Third original Terrill Welch oil painting in sale Far Shore

December 5, 2010December 5, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

Far Shore captures the west coast mist as it tumbles over tree-covered Galiano Island jutting from the sea in Active Pass.

Deep green winter reflections wrestle with rolling fog dressing and undressing the forest. Glimpses of naked trees are quickly covered only to appear again further on. Never quite able to grasp the wholeness and the detail at the same time, the viewer’s eye dances across the canvas.

A slice of the painting resting at easel-angle shows a sliver of the deep green unframed canvas sides.

This detail holds the movement and mystery of the larger painting.

Creative Potager post “more painting” shows a couple of images of Far Shore in progress.

TO BUY THIS PAINTING: Critical information for Buyers including the price is posted on a separate page HERE.

Far Shore is the third of three original oil paintings on sale over three days. After each of the three paintings become available they will remain on sale until sold or midnight PST Monday December 6, 2010, whichever comes first.

The first painting East Point Cliffs is still available at the time of this posting.

The second painting Owl’s View is still available at the time of this posting.

Please share this post with others who may be interested. Thank you for coming by and support of my work.

Sprout question: Can you tell us about your most inspiring experience in the fog?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Trees Mist Sun

December 2, 2010December 2, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

I looked out the big windows over the valley and ran for the camera.

How many times have I focused in on these evergreens across the way? Each time I try to capture the wonder I feel when I see how the light is accentuating their beauty. I am never quite satisfied but I share them with you anyway.

It is full on Art Days for me until the end of Monday December 6, 2010.

Today I am taking my oil painting “Cabin on Shore” over to our fancy Oceanwood Inn to be placed prominently on a small easel. I am honoured to be their feature artist for the month of December.

Then I am taking my oil painting “Whisper” and two canvas photography prints down to the Mayne Island Reading Centre (the Library) for the Mayne Island Trincomali Community Arts Council Light and Dark group show that opens tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm.

This evening I am going to go to the Mayne Island Hardward’s Décor Store (or Sue’s Place) for their ladies night. My prints, calendars and cards are included with many special items that have been brought in for local Christmas shopping.

But Friday December 3, 2010 at 7:00 am PST right here on Creative Potager is when the really big event begins. The first of three original oil paintings will go on sale. The second will go up on Saturday and the third on Sunday. After each of the three paintings become available they will remain on sale until sold or midnight PST Monday December 6, 2010, whichever comes first. So exciting!

There is a pre-post with all the critical information for Buyers which is now posted.

Sprout question: What advice does your wise-self offer for creative abundance?

p.s. I hope you will join me and post your encouragement, thoughts and any interesting links for the duration of this special Creative Potager event. You have each been so much a part of my work this year. I would be thrilled if you showed up with your party shoes on.

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

Stories in Mist

November 15, 2010November 15, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

Dawn creeps through the mist, stealing night’s solitude.

Mist settling in between notes of soft music drifts through the room and out into the valley.

Between now and then is the shadow of self… wavering slightly in our imagination.

Sprout question: What stories are your soft edges telling?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Back in the mists of time (search.japantimes.co.jp)

Sweeping

October 27, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

Winds come in off the water, bending and moving the tree’s branches. Even still, these branches are sweeping, catching wisp of songs on the lips of the Salish Sea.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

The composition of this image is unusual, bringing the eye in from the left to the silhouetted trunk and closer as it crosses the frame on the sweeping branch, dropping down on the rocks and out to sea, only to come back again onto the far hill of misty trees. The sight line is an angled backwards Z. Like a piece of complicated music, it requires time to gather in its intricacies. This type of image, like a sentence with several parts connected by commas, is often broken down into smaller bites so we can devour it more quickly. I resisted. I kept its complicated-sweeping-whole and place the image in the Mayne Island Tree Spirits calendar’s month of June. It is there for me as much as I placed it there for you.

Sprout question: What creative principle have you resisted recently?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Tree Blocks: A Natural Building Toy that’s Easy to Craft (craftingagreenworld.com)

Mayne Island Tree Spirits

October 22, 2010November 29, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 28 Comments

Mayne Island is a magical place and in the rolling fog off the water it is even more magnificent. The dryads, fairies, nymphs and tree spirits are just out of sight or maybe not? Let’s have a look.

The fog is thick and little can be seen along the shore trail.

The pine seems to bend back to let us past.

One branch reaching forward with pine needles harboring hope of something special… do you see anything?

Let’s head inland for a bit.

Light in coming through the mist.

A sense of missing.

Resting.

Reflections of trees caught in webs.

Watchful. Present.

Distant beauty.

