British Columbia

Embracing Life Happy International Women’s Day

/ Terrill Welch / 15 Comments

You say – what? no seascape!? Well, not this morning. It is March 8th and International Women’s Day today. This is a photograph of my mother I took a couple of years ago. She is on holidays and we are having a picnic after going on a garden tour with “just the girls” which included her sister, my sister and my sister’s daughter. I love this photograph of my mother because it shows her natural beautiful self. She is about to shake her finger at me and say “don’t you dare!” But I was faster. Being a farmer in rural British Columbia Canada my mother has worked hard and lived close to the land not far from where she grew up. She reads with exuberance checking out armloads of books each week from the public library. She knows most of the Latin names for her plants and studied genetics to be able to improve her breeding stock of Hereford cattle. Her daily walks take her past bears, moose, elk, deer, geese, swans, grouse and the fox sleeps on her doorstep. Her cinnamon buns are still the best in the world and I love her. Her quiet and sometimes not so quiet belief in me is part of why I am who I am today.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

Great Blue Heron and the surf

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Here at Creative Potager we haven’t been down for walk on the beach for a while. It must be time – yes? About yesterday’s adventure with a Great Blue Heron and a good strong surf, will that do? Get all settled in because here we go…

It was about three o’clock in the afternoon and a wee bit of sun was coming out after a morning of heavy rain, hail and even a bit of snow. Miss Prissy, the old blue ford 4×4 seemed as ready as we were to go stretch our legs down at Reef Bay. David and I chatter away at each other as we stop in at the Farm Gate Store. We have a quick visit with the owners Don and Shanti McDougall as we pick up local eggs, bread, plum jam and a few other odds and ends. One more stop at the Trading Post to pick up our weekly bottle of red wine and then it is time to head for the sea.

Of course we had to stop and check out the daffodil field along the way. Not enough blooms for a photo op yet. Soon though, very soon.

As we come by Oyster Bay I can see the surf is up and we almost stop there but I had a hankering for Reef Bay. By now you know it is a favourite and I thought we might be just a bit more sheltered from the wind. Pulling that old ford around on the half-acre at the entrance to the trail to the water we park. I leap ahead and David comes along more leisurely behind.

Right away I spot the Great Blue Heron over on side of the reef closest to the Strait of Georgia. These birds are a bit skittish here and keep their distance. So I get my camera set and begin the trek to see if I can meander close enough to get a good photograph.

Oh, I am spotted but still the heron seems content to pretend to meander just a little way down the reef hoping I haven’t noticed it. As it disappears behind a rock I think it thinks I have missed it. Then up pops its head. I move the camera just slightly to position the frame and there it goes…..

At first it is high over the crashing surf and then swoops down in a long glide close to the water.

(image available for purchase HERE) 

I go back to enjoying the surf for a few minutes

thinking about the sea

and the sandstone…

life and relationships and time.

The heron is contentedly hidden among the seagulls as I watch the Oyster Catchers and notice another large storm cloud coming our way.

With stiff fingers from the brisk wind I look to see where David might be as I make my way carefully back across the sandstone. The tide is coming in and I must clamber over the boulders to reach the beach again.

SEED: The Great Blue Heron is a favourite bird for many and particularly nature photographers. Its beauty and prehistoric squawk seem to keep our attention longer than most shore birds.

Great blue herons’ size (3.2 to 4.5 feet/1 to 1.4 meters) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet/1.7 to 2 meters) make them a joy to see in flight. They can cruise at some 20 to 30 miles (32 to 48 kilometers) an hour.

Though great blue herons hunt alone, they typically nest in colonies. They prefer tall trees, but sometimes nest in low shrubs. Females produce two to seven eggs, which both parents protect and incubate. Chicks can survive on their own by about two months of age.

reference: National Geographic at http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-blue-heron

Well, I hope you enjoyed your seaside walk and feel refreshed and energized to meet the day! All the best, from Mayne Island to wherever you are in this grand world of ours.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

Down by the Pond

/ Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

There is something that feels very Canadian to me about a cabin by the pond such a s this one. It is not in a row of summer resorts but is by itself next to a pond that feels like it was created just for the cabin.

(image available for purchase HERE) 

Old fences seem to be part of any pond where there are or have been livestock.

But one is never very often really alone at a pond. They frequently places of much bounty and shared living such as this feathered friend.

(image can be purchased HERE)

The flight was short and the landing one of humour propelling feet and tail dipping…

These photographs were taken with the permission of the landowner. Please do ask before venturing on to private land to take even photographs. You wouldn’t want someone coming into your apartment and snapping photos of your kitchen counter with the explanation “I was admiring your teapot from the street. It is so amazing! I didn’t think you would mind if I just slipped in to take a few photographs.” I know it sounds silly to image someone doing this in your kitchen. But often it seems harder to remember to ask before stepping into a forest or large field. However, if we remember that large tracks of private land are the owner’s kitchen counter then it is easy to remember to ask permission before entering.

These photographs were taken on the certified organic Deacon Vale Farm which also has my very most favourite local and find foods grocery store in the world Farm Gate Store. If you ever come to Mayne Island you MUST stop by the store and make a few selections for tasting your way through local fair.

SPROUT: What is your favourite story about pond life? 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

WEST COAST SUNRISE postcard painting by Terrill Welch

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

This painting is a 4 x 6.5 inch oil on special paper postcard that I did for David Sandum’s #twitterartexhibit fundraising project. It will be going in the mail to Moss Norway as soon as it dries.

 

This project is an amazing collaboration between artist David Sandum, twitter artists and the Moss public library in Norway. This year the funds raised will go to support The Women’s Crisis Center in Moss, where abused women and children can get help. The center also provides a 24 hour phone-service, counseling, food and shelter etc. It but has lost a lot of funding the past year and the staff has been cut from 19 to 11. This is a very important cause, not only for the women in a crisis situation but also for their children.

