Ganges, Kanaka Bay on Salt Spring Island, B.C.

Indigenous people have been in the area for over 3000 years; the town’s name has a connection with the holy Ganges in India. The counter culture is alive and, as one writer said, spiritual healers have become an invasive species. Seaplanes roar in and out of the harbor. There are loads of contrasts on this, the biggest town on the biggest of British Columbian’s Gulf Islands. But I was curious about the name of the bay - Kanaka.

It’s Hawaiian; it means “person” or “man”. But why this Hawaiian name here, in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia? It turns out back in early days of white settlement Many Hawaiians came to work for Hudson’s Bay Company as immigrant laborers. Here in Salt Spring they were contracted for a term and then free to do what they pleased after the term was complete.  Some stayed right here in Salt Spring. I tried to find evidence of the Hawaiian culture beyond the name of the bay. A local told me down in the town of Fulsome, there are gravestones with shells on them. “And Oh yes,” she told me there are the Hawaiians themselves. “

So no Hawaiian artifacts, but the island lifestyle is definitely evident. Lots of tourists, lots of boats, lots of music in open air bars and restaurants. One of the more well known is Treehouse Café, with live music nightly, indoor and outdoor seating and a giant tree growing right through the roof.

Strolling through town I passed the Courtyard.  Bagels hung on string across the counter window. Who can resist hanging bagels? Not just any bagels, these were Montreal bagels.  They look more like bialies that I saw on the lower east side of Manhattan. I ordered one covered with lox and cream cheese. It came with a yellow and orange pansy sitting on a hand hewn wood cheese board. Absolutely delicous.

The bagel shop was a recent addition to the gallery, Hiro, the owner told me. “ We just opened it 2 weeks ago.” Hiro, is a Polish trader who commissions woodworked objects in Indonesia and brings them to sell in his gallery here on Salt Spring. His Japanese wife, Miro, manages the Montreal bagels. Hiro and Miro.

Just across from the Courtyard is a shiny new airstream mini, the home of Salt Spring Soft Serve. The owner Chris told me, “I mix cocktails for a living.”  He and his family moved to Salt Spring from Vancouver B.C. two years ago. “We didn’t want to raise our kids in downtown Vancouver.” For a while he commuted then just two months ago, after testing recipes for his dairy free, coconut and oat milk based soft serve, he opened his ice cream truck. “It wasn’t hard to go from mixing cocktails to mixing sundaes,” he said.

We really just tapped the surface of this interesting Canadian town and I hope to visit again.

vancouver weekend

 Weekend in Vancouver 🇨🇦! I accompanied my partner Jonathan to VanCaf, the comics/illustration festival, where he was showing his comic.

The first day we spent wandering from Kitsilano to Granville Island, onto a ferry which was too cute to not ride, and eventually found ourselves on aptly named Sunset Beach. The waterfront atmosphere was so nice I had to try and capture it in watercolor... and like I always do, I regretted trying to capture the scene as the light was changing so fast (you know how it is). Well I tried! It was not entirely regrettable. The scenery is similar yet more grand than Seattle's, in its own way.

On the first day of VanCaf, I was looking forward to attending an inking demo by an artist I follow. The location was in the Central Library, 10 blocks away from the main space so I booked it (lol) up there to the 9th floor, where I realized that the workshop happened the previous day. But if I didn't make that mistake, I never would have found out that the library has a sweet roof deck with some great views down into the city!

We were staying across the water in an airbnb in Kitsilano, where 49th Parallel Coffee/Lucky's Doughnuts was one of the nearest coffee shops. We came for the espresso and stayed (and came back) for the doughnuts. The atmosphere was very calming and well designed. Soothing cerulean blues everywhere, lots of light.

On Sunday I went to the USK Vancouver meetup in English Bay. sadly they weren't too social; I was about 5 minutes late to the meeting spot and nearly everyone had already dispersed. and the views from the coffee shop weren't too inspiring, so I wandered around the area by myself until this high/low building cluster caught my eye. I enjoy the lanes of Vancouver — theyre somewhere between alley & street and make the city feel much more pedestrian friendly.

