I must be getting accustomed to Island life. I slept in to almost 7:30 this morning. I haven't done that in memory. I'm glad our trip home will stretch over several days as it will allow my internal clock to reset.
This whole adventure was inspired by Christine and Darci who hatched the idea of bringing us to TGO (The Great Outdoors) Quatsino Lodge to do a residency. In other words, we would create a body of work while experiencing this beautiful place and leave the art behind when it was time to go home. That time is now 24 hours away.
Our focus today will be to do all the finishing things on the pieces we've created over the last five days.
Sides of the canvases need to be painted and a finishing coat of varnish applied. I'll also need to photograph some pieces to make sure we have a good digital record. In the end, we will leave behind 12 finished paintings, some of which we brought with us.
We had some decent weather yesterday which allowed me to go out with the camera. I wanted to make sure to capture a picture of the leucistic American robin that Heather had spotted. It has a rare genetic condition that cause white spots and a white stripe down its tail. There were also plenty of other robins to photograph, too.
We also had two bald eagles that came by for a peek at what we were doing. They perched themselves atop a couple of towering spruce trees, a bit too far away to get good pictures.
I find myself thinking of my late Uncle Blair on this trip. He moved to Nanaimo in the 1980s with my aunt Germaine. He spent the next four decades looking out over the water - they had a great view - and announcing the arrival of the ferries and other boats. I find myself doing the same thing at Quatsino. They have a monocular set up on a tripod which I run to throughout the day to confirm what I'm seeing, near and far. I believe I spotted a sea lion at one point way off close to Drake Island which runs parallel to the side where TGO Quatsino sits.
I finished "Spring Awakening" yesterday, a painting that depicts a black bear emerging from its long winter sleep. I imagine it feeling rather disoriented as it meanders on the rocky shore here at Quatsino. I also imagine that food is on its mind after months of relying on its fat stores for sustenance.
I felt I wanted to do a portrait of Becca, Brad's amazing sidekick. I found a piece of rigid cardboard out on the front deck and did a test painting. Meanwhile, Brad found a square piece of fir that will provide a more permanent surface to work on today.
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