whales

Whale You Be Mine? - Free Colouring Page

in ,

Happy February! I hope everyone is hanging in there okay with all the insane societal polarization that seems to be taking over the media. This world really needs a little empathy and love now more than ever if we are going to get through it all. I’ve been finding myself checking social media or the news less and less these days as I think I’ve just about had enough of it all. 

I’ve definitely spent most of the winter plugging away on lots of client projects (most of which I cannot share… yet), but have had a healthy balance of work and play. I’m also working on a few changes in my business. After moving to a new town, and pretty much changing EVERYTHING in my life in the past 2 years, I have been feeling like it is time to grow professionally as well. I have decided to give my art business a name - ‘Bearfoot Creative Studio’, a name which resonates with me…Claire Watson Art no longer feels right and I feel like I am moving on from it. My intention for the switch is so that I will treat my ‘business’ more seriously and not as a side hustle (even though it IS my full time gig). I also find it super challenging to ‘sell’ myself and my work (I am sure many of you artists can relate to this as well), but by taking myself out of it (even if only by name) I will treat it as something to grow and nourish. I also feel as if it will allow me to play with merchandise more as a ‘brand’. I am excited about the change… I love ‘building’ to this gets the creative juices flowing’. Please follow @bearfootcreative on Instagram as that will become my primary for the business side of my art (commerce, new products etc.)… my other account will be more works in progress and things that inspire and motivate me!

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For those who are new to my site, each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download as a high resolution PDF here (scroll down to the button below). If you would like them to come straight to your inbox when I occasionally send out a newsletter, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month (more like once every 4 haha)! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please (which will be changing up next month).

whales heart colouring page

It's Whale Festival Time!

in

After a year hiatus, the annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival is coming back to Tofino and Ucluelet. This is the week long event where residents of the Pacific Rim come together to celebrate the return of the migrating Grey Whales (and mark the official ‘start’ of the season)! In theory the weather should be improving too (Tofitian’s love to talk about the weather). Check out their website for the schedule of events and come on out.

FREE COLOURING PAGE:

Each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download here (scroll down to the button below), and on the Tourism Tofino website. If you would like them to come straight to your inbox each month as I am planning to start doing that for 2020, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please.

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February Colouring Page - West Coast Whales

in

Hard to believe it is already February. January was a pretty stormy month, but cozy all the same. Needless to say, I am certainly looking forward to a break from windy wet days so I can spend some more time outside and NOT covered in rubber rain gear!

Not too much to update on this month. Its back to piles of client projects… most of which I can’t really share until the clients do, so I am just hunkering down and getting them done. Soon its time to get some work done for the upcoming market season… its going to be here faster than we think!!

This colouring page is a little different… I have been drawing a ton of whales for different things lately so whales have been filling my head. I may as well fill yours with them too as The Pacific Rim Whale Festival is coming up in March (it took a hiatus last year). Enjoy!

FREE COLOURING PAGE:

Each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download here (scroll down to the button below), and on the Tourism Tofino website. If you would like them to come straight to your inbox each month as I am planning to start doing that for 2020, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please.

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Celebrating Our Oceans - West Coast Colouring Page

in ,

World Oceans Day is coming up on June 8th, and it is a time to CELEBRATE our connection to the oceans no matter where we live. This months colouring page is inspired by just that. In the spirit of #oceanoptimism, I’d like to share what I LOVE about the ocean and why it is so important to me…

I have spent most of my life around or on the ocean and these are just some of the things that really stand out for me. The smell… all of them… even the stinky ones. The sound of eagles, wailing seagulls, whining crows, barking sea lions… even float planes and boats have a sound of people living and working on the sea. The excitement on small children faces as they fish off the dock for little perch. Fishing for and eating fresh caught wild salmon or cracking into Dungeness. Walking the beaches and watching the waves. Watching dogs race across the sand as they experience a true sense of freedom. Fond memories of sailing at night when pacific white sided dolphins come like rockets to a bow wake with phosphorescent fairy trails. The wind in my hair and the tangled mess it leaves behind. Paddle boarding in quiet bays where there are no people. Feeling the weather changes in the pressure of the air, and the water movement in the ebb and flow of the tides. Seeing whales jump and feed, or bears digging under rocks at the beach looking for snacks. Drawing ocean creatures and trying my best to capture the essence of them as best as I can (since I do not have gills of my own). Even my fair share of frightening moments on the ocean too… yet I come back for more. I feel so lucky to be living the life I have, and I have the ocean to thank for that.  

Whether we live on the coast or deep inland, the health of our oceans affects every one of us. Being aware of the value of our oceans and the current challenges that they face is our responsibility as human beings. With all the media out there talking climate change, ocean plastics, melting glaciers, oil spills and salmon farms it can be overwhelming. We can’t fix it all today, but we can pick one. Start with one. It is our responsibility to protect what we love and I feel the best way to do this is to inspire others to love and respect it too. I encourage all of you who haven’t seen the ocean, or who live deep within concrete walls to make a trip to the coast. It is the only true way to understand. It is only a matter of time before we reach the tipping point where little actions become normal behaviour and they impact the world in a positive way.  

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