After the USK meeting I walked back to the beach recreation area to see the bay itself. It was a gorgeous Sunday before a national Canadian holiday so people were really out and about! I appreciated the sand beaches in Vancouver. The sand feels really out of place in the PNW but is definitely nicer than playing on stones, and there are the quintessential driftwood logs arranged as naturalistic seating.

 One evening we had a post-event beer with Jonathan's tablemate Brett Carville, a very skilled draftsperson and comics maker who was also very nice/chill to chat with. We stopped at one place on the big Yaletown row of breweries and restaurants with outside seating. 

this isn't even all that I sketched on this trip! it was a prolific weekend of drawings. 

Urban Sketching Victoria with Gabi

4/14/19 BC Legislative Assembly Building

Although I have been to Victoria, British Columbia, several times, all those visits had been before I began sketching. A few months ago, Gabi Campanario announced that he was offering urban sketching workshops in the charming Canadian city. Recalling the historic architecture and lovely harbor, I jumped at the opportunity to visit again – this time with sketchbook in hand.

4/12/19 Gabi and I met up on the Clipper ferry to Victoria. Here
he is finishing up his presentation.

Co-sponsored by Greater Victoria Placemaking Network, the workshop weekend began last Friday afternoon with a free presentation by Gabi about urban sketching. Although I’ve heard Gabi give similar talks at other workshops I’ve taken with him, I always find it helpful to be reminded of his tips, basic practices and principles to get the most out of urban sketching. For example, here’s the order of priority that Gabi places on the elements of a sketch:

1. Composition (more than 60 percent of the success of a sketch depends on a strong composition)
2. Tones and values (“squint hard to see them”)
3. Color (might not be necessary if other elements are strong)

Other words of wisdom:

• For the sake of speed, keep drawings small (he favors pocket-size sketchbooks; workshop participants received a small Stillman & Birn free) and stay on your feet (you’re less likely to spend a long time on a single sketch if you don’t get too comfy)
• “Keep your eye on your subject, not on your paper.”
• “Don’t be intimidated by all the gear. . . all you need is a pencil or a ballpoint pen.” Keep materials simple.
•  “My sketchbook is a laboratory, not a portfolio.” Gabi encouraged us to experiment and take chances with our sketches instead of trying to make them perfect and precious.
• “I have nothing against erasers.”

4/12/19 My notes while Gabi gave his presentation.

4/12/19 St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

After Gabi’s presentation, members of Greater Victoria Placemaking Network, “a group of Greater Victoria residents dedicated to improving our region’s shared places,” took participants on a short walk around the neighborhood to experience public urban spaces. They encouraged us to use all our senses to observe without judging. Since urban sketchers naturally observe their surroundings closely as part of sketching, the group’s values – “we focus on what happens in ‘the public realm’” – complement urban sketching well.

Although making a sketch was not necessarily part of the brief exercise, sketching is the easiest way for me to efficiently observe and focus on any space, so I chose to make a quick one (at left) of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church that I could see in the distance. (Little did I know then that it would be a dry run for the next day’s workshop!)

Gabi offered three workshops over two days: Architecture, People, and Nature. I opted for Architecture, which continues to be my biggest challenge. Saturday dawned wet, cold and windy (much colder than Seattle only a hundred miles south as the crow flies). We were originally supposed to sketch the stately and formidable BC Legislative Assembly Building, but without nearby shelter, it was untenable. Gabi decided to change the workshop location to the same church I had hastily sketched the day before, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, because a building with a deep overhang was conveniently available directly across the street. The overhang kept us all dry and somewhat sheltered (though not warm! We were all frozen by the end of the workshop). All weekend as he had to change plans according to the weather, Gabi noted that being flexible is an important part of urban sketching!

Gabi demo's composition options.

I look cold, don't I?

Thumbnail of the composition I chose.

The street light fixtures had an unusual curved shape that was different from the ones I’m used to sketching back home, so I wanted to include them in my sketch. As we talked about composition, Gabi noted that it might be a better choice to move slightly down the sidewalk so that the light poles wouldn’t be planted firmly in front of the church. Although the rain had slowed by then, I admit that I was reluctant to leave the overhang’s shelter. I stayed put and made my thumbnail. When I told him I had chosen to stick with the original composition, he said that it was still possible to make a successful sketch if the poles were given prominence so that their lines didn’t get mushed together with the lines of the church.

