Happy New Year Twenty Twenty One...

in ,

I’m not a big fan of New Years resolutions as January 1st isn’t particularly a magic reset button to new behaviour, but now that the dust has settled in my own life and there seems to be an air of hope in the world, I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things, and making my own projects a huge priority for 2021. Although this small block of time is a bit of a holiday time warp, I really love clearing the clutter of the computer files, the studio desk… basically all the stuff that’s built up in the eddies, restricting my creative flow! Now out come the lists, the blank sketchbooks, a brand new planner, the freshly sharpened pencils… an outpouring of new ideas and scheduling for a new year. Lets hope we can maintain this momentum in the weeks and months to come. I see so many posts of people happy to see the back side of 2020, and although it was a ‘challenging’ year to say the least, it also had some really great things happen too. Heck my daughter NAILED it. She said… “If you are happier at the end of the year than you were at the start of the year then it was all in all a good year.” So for us, 2020 WAS a good year. It was a pretty big roller coaster ride, but a good year none the less. I guess its like anything… going through a big storm makes you really grateful when then clouds part, and the ocean calms. It can be just the little things that you appreciate after that.

So I think that maybe after about 4.5 years of monthly colouring pages, I SHOULD do a book. This latest colouring page is ‘busy’ since we are all supposed to be laying low again, and I am sure you all want a break from Christmas jigsaw puzzles and Netflix holiday specials! Oooooh… maybe a puzzle would be cool… okay back to work!

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season and may 2021 be a LOT more smooth sailing than 2020 was for most. xo

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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 each month as I am planning to start doing sometime this year, 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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Happy Holidaze - Colouring Page

in ,

Hah! I just realized that I forgot to upload last months page as one month seems to blur into the next these days. Ah well the past is the past… its time to move into some Christmas Spirit and winding down this bonkers year! Bring on the baking and the twinkly lights, and the rum and egg nog. No amount of Covid chaos will dampen my holiday spirit this year dangit!!! I always love doing the holiday colouring pages… I feel I can just let loose and be silly. This year I am doing something extra special (since we are all on orders to steer clear of going out again). I have compiled 5 of my holiday pages into one file free for download on my shop page for your ‘sit by the fire’ holiday colouring enjoyment. Let that be my gift to you this season (or you can simply scroll down and download this years as usual)!

As 2020 comes to a close I want to extend an ENORMOUS thanks to everyone for your support this year, both professionally and personally (you know who you are). I know its hard as everyone has been hit by Covid in one way or the other, be it their business, their personal life, or people close to them. Regardless of all that came with it (as I am sure everyone is also navigating THOSE waters in their own way), 2020 was definitely a whopper for me. A big freaking reset button of grand proportions… and it had nothing to do with a pandemic (that just made it oh so much more ‘fun’). Sure, Covid affected my business in many ways of course (closed shops, no market, businesses curbing their spending on design work etc), but it was my personal life and my relationship with my partner that took a significant turn which threw all my puzzle pieces of planning and feelings of security and/or direction sky high