If you are an artist, have a twitter account and want to participate here is the link for more informationhttp://davidsandumart.posterous.com/call-for-artists-2nd-twitter-art-exhibit-in-m

 

SPROUT: What is the tiniest creative work you have ever done? 

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

A Friday on Mayne Island in January

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

There is still some soggy snow left but the warm dripping of rain is overpowering its January grip on the Mayne Island landscape. High tides meet the surviving remnants on shore.

Even the seagull seems to be hunch over in gloomy resistance.

We leave the bleak sourness of it all and head for home. My old ford pick up, Miss Prissy, rounds the corner on her last climb up Wood Dale drive before ducking down into nowhere. I looked up at the uncompromising cliffs.

(image may be purchased HERE)

I guess it is not all that bad after all. I smile and click my heels before sliding back into the truck.

SPROUT: How long will you hold out to find a bright spot in your day?

Happy Friday and the best of the weekend everyone!

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

Abstract Sensing

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Sometimes nature delivers the finest abstract compositions such as yesterday late in the afternoon at Georgina Point on Mayne Island. We only had a few moments of sun but they were a nice reprieve from the gray and rain of west coast winter. I was glad I was there, camera-at-the-ready, to take this photograph.


Good morning, happy Friday and the best of the weekend to you!

 

SPROUT: What natural abstract composition has recently caught your attention? 

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

Related articles

Mayne Island Dawn of 2012

/ Terrill Welch / 32 Comments

My first photograph  of 2012 is taken before daylight as I scramble out over slippery rocks to the edge of the surf at Reef Bay on Mayne Island.

Unlike other favourite photography location in the world. I am the only one there. Not even a dog barking in the distance – just me and sea waiting to greet the day.

Sometimes a person must search for signs of dawn in order to be sure of the specific point of its arrival. It is not time yet but soon.

The lights of Vancouver are starting to fade in the distance from where it hunches below the cloud-covered coastal mountains. A softness surrounds the breath of this new day.

With each rolling wave the moments pass through my camera shutter. The sun has not quiet risen but with fingers stiff from the cold I press down to capture the first light on the sandstone shore.

Is this it? Could this be the moment we are waiting for – the dawn of 2012?

Possibly but let’s just wait a little longer.

Ah yes, there is a soft light starting to soak into the heavy clouds over the mountains.

A full dawn has come to Mayne Island.

Only twenty minutes have passed from the first rock we admired and we are now enjoying the richness of our first dawn in 2012 here on Mayne Island.

As we watch the brightness recedes into the soft reality of an overcast day January 1, 2012 here on Mayne Island off the southwest coast of British Columbia Canada.

SPROUT: What is the first thing you noticed about your first day in 2012?

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles

Not Much to See

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Sometimes when there is not much to see it still feels just right, particularly on Monday morning. I like to ease into the week still blinking away the coziness of the weekend.

 

It is an ordinary sort of morning down by the water and there is not much to see.

I like it anyway, the quiet, unimpressive business of ordinary life. The studio is about the same. I finished one painting but I still need to take a photograph. Then I started on another. As I have been saying, not much to see yet. But would you like to peek over my shoulder? Alright, but no comments about my painting apron only partially covering my nightgown. No complaining that it isn’t quite daylight yet, nor that I didn’t make everything pretty. It is a reference snapshot. It is also going to be a bit crowded but I think we can all squeeze in. Okay, okay I will show you….

Sam, can I get you to move to right so Leanne can see as well. Laurie I know you are excited but there isn’t enough room for you jump up and down right now. Maureen, you can come a little closer and squeeze in there on the left. Jeff if you come over by me I think you can see over top of Patricia. Shakeira, Sue and Josie… hum! Oh no! Here comes… we are just going to have to have another viewing when the painting is finished.

 

 

Sprout Question: What is your favourite not-much-to-see view or moment?

 

 

© 2011 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

 

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

FromMayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

 

Related articles

A Wisp of Winter

/ Terrill Welch / 22 Comments

It is a painting day for me. It is an ordinary west coast November day with frequent weather changes from sun to rain. But as I looked up from the canvas, nothing seemed to warn me about what I was going to see in the valley.

(image may be purchased HERE)

A tree in snow – natural pointillism.

I wonder what tomorrow morning will bring?

Slipping out our door into the crisp air I pause. The tree dressed in a skiff of snow is decorated with morning light.

(image may be purchased HERE)

 

Now isn’t that lovely?

 

These photographs are from Friday and Saturday. But I think they still look  fresh, even as late as this Monday morning.

 

Sprout Question: What is crispy and fresh in your creative day?

 

Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. friends!

 

P.S. The 12 X 12 oil painting is coming along too but is “resting.” I hope to be able to share it with you on Friday.

 

© 2011 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

 

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

 

I Wonder What She Wants?

/ Terrill Welch / 19 Comments

I can almost see the thought bubble over their heads – such mild curiosity and indifference expressed in their body language.

“I wonder what she wants?”

How can I tell them that, though interesting they might be, I am really looking at the sun coming across the water on Mill Bay?

I can’t. So with a flip, the seals flop into the sea.

Sprout Question: Who have you felt unable to communicate with this week?

NOTE: I fully realize this might be a loaded question. Please remember this is a public blog. If your answer is sensitive, I suggest answering in your private journal, on a napkin in a restaurant or in the sand at low tide. Let good judgment be your guide. Of course, you can still leave a comment stating that your answer is sensitive cargo and has been safely stored…. or destroyed 🙂

Best of the weekend to you!

© 2011 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Related articles