My final sketch is below. In retrospect, I think that Gabi’s idea of moving down the street would have made a stronger composition. But I tried to use color (on the church) and heavier lines on the light poles to distinguish them from the church.

4/13/19 St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

Gabi wrapped up the architecture workshop inside a nearby coffee shop so that we could warm up and share our sketches. He demo’d watercolor techniques and showed us his favorite sketch materials there.

Architecture workshop participants

The next day, the rain had stopped, but the temperature was still not amenable. Instead of following the Nature workshop students to a nearby park as I had planned, I decided to explore the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel. Thinking I would find an interesting interior to sketch there, I was delighted to find something much better: a fantastic view of the Legislative Assembly Building that we had to forego the previous day! And a cozy, comfy couch to sketch it from, to boot (sketch at top of page)!

Normally I would fill the entire composition with a huge building like this, but as I scoped out the scene, I heeded Gabi’s suggestion during the workshop: “Leave extra room in front of the building so people can ‘walk’ into your sketch as if they were walking into the real building.” A bus, a vendor’s umbrella and pedestrians in the foreground seemed like a handy way to give the composition the space that Gabi had advised.

The park in front of the legislative building was the location for the final event of the weekend – a sketchcrawl open to the public. Since I had already sketched the domed building from the comfort of the Empress, everything else seemed like icing. I chose the statue of Queen Victoria prominently placed in the park (you can also see a tiny version of her in my sketch at the top of the page).

4/14/19 Queen Victoria's statue

Despite the rain and cold, I had a very enjoyable weekend meeting sketchers from Victoria, Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia. I learned new tips to apply to future sketches, and as always, I was inspired by Gabi’s enthusiasm for and commitment to urban sketching.

Cathy sketching a totem.

Gabi sketching the legislative building.

Sketchers at Queen Victoria's feet.

Final sketchcrawl participants

Sketches from a BC Trip

Here's a few quick sketches from our anniversary trip to British Columbia in October... we took a wonderful boat ride up the Harrison River, great sunny crispy cool weather...

Fishermen were everywhere, on the shore, in the water with hip waders on, standing up in boats...
We had dinner one night in a Chinese restaurant... always fun to save those good fortunes...
People lined up for Tea Time in the hotel after their pool time, dressed in their white robes and bathing suits...
What could be better than a hot cup of tea with cookies on a cool fall day?

Vancouver

Went to Vancouver BC last weekend with my mom and two sisters, fellow urban sketchers (see Beth's Vancouver posting). 

Our focus was the Modern Woman Exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Museum). Rooms and rooms of impressionist drawings and pastels from mid-1800's to mid-1900's. A feast for us sketchers! I intended to sketch/copy some of the great masters, but I was so engaged in just examining them I totally forgot.

I did manage a sketch of the hotel across the street from our hotel...

but quick sketches of people is what I like to do most...

waiting in line at Zara

two women at museum

stolen moments

Have been working way too much this summer, missed seeing all of you a couple times now. Finally sharing a few sketches from the whole period -- all the way back to our visit to the Center for Wooden Boats.
A little sketch from my favorite haunt, Fishermen's Terminal:

A visit to Steveston, B.C., an historic fishing community:

And finally a reverie along the Snohomish? River in Snohomish, opposite the lumber mill. I forgot to bring a pen so enjoyed trying this with gouache only.

Hope to rejoin you all on the 29th somewhere!

two cities of industry

Dave reminded me I didn't post this after our Gas Works Park crawl! Put it up on Flickr and forgot. Here's my favorite from last week's trip to Vancouver BC too, the rail yards from the convention center.

Look forward to seeing you all at the locks!

English Bay

Visited Vancouver, British Columbia this week! First real trip away from home in over a year. What an invigorating place! Vancouver has experienced lots of development since I was last there, but still maintains wonderful waterfront for human recreation. I agree with Tyler. There is no better way to appreciate our great luck than to pay attention to it!