Traveling into the mist.

Together.

Trees growing together.

Tall wonder.

Many of these images are part of Mayne Island Tree Spirits 2011 calendar.

Shall we stay awhile, wondering back through the trees to the shore? Maybe the old crone will be out on the point with her camera. She is often here – squinting when the light is bright.

Have a great weekend!

Sprout question: Do you know of a place that is filled with tree spirits?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Gulf Islands in Fog

October 21, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Ferry whistles wake me this morning as they navigate through the thick fog. The haunting sound is like that of a moving a fog horn being answered by another a little further on.

When we were out for our walk yesterday, I took this image of rolling fog in Active Pass. This morning we are still above it here at la casa de inspiracion but it is creeping towards the valley next to Heck Hill as it moves in off the water. We are only about a third of the way up the cliff side or 81 really large steps on the stairway to heaven but it is enough to escape the fog – for now.

I hope to have more images for us tomorrow of the fog in the trees. It was amazing.

Sprout question: What is your favourite experience of fog?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

BC Ferries share the Salish Sea sometimes to its own peril

August 4, 2010August 4, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

Yesterday’s post introduces the first blog clip about a series I am compelled to paint about the newly named Salish Sea. Today I am going to take us on a photo journey where BC Ferries share these busy waters, sometimes to its own peril.

The main thoroughfare between Vancouver, the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island is Active Pass and it is as busy as the name implies. BC Ferries share these waters with fishing boats, freighters, kayakers, pleasure boats, sail boats, whale watching boats, tug boats and float planes… in addition to whales, seals, salmon, sea lions, sea otters, eagles, cormorants and seagulls.

Often, whether on the one of BC Ferries vessels or on shore, the three blasts of the ferry horn can be heard warning another sea traveler to get out of its path. But an accident like yesterday morning where rope tangled around the propeller of the Queen of Nanaimo preventing her from slowing adequately as she came into the Village Bay berth at Mayne Island is, thankfully, a rare occurrence.

Four passengers and one or possibly two crew members were injured as a result of the accident. The vessel is reported to have sustained damage to the rubbing strake and bow door frame. The terminal sustained damage to the wingwalls, which are part of the berthing structure, as well as to the ramp apron. Village Bay has two berths, so the terminal remains operational.

On Friday July 30, 2010, I left Mayne Island for a long weekend visit to Oroville Washington high desert. The ferry terminal was waking with stunning beauty as BC Ferries vessels and fishing boats appeared and disappeared in the drifting fog.

The Mayne Queen departs after dropping off passengers and vehicles from Saturna Island who join us in the wait for the Queen of Nanaimo. Blasts from the ship’s whistle can be heard as she navigates through the thick mist

I slip into the back of my pickup truck “Miss Prissy” to get a better view as the vessel that left Salt Spring Island and then Pender Island approach the Village Bay terminal. I am on my way to Vancouver. The Queen of Nanaimo is the ferry that will take me there after another stop on Galiano Island.

In minutes we are on board and I move around the outer decks taking photos…

Morning coffee aboard the Queen of Nanaimo

fishing boat and BC Ferries

View and purchase full resolution image here.

and the mist hanging on Galiano Island as we enter Active Pass.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Yesterday, on my scheduled return trip, BC Ferries staff wait to reach me before I get to the Tsawwassen ticket booth. Do I have a reservation? I did. The Queen of Nanaimo has been in an accident. The ship can’t be moved. I am being rerouted to Victoria. I will be given priority on sailings going to Mayne Island at 3:00 pm and 4:25 pm. I won’t be charged any extra fare. I move forward in the line.

My mind begins to scramble with making all the necessary changes – make sure David has food for lunch, cancel my afternoon coaching sessions and all the other details that come to mind when our plans are set aside in the immediacy of the unexpected. I reach the ticket booth and hand over my credit card to verify my reservation.

Numbly I ask the ticket agent what happened. She gave me a brief rundown. The ferry hit the berth hard on its approach. The cause is under investigation. I ask if anyone was hurt. My heart sank as she confirmed that “yes, people had been hurt.” I line up in row 40 to wait for the large new Coastal Celebration ferry that will drop me at Swartz Bay around noon… just about the same time as I had expected to be home. I start making phone calls sorting out the changes to my day. It is summer tourist season. Many people around me are from someplace else speaking a language I don’t understand. I look for familiar faces and find one. We recap the morning sharing bits of information as we try to create a new reality that is different than the one we had imagined.

