in the office at Telegraph Cove and had a good chin wag with some of the staff, most of whom I've known for years. While I was there I did a pen and wash sketch of the business end of the Old Cove with Stubbs Island Charters and the New Bones Museum, as well as the Gikumi tied to the dock.

On Saturday, I went out, with my watercolours, to Hidden Cove to our old friends, Dan and Sandra Kirby's resort. I have had this picture in the back of my mind for years and decided now was the time to paint a view from deep within the bay and include Dan's sailboat, which has been anchored there for years, as well as the lodge. I haven't finished the 15 x 22 in. watercolour yet but it will be a toss-up where the centre of interest will be, the boat or the lodge!

Those were my odysseys this week. The rain has moved in now, which is a good time to finish off the paintings I started.

On the Road Again

The Watercolour Workshop at Nanoose Bay on April 22 and 23 was a pleasure for me, thanks to Carla Flegel of Bowser who is looking after the Moorecroft Camp near Schooner Cove. This is a wonderful, old United Church Camp that has served as a retreat for families for years, especially during the summer vacation period. While I was teaching watercolour painting, there was a craft retreat weekend as well and together, we had a ball!

Carla gave my wife, Ann and I a choice of two cabins: one with showers, etc. and the other a rustic little cabin about 5 metres from the ocean. Guess which one we took!

That night when the tide was out I took this photo, while in the morning we woke up to waves lapping at our shore just a few feet away.

We had a great singalong in the lodge where we painted. Brenda, one of our painters, originally from the Yukon, made a fire in the huge stone fireplace, Christine Welch from Courtenay provided the song sheets and we raised the roof with song! What an amazing lady Christine is: the next day she entertained us as a ventriloquist with her dummy, David. She had organized the Craft Retreat that weekend.

Thank you everyone for the effort to make us so welcome!

What happened to February and March?

I must apologize for not blogging since January, but my wife, Ann and I were playing away from home and didn't take the lap top. Visiting friends in Palm Springs took us to a couple of artsy places, the first of which was the huge Southwest Art Festival, a yearly event at the Polo Grounds in Indio. With over two hundred artists showing, it was tightly structured. All the booths had to be of the same standard white canvas construction but not necessarily the same size, probably rented from the same supplier. The artists ranged from Northern U.S.A. to Southern Mexico. The photo here is of a Zapotec Indian weaver from Oaxaca.

The other noteworthy place we visited was the famous art colony of Laguna Beach, with hundreds of galleries and resident artists. We walked the walk and talked the talk for several days until we were exhausted. The photo here shows an artist painting along one of the seawalks.

During the last week in March, we spent some time up in the Cariboo at The Hills Health Ranch where I taught a workshop last October and will be doing it again next October 14th to the 17th.

Right now we are working at producing a new brochure, which you will be able to download off our website. It will include new paintings, prints and art cards. This will be published during the next month. Keep watching the blog -be back soon!