Musings

Just into southern California - writing from Bakersfield, about 100 miles east of LA.  We did a similar trip a year ago and chuckled when we realized that last year it took us four days to get here from home; this year it took 21 days!  The highlights of our meandering ways this week included a trip into San Francisco and visits to Napa and Sonoma.  We were able to leave our chariot in an RV park outside the city and approach the city by passenger ferry.  Fun for us country kids to see skyscrapers and climb aboard cable cars - as thrilling as the rides at any amusement park.

Never mind the (excellent) wine, the Napa and Sonoma wineries are enchanting and the
countryside idyllic.  At this time of year mustard is prolific everywhere, even beneath the vines.  
From a distance, it looks as though a master splashed the landscape liberally with bright yellow paint.

Back to the coast for perhaps the highlight of the week - Point Reyes National Seashore,
not far northwest of San Francisco.  It's desolate beauty is completely captivating - isolated
farms, thousands of grazing cows, pocket beaches littered with resting elephant seals. We
watched as they deliberately covered themselves with sand and we learned that they sometimes
stay put for three months!

Local hiking trails reminded us of walking in Ireland or Scotland. The weather changed dramatically
several times in the few hours we were there. We dodged occasional downpours and were lucky
with timing for long walks.

Point Reyes itself - another treacherous headland.  The blustery wind so strong the stairs to
the lighthouse were closed and I struggled to hold my camera still enough for a photograph!

Signing off from sunny, chilly CA - up to about 10 C in the daytime and just below freezing at
night.  But here is the view from our window this morning, and we are allowed to harvest!

Week Two - did I mention surf?  

and lighthouses?

The joy of traveling in the off season: that small white dot on the far right (above) is our
motorhome - the only vehicle visible for miles around.

Love the sun-kissed wind-blown wave tops:

and the abundance of foam:

Tricky cliffside coastal driving, amazing views:

and seaside lunch stops.

The sun dipping into that endless swallowing sea...

Gone, but not forgotten...

A slight detour inland along Redwood Highway to the Avenue of the Giants - narrow roads,
magnificent trees:

The Mattole Road leads out of the redwoods to the coast - our "not to scale" map gave us no 
indication of the length, condition, beauty of what lay ahead.  Three hours of the most remote
California coast (who knew that California even had a remote coast).

Fortunately, the motorhome was safe and sound at an RV park in Arcata (near Eureka) - this 
road was a challenge even by car.  But worth it (says me, not the driver).  Almost no cars, 
a handful of farms, lots of grazing cows and sheep; a rugged mountain road that dipped
to skirt the ocean before rising for the next switchback climb.

Here's what we found - after the fact - online:  "there’s one area of the coast that’s so rugged,
so remote, that road builders simply didn’t try.  This area is known, appropriately enough,
as the Lost Coast."  

Lost no more, back on the I-5, we head on...

A week into our planned two-month rain-escape odyessy - with our motorhome and "toad" (what
motorhome owners call their towed vehicle)...

Not hard to find rainbows along the very wet northwest coast of Washington as we head 
towards Cape Flattery, the most northwest and wettest point of the contiguous United States.

The promised smoked salmon shack at Neah Bay was missing salmon - the shack was
a SHACK, offering only frozen halibut.  The fishers were hunkering down in port in winter 
storms.  

Camp wood is advertised and readily available along the coastal route. A friend now says he
knows the difference - camp wood smokes and firewood burns.

South of Forks, WA, we detoured into the Hoh Rainforest - a gem we might have dismissed
given our familiarity with BC rain and forest.  Glad we didn't - it's easily accessible and 
magnificent.

Even elk endure the relentless rain.

South to Cape Disappointment State Park just across the bridge from Astoria Oregon -
another gem - a park encompassing a state of the art marine coast guard rescue station
- practicing helicopter rescues when we were there. (That's not a manikin.)

The view from one of the two park lighthouses - a freighter sounding it's horn constantly - 
and no wonder as it is quickly enveloped in dense fog.

Across the bridge to the Maritime Museum in Astoria Oregon. Not "comfortable" with stark
reminders of the immense power of the sea - fortunately balanced by equally compelling
stories of coast guard rescue.  Even given the sophistication of today's knowledge and marine
technology, 600 people require rescue every year at the confluence of the Columbia River
and the Pacific Ocean, the location known to mariners as "The Graveyard of the Pacific".

And a tsunami story ...

We traveled this coast 49 years ago - blissfully unaware of tidal waves.  Today US 101 travels 
in and out of tsunami safety zones with every passing mile, and awareness of escape to higher
ground tempers pure coastal exhilaration (or at least it does for me more and more as I age, 
and having lived in Japan, the earthquake epicentre).

Cannon Beach - famous for Haystack Rock, a Pacific monolith.  

Impressive, but more captivating was the art scene - amazing unpretentious galleries deserve
Cannon Beach's reputation as the "Carmel of Oregon".  Photographs (with permission) taken 
at Bronze Coast Gallery 
http://www.bronzecoastgallery.com

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport offers a close-up view of what we miss as we gaze
from above at this amazing coast.

