South of the Border

Just got back from a road trip down to San Francisco. For several years we had been salivating with our friends about a drive down the Oregon coast to a possible San Francisco destination. We finally did it but our friends were limited to ten days. Two big revelations for me: Cannon Beach, which I idolized in my mind, was a cluttered, tourist trap with access to the beach severely limited by an endless row of beach houses. When I return I will make my base at Newport Beach and drive from there to a number of gorgeous areas within its circumference to paint and paint and paint! The other revelation was rather humbling for a Vancouver Islander. The Redwood trees were immense and much of the original old growth was saved. A highway called The Avenue of the Giants led through 35 miles of trees so large it seemed unreal. 35 miles of Cathedral Grove!!!

These were the highlights of an reconnaissance trip that gave us a really good idea of places to settle into and explore.

Lady Ellen Point

North Islanders have been trudging out to Lady Ellen Point for donkey’s years for almost as many reasons as there are North Islanders. As mariners make their way down Queen Charlotte Strait, they eventually reach the west end of Malcolm Island, whereby they must decide whether to go to the left of the island and remain within Queen Charlotte Strait until they reach Blackney Passage to get into Johnstone Strait or to keep to the starboard and enter Broughton Strait. If the latter is their choice, they will have Lady Ellen Point on their right. This passage through Broughton is such a narrow seaway that it seems you can touch both shores by simply reaching out your arms. This is what makes Lady Ellen Point so delightful to anyone wanting to watch the traffic of the sea. You are almost in the shadow of the huge Cruise Ships. Besides being a darn good place to wet your fishing line, it’s a really nice hike for couch potatoes!

Some twenty years ago, Western Forest Products very kindly cut a trail to the ocean from one of its logging roads in the area. Since Lady Ellen is on the flip side of Ledge Point, the peninsula directly across from Port McNeill, the logging road that goes to the Lady Ellen Trail takes off to the left from the Ledge Point road. For years, we used to go to the end of this logging road, where the trail began, and walk down to the ocean through groves of huge spruce, but when you reached the ocean, it was still a hefty two kilometers to Lady Ellen. When the tide was in it was touch and go because we often had to dodge in and out of the heavy jungle that lined the shore. Last summer saw the building of a state of the art hiking trail along this shoreline ending at Lady Ellen but slated to continue until it meets the Ledge Point road and trail. What a magnificent hike that will be! Rumor has it that you will eventually be able to begin this hike at Bear Creek in Port McNeill and circumvent the entire Ledge Point!

This small painting came about when I followed my wife, daughter and grandson on their jaunt to Lady Ellen to try out their luck on the pink salmon run. While they fished, I painted. None of us got skunked!

Mexico!

We returned from the Baja California Sur (south Baja) on January 13th to piles of mail and dozens of jobs as well as 4 inches of snow - a bit of a turnabout from South Baja. I did as much sketching as I could but was plagued with a chest cold. We stayed at our daughter's house in La Ventana , a small fishing village on the Sea of Cortez. Most of the "Norte Americanos" there are wind surfers or kiters and the beaches are full of such action. The beach from the town southward goes on for ten miles or more and, though I'm not a wind surfer, I love walking the sand that goes on forever and plopping down and sketching some of the action, since there is quite a significant tidal change here. Here and there the beach is interrupted by rocks that are old lava flows that have tunnels worn into them by the sea and here, when the tide is high and the wind strong the water is pushed into the tunnels and comes shooting up into the air through holes worn upward through the rocks. Locals call them "The Booferaws" from the sounds they create. Ann took some photos of me sketching there. One of the many rough sketches I did is shown here as well. This beach tends to be quiet in the morning and windy in the afternoon, so sketching was easier the earlier it was done.

I'm back painting in my studio again, still working on a series of autumn on Mt. Cain. As the alders slowly turn to their beautiful spring browns I will be making my way into the North Island countryside to do some pleine air painting. See you again soon. 

Where did November go???

On November 15th we took 7 new paintings to Gallery 223 in Nanaimo (on 223 Commercial Street). They are an excellent gallery but do not want to show  anything behind glass; so you won't see any of my watercolours there.The owner, George Leschuk actually owns the building, which is unique among art galleries, has a generous sized area for originals and another area for prints and framing. On the second floor he rents out space to resident artists.
Some of the paintings we left with George are shown below. I added to my autumn on Mt. Cain series by concentrating on the bright foliage around the ski area.

 We hope to be going to ourdaughter Kathy's in Mexico for Christmas (Dec.11 to January 10) so hope to have a few Mexican scenes from there. Merry Christmas!! (or should I say Feliz Navidad?)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE North Vancouver Island, our home for the last 36 years. Usually I can't find enough adjectives to describe its beauty, but this time of year I often wander afield to find fall colours because there are so few deciduous trees that show off in autumn. My favourite spots have been in the interior in the high plateaus of the Cariboo and the Chilcotin or to the old haunts of my youth in Eastern Manitoba and Northern Ontario.

Lately I re-discovered local colour that had eluded me, since in the fall  during the last few years, I was making these excursions inland and over the prairies. I was looking at some photos I had taken several years ago of my grandchildren on Mt. Cain in autumn and the background colour knocked my socks off. Since it was early September, too early for colour, I used these old photos as references to create a 16x20 acrylic that enbled me to use my"hot" colours. I waited for the beginning of October and watched the weather for the first opportunity to trundle up the Mt. Cain rocky road. It happened! The weather and the colour co-operated and I got my first sketch and a number of photographs. Blueberry bushes are everywhere on Mt. Cain so an endless variety of reds pervaded, but there were lots of yellows, golds, magentas, purples, and autumn greens as well. At this moment, we are into a few rainy days but as soon as it clears a bit, I'm going back! This sketch I did will tell you why.

What Summer???

Just a few more days before the Autumn Solstice. Leaves are already beginning to make their descent while many of our summer birds are just memories. Tomorrow is officially our last day to have an open door gallery. Taking down the OPEN sign will give us a new sense of freedom: to wander, to unlock the gate to new pathways.

Our summer in the gallery literally flew by. Alicia Young, our resident sculptress produced a number of great pieces and I painted nearly every day, some days en plein air. Basically, the summer was unseasonably cool but for one week we broke all heat records. I was painting fireweed pictures in a clear-cut on a 34 degree Celsius day! Just recently I spent a delightful day in one of my old haunts out at Rupert Arm, an offshoot of Quatsino Sound. Below is the sketch with which I began. The original will be on my website. Also below is one of Alicia’s pieces she did in our gallery. Adios until next time!

Summer 2010

Summer at The Henschel Gallery will be short but furious- from August 1st to September 7th, open 9 to 5 every day. Our added attraction is the exceptionally talented Victoria sculptress, Alicia Young who will be with us the entire time. Shown here is the rack card that will make its appearance this week at most North Island outlets, B & B's, hotels,etc.

After this period the gallery will be closed and I will be working with and through other galleries.

Just to set things straight with the numbers of people who think I am retiring, I hope this move frees me up to paint more on site. ARTISTS DO NOT RETIRE!!!! Prior to building the large addition to the gallery in 1996, I was always with at least four galleries and travelled a great deal more. I will return to this life style this fall.

This website and blog will continue but will direct you to galleries that handle the work shown on this site.