Undersea Garden       Donna-Fay Digance

I wanted to capture a playful feeling of ocean perch exploring a garden made of other sea creatures and plants. This is a very long 68" silk banner hand-painted with silk dyes. It could be suspended from the ceiling, away from a wall so that the silk would appear to float with any air currents. It's one of three long silk

paintings now showing at the March - April, 2014 Art Saturna Gallery in Saturna Point Store. I'll be there from 2:30 pm till 3:30 most week-ends to share the work with you.

Colourful Opening

Cool and grey outside + warm and colourful inside! That sums it up very nicely yesterday's goings on in the Saturna Point Store gallery... 

The ArtSaturna Spring Show opening was well-attended and gallery goers came to have a good look at the work of featured artist Donna-Fay Digance, and several other artists.

 

 
The exhibit will be on display until the end of April, so those of you who missed it, or would like to have another look at a piece (or two) have a window of opportunity.

Spring 2014 Art Show: Sunday, March 16

The winter has been a long season of studio time for all ArtSaturna members. We stayed warm and got creative! We invite you all to come and see what the artists have been cooking up. Looking forward to meeting everyone next Sunday.

Spring 2014 Art Show

Opening Sunday, March 16
2 - 4 pm
at the Saturna Point Store Gallery

Featured artist:  Donna-Fay Digance

Spring Booms and Snow Flakes

Just as Saturna anticipates our upcoming artists' show on March 16 and visions of spring skip up everywhere, I'm looking at some photos I took just recently. Photos of being snowed-in! A reminder of how very surprising life, even a fairly simple life, can be.

path from our place, Saturna Island (Janet Strayer photos)

Spring comes relatively early in this part of Canada. Earlier in February we'd already seen the crocuses and daffodils  up from the earth, the sun smiling upon them for several days with the promise of spring. Then POW!

Large powdery flakes of snow took over the terrain during the last weekend of February. The sky turned white. The sea a pewter grey. No sight of the distant mountains. Few clear edges at all. The temperature dropped dramatically. Still, it was beautiful on our land at Saturna. But it was cold. Very cold.

Janet Strayer studio (before the tree hit it)

We hadn't been at our home for a week, leaving it without heat. On arrival, it takes about an hour to heat up the house by raising the thermostats. This time, we had about half an hour of electricity before the power went totally out!

Many islands were affected, including Saturna. We could hear trees falling nearby as we walked the path you see.

No power at our place for nearly three days. Cold and getting colder. No heat, no electric light. Our one central fireplace was huffing and puffing so much we'd used up most of the stored dry wood and were cutting some wet logs. Smoky. Even with the fireplace going, we wore hats and gloves in the house.

No painting for me -- fingers much too stiff and mind unable to thaw. What a disappointment as I so look forward to my studio time, painting. Life was reduced to basics: shelter, food, and appreciation for what we had.

The power came back after about three days and we decided to try to drive out and take the ferry to Vancouver. We had work to do there, too. One route was blocked by fallen trees, and our wheels couldn't get enough traction through the snow. The other route was steeper but shorter and downhill. We made it.

Stopping at the store beside the ferry terminal to revisit the current Art Saturna show, I had a huge surprise. My painting wasn't there! What?

Terrible? Not at all. It had just been sold. One of my worst weekends and it was topped off by this very welcome news. My thanks and good wishes to the couple who purchased my painting. May it join you in your home with all the warmth and abiding meaning art can convey.

Art Lover, painting by Janet Strayer, www.janetstrayerart.com

Back at Saturna now, two weeks later, there's a fallen tree atop my studio. It seems to have done little damage and can be chopped for firewood. All in all, it's quite an eventful life we lead...or wander our way through.

If you would like to read more about my eclectic take on this eventful life (travels, art, creative tips and adventures), please see my blog at janetstrayer.blogspot.ca. 

Karen Muntean: "Home & Away" Show

Here are a couple photos from the opening of "Home & Away", my show of new linocuts at Saturna Café that runs until February 27, 2014. 

Hubertus served up a fabulous meal for nineteen after the opening, which made it a really nice evening for me.  Thank you to everyone who came to look, talk and share a glass of wine.

Janet Strayer: Eastside (Vancouver) Culture Crawl Report

photo of Janet Strayer by JK

Thanks to all who came to visit at this year's lively and festive Eastside Culture Crawl in Vancouver. Three days of art, art, art!

Very different from the pace and setting I love at Saturna, but also a welcome experience each year. This is my third year as an artist participant.

Our studio at 1000  Parker Street (#202) contains five painters and has become a lovely showplace. Three other  studio-mates and painters participated in this year's Crawl: Meredith Aitken, Debbie Bakos, and Katerine Gordon.

This year, over 400 artists were part of the Crawl in Vancouver. We and the community meet, greet, and enjoy the too-muchness of it all! An interview I gave to a camera man covering the event for City TV was the last coherent event I recall. The rest, except for some striking conversations and people, is a bit of a blur right now. But I'm still standing in his photo, propped against a studio wall showing my newest paintings.

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Inter-Island Culture Shock: It's a Good Thing

View from inside boat

Galiano  and Saturna are two small islands in the Salish Sea. They are part of a beautiful archipelago called the Gulf Islands (in Canada) and the San Juans (in the US).  Sitting nicely across from Vancouver, BC, regularly scheduled daily ferries take you to these wonder spots. Day trips from island to island, though, are not so easy -- unless you have a hardy boat: some of the water passages are tricky. 

around Galiano dock

I live on Saturna and I'm a painter, as you may know from earlier posts. Each island here is different from the others. But I guess they all share something of an "island culture". One way I glimpse this culture-shift in myself  (I spend half the week on-island and half in Vancouver) is as easy as looking in the mirror. I look different once my feet hit island ground. My face broadens, my eyes deepen, my feet tread differently. 

Janet Strayer & Jack Campbell

Not surprisingly, these islands call to creative artists of all sorts. They're magical in nature, filled with sea and sky and trees and creatures, with breathing room for inspiration, and isolated enough to let one listen to, and do, what creatively is called for.

Although each island has a "culture", planned inter-island cultural events aren't common.  So I want to celebrate one on Galiano that features several Saturna painters and fabric artists.

Insight Gallery entryway

With the help of a small grant, a group of us were picked up by boat at the Saturna dock on a gorgeous day and sped off royally to Galiano (half hour away). Similar arrangements had been made to transport a group of visitors from other nearby islands.  

Saturna artists were escorted from the dock via a cute little bus that took  us to the Insight Gallery, built for showing art in this lovely setting and run by Tish Saunders. We were made so welcome, with food and wine and great company.

It was amazing to see how beautifully the show of paintings and fabric art had been displayed. The setting was just right. And the poetry reading  added another art form to the visual. You can follow more about this show, running all September, on the ArtSaturna website.

The opening party was yesterday, and what a treat it was. People flocked in all afternoon. They were interested and interesting, including a large contingent of fellow artists of all persuasions. 

It was terrific to hear all the laudatory comments and insights. I think all the participating artists shared my enthusiasm. Why curb it?  I want personally to thank several people, all new to me, in whose glowing remarks I still bask. How generous of you.

Lest you think only the big city artists do it, several island-dwelling artists I met told me their works sell out yearly on island! So, maybe "making it" as an artist doesn't  have to go the big city route. I'm no expert on this, but I know there are many out there who may be. What do you think?

Today's Thought

How can you not have an adventure when you live on an island?

-- Janet