Not sure what's around the next corner - stay tuned.

Excited that two of my images - one colour, one black and white, have been juried into the
Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery art show - show runs February 3rd to 24th.
www.ladysmithwaterfrontgallery.com

A note to mark the nearing of solstice and the end of 2017 - and to imagine beginnings as the new year approaches. 
The closure of Red Tree Gallery (a significant part of my life for eight years) means that I am looking back with nostalgia and forward for new paths to explore.  At the time of writing, mist signifies the unknowingness of what lies ahead.

November was windy and wet - no surprise - but even downpours may be interesting.  West coast
rain can be dreary - or, sometimes, golden, as seen through this back-lit wind-
screen:

And, speaking of glow - this taken on a more favourable day:

Fall reveals the backbone of trees denuded - sinuous, strong, earthy, rooted:

December brings the return of the buffleheads - en masse.  One morning perfectly smooth
water was ruffled by their arrival. Here they are beating a hasty retreat - they are particularly
shy and probably sensed my presence:

Looking ahead - my camera will continue to be my daily companion and I love that I don't 
yet know where it will lead.  At home I can't resist the marvel of sunrise; it spells hope:

As 2017 comes to a close, it seems appropriate to end with full-circles of pink/orange clouds and 
blue skies.  For each of you I wish peace, new beginnings, and fulfillment.

As a member of Red Tree Gallery for eight years, it is with a mixture 
of sadness and a sense of upcoming challenge/opportunity that I write. 

After twelve years, Red Tree Gallery launches its final month-long
showcase of beautiful artwork on the waterfront at Hope Bay.  The
artist reception takes place tomorrow, Saturday December 2nd - join
us for warmth, chocolates, bubbly and, most importantly, fine art
between 11 and 4.  We offer thanks to the Pender community that has
supported the Pender Island Artisan Cooperative since the inception
of the gallery.  Red Tree Gallery remains open until 4 pm on December 31st.

http://www.redtreegallery.ca

Autumn - change is in the air.  I have been a member of the Red Tree Cooperative for eight years, and have treasured my time as part of our vibrant collective.  While the cooperative will continue, the associated store-front Red Tree Gallery is winding down. This is what appeared in this month's issue of the Pender Post.  (Please forgive me if you have received this more than once.  I want to ensure that anybody who wants to visit the gallery is aware that time is of the essence.)

Pender Islands Artisan Cooperative has operated the Red Tree Gallery at Hope Bay for over twelve years.  Artists have kept the gallery open through busy summers and quiet winters, and visitors and Penderites alike have expressed tremendous appreciation for the visual feast and tranquil atmosphere that greets them as they walk through the doors.  Thirty Pender artists have shown their work at the Red Tree over the years, and the work of a dozen guest artists has been featured over the last three summers.   
Sadly we have taken the decision to close the gallery at the end of this year.  However the Red Tree Cooperative will continue with a plan to mount one or more shows each year.  Look for updates in the coming months.   We will sign off with "Remembering" in November and a thank you to the community in December and hope that you will continue to visit the gallery between now and then.  Thank you for your generous support over the years and for pointing your guests in our direction.                          Monica (Mira) Petrie, PIAC Chair for the Members 

Personally I will miss the Red Tree walls tremendously as a place to show my work along with the work of a variety of talented Pender Island artists.  "When one door closes, another opens" - the trick is to find it.  I certainly won't stop taking pictures but I may not mat and frame as many!

This fall is melancholy with the prospect of Red Tree closing, but I continue to be nourished by the warmth and beauty of the season.

www.DianeMacDonaldPhotography.com

The Sidney Fine Art Show opens Friday October 13th and runs through Sunday October 15th (the weekend after Thanksgiving).  I am thrilled to have had three pieces accepted - the show is always a feast for the eyes and well worth visiting.     http://www.DianeMacDonaldPhotography.com

Pure Gold

    
 Bounty   

 
 Flight of Fancy

The photographs I have taken for our September show, Through the Looking Glass, feature glass and other reflective surfaces.  I love experimenting with the play of light, and, for this end-of-summer show I aim to focus on play.   

http://www.DianeMacDonaldPhotography

A highlight of summer - Art off the Fence on South Pender Island. The show runs Saturday and Sunday next weekend, July 15 and 16, from 11 to 4 each day. The venue is the grounds of The Church of the Good Shepherd, immediately beside and within easy walking distance of Poet's Cove Resort and Marina. This is the 21st annual Art off the Fence show, and is widely anticipated on and beyond Pender Island shores. There will be wonderful art and music - bring a picnic and plan to stay awhile.

I will be showing photography and mixed media work. There will be framed photographs printed 'traditionally' on paper (see boats anchored in Browning Harbour below), and some unframed canvas pieces (Bisected Sun below).

http://www.DianeMacDonaldPhotography.com