The rest of morning and afternoon I continue to make ongoing adjustments. No I can’t go into Victoria. The scheduled runs are overloaded. We are told to proceed directly to the terminal area for the Gulf Islands. Extra trips are scheduled but by the time it is decided who will go on which ferries and extra staff are found we leave at the scheduled 3:00 pm time only stopping at Mayne Island first before the Mayne Queen continues on to Saturna Island.

By the time I arrive home and see the Queen of Nanaimo still sitting in the berth at Village Bay – the very vessel that was to bring me home five hours earlier – I was exhausted but pleased with my ability to ride with the changing currents with the sun at my back and the wind in my face.

The Vancouver Sun reports:

Injuries to the passengers ranged from a concussion to a possible broken ankle and possible cracked ribs.

Mike Corrigan, B.C. Ferries executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said the preliminary investigation points to “a significant amount of rope in the propellers, especially in the port propellers.”

He said the rope, likely from crab or prawn traps, made it impossible for the crew to adjust the propellers. “So when the captain tried to go astern to slow the vessel down, basically the propeller was stuck in a forward position and wouldn’t let him do that.”
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Ferries+Ropes+tangling+props+caused+ferry+dock+hard/3354052/story.html#ixzz0vfG5tFE5

The Queen of Nanaimo will have to undergo sea trials before it is back in operation. A smaller vessel will try and do some of the regular schedule but it won’t nearly be enough at the height of the tourist season. This story won’t be news today. The world will have moved their attention on to other events. But if you live in the Southern Gulf Islands or were planning on coming to our beautiful part of the Salish Sea the waves of this incident will continue to ripple for days.

Sprout Question: When was the last time your day ran ahead of you while you skidded along behind hanging on to its tail?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

what seen is not always there

May 27, 2010May 28, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 29 Comments

Clouds break and the late sun rushes in, leaving its mysterious glow cascading across the valley. In this moment the turning of earth is visible and tangible – not just a known fact.

View full resolution and purchase image here.

Looking east finds the familiar last light from the west at the edge of the forest…

It is beautiful but not what I am feeling. Something is missing. I head to the digital darkroom musing about what the camera couldn’t catch. I went to work to find what it was I had experienced – teasing it out from between the pixels….

View full resolution and purchase image here.

Sprout Question: What do you do when your creativity on the outside doesn’t match what you are experiencing inside?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Good Intentions

April 20, 2010April 20, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 18 Comments

Last evening when I was turning out the lights I had a plan for this morning’s Creative Potager post. I would post a couple of red tulip photos I’ve been working on with a simple sprout question about “red” and that would be it. I wanted quick, simple and something ready to go as I have a busy day today.

Well, this morning it was all soft, misty and raining. As I sipped my coffee and contemplate the day I think about the tulip draped in morning light with big drops of rain pooling and running down its smooth surface. That is about the very point when my good intentions from last evening begin to unravel.

Sniffing the freshness of green and moisture, I slip into the side yard where two ears wiggle and a curious nose sniffs back at me from the other side of the deer fence – which, as a gardener, is where I like to see these critters… on the OTHER side of the deer fence.

Since we are going round to the front yard, I might as well show you the new garden bed I’m digging while we are here. I wanted a labyrinth but the space is too small so this is my creative solution.

Oh yes, the tulip…

Then I decide to be a raindrop having fallen for thousands of feet clinking and clanking into other raindrops before seeing my destination… oh what a place to land!

Since we have gone this far and I am only slightly damp, why don’t we go part way down the eighty-one steps on stairway-to-heaven and have a quick look out over the valley from under the firs?

Now as an after thought here are the two images I had planned for this morning….

tulip kaleidoscope

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red tulip in mid-day sun

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Sprout Question: What happens to your good intentions when they meet head-on with your creative muse?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

More Painting

April 8, 2010April 23, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 23 Comments

Power outage lends itself to another day painting

We had another power outage (due to winds knocking over a huge arbutus tree on Village Bay road at 1:40 am). I awake at 7:00 am. The power is still out. I decide to see if I can find a coffee before doing anything else. Ah yes! The bakery is serving coffee using generator power. Armed with to-go thermos cups filled with black gold, I return home and prepare our usual fruit, yogurt and grain cereal for breakfast. With few alternatives, I settle on my favourite activity of the moment – painting.

The wild underpainting had dried on my 18X24 by 2 inch canvas.

I go to work. At one o’clock this afternoon the power comes on again and I am ready to take a break and share the progress with you.

There is more to do but it is a good start.

Sprout Question: What is your creative activity of choice when the power goes out?

Note: My apologies for being late with today’s post but you will have to take it up with the wind and the arbutus tree… they have let me know they are taking full responsibility for the delay.

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