Wildflowers outside a public library in Victoria, BC.

Sketching sailboats on the marina in Comox, BC.

On a drive far north on Vancouver Island.

I visit and walk the grand and immaculate city of Victoria, BC with her nature, considerate light, cloak of forrest, fog, rainforest, and expanding architecture. I am finding this beautiful place where everything stops. Serge and I make plans to travel through northern BC island from Victoria to Comox to Qualicum Beach to Campbell River far north to Port Alice..

Bouts of somewhat heavy rain and fog come late into the day as we drive from Victoria to Comox, north into Vancouver Island, while the ocean scent rotates between salty and woody and sweet again.

I draw at the Comox Marina, solemn sailboats at the reach of the town. Stroll through the open Comox Gallery & Museum, into and out of a few bookstores, impressed by scattered art supplies and stationary inside the local art supply store. Then, talk with volunteers-artists at the Comox Gallery where I spot a large book title by Emily Carr, mother to Canadian art and literature, originally from Vancouver, who represented indigenous culture as well as depicting the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Her paintings represent Vancouver Island in a beautiful way I can’t forget as I appreciate and travel the landscape.

My hands and a very large Maple among the autumn leaves falling hiking Comox Valley.

Maple and pears in my sketchbook in pencils and gouache display a autumn palette.

I observe the next hour of trees, blank streets, and quiet nature again through the pages of my car window. Stop to walk the winding stairwell at the edge of Kye Beach to the peak of an old neighborhood surrounded by country maple trees and their changing leaves large and colorful. I collect those smaller red leaves inside my sketchbook as crows crowd the power lines and ocean and part again every which way.

Break at Kye beach in Comox, and again stroll the low tide when at the beach at Qualicum Bay. I find washed up mermaid’s sand dollars sticking out of the sand, and soft shell remnant that I stuff into my pockets — a white so white. At ocean’s edge — think about drawing scenes from marine life, its ecosystems and ocean.

Standing before the ocean slows down everything. I am transformed right where I am — standing at the water’s edge. I feel small, my vision expands. Sending you warmth and bright this fall and into early winter .Thank you for reading!
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Autumn Landscape

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