Vancouver Island scenes depicted in watercolor by Linda Heslop and photographs of the places we visit via the logging roads on Vancouver Island. Beaches, stones, waves and caving images done by Linda Heslop in watercolor, oil and acrylic paints as well as pen and ink. Some logging photographs and links to videos.
This image of a Japanese concrete casting is called 'Knowledge', the exact meaning of the inscription apparently does not translate well into English but roughly says something along the line of We already have everything. If anyone can shed better light on the translation please make a comment.
Linda Heslop painted this in acrylic on canvas several years ago, a similar watercolor but with the casting set on a background of stones and pebbles had been painted prior to this. The casting resides in our garden.
Linda Heslop painted this large triptych seascape in acrylic and oil on 3 canvas boards, it is called 'Arrival'. The original image has a sale pending but is also available as a giclee print available from Full Circle Studio Arts. A typical view of the westcoast of Vancouver Island from the Long Beach area.
A watercolor of sea stars and anemones awaiting the tides return. Pieces of broken shell litter the anemones bodies, and closed up like that, they have an 'alien eye' kind of appearance.
And another of sea stars, Purple Sea Stars again, though they come in a variety of colors. This time they're around a shallow pool nestled in with some pebbles.
Very common to our beaches on Vancouver Island, sea stars and anemones are easily spotted clinging to rocks and in rock pools at low tide. Linda used photographs from our camping trips for reference for her paintings.
The three images above appeared in Immersed magazine. An international publication for, and about, technical diving. A very good magazine it was, unfortunately it ended in 2004 after several years of quarterly issues, even us non-divers could enjoy the sense of adventure produced on it's pages. Linda Heslop was commissioned to do a portrayal of the featured diver for each issue from photographs sent to her and further research at the local library in order to blend the subject matter into the image.
Saturday, July 19th, 2008 was the date for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's 21st Annual Moss Street Paint In. This free event attracts more than 30k visitors over the course of the 6 or so hours it lasts, that's a lot of exposure! Linda had not planned to attend and thus her participation was unofficial. Usually, for July weekends we hope to be going camping but circumstances prevented this, so when Val (her agent) suggested setting up on a friends lawn she decided to go for it. (Most residences have unofficial attendees using their yards, driveways etc).
The street is closed to traffic at 9am for artists to be able to get set up, so we got there far too early and put the display up. I left shortly afterwards and returned with our daughter at about 11am just as the first visitors were arriving. Still fairly quiet as the pics show. Sarah and I toured about a half of the event and on returning to Lindas' site we noticed 2 sold stickers already attached to pieces. Hmmm, not a bad start. I took Sarah home and got on with replacing our front porch deck for a few hours awaiting a phone call to help dismantle everything for Linda.
So around 4pm I went back. Still a lot of people on the street, making it awkward to drive to the site. I can't tell you just how surprised I was to find there was practically no product left to take away. They'd run out of everything twice and had to get more product from Vals' gallery along with more credit card slips!! People had queued to purchase, anything from art cards to posters and limited editions to giclees, then queued again to have them signed personally. Not that Linda's unknown around here but the quality of work by other artists is extremely high, so she felt very honoured by the public response to her work.
Some advice for anyone attending in the future..... get there early. The event becomes very busy by midday and so it's more difficult to take everything in with the crowds milling around the displays. You can also park somewhat closer by and you'll be thankful for that when the long slow plod up and down Moss St is finished.
Here are some views of a few logos' Linda has done over the years. These ones were for the National Speleological Society conventions held every year in a different state, here we have them from Colorado and Washington conventions. The Colorado logos' printed on t-shirts show the regular design for all attendees and a modified version for the security people (the Rat Patrol).
The Washington design is shown through the mock up stages to the finished logo sans lettering which was added later by the organizers. Linda donated the original artwork to the N.S.S. auction held near the end of the event.
Linda Heslop was born into a creative environment and spent her early years encouraged and tutored by her artist/architect father.
Working as a freelance illustrator, for many years she designed logos and illustrated numerous magazines and books internationally, including her own book "The Art of Caving". Linda is an outdoor enthusiast having spent decades in cave exploration and surveying in remote areas in Canada and the U.S.
Her true love is Vancouver Island, where she lives, and it is this island, it's shores in particular, which inspire almost all of her work. An interest in geology and its shaping by time is expressed in her many intricate depictions of beach stones. A passion for biology is reflected in her intertidal paintings. It is "the utter joy of being there" that she aims to capture and in doing so hopes to instill the need for preservation of this unique and beautiful place.
She works in watercolor, oil, acrylic, pencil and ink and is represented by Canadian Art Connections who produce and distribute reproductions of her works on both paper and canvas.
And as for the title, well, she ain't in it for the money, artists do it for the love of it. (But lucrative offers will be gratefully accepted!!)
Cheesy Smoky Noodles
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The second recipe in the Backpacker Magazine remake is a big bowl of cheesy
ham and peas with pasta. It’s a tummy-filling, satisfying meal. Now then,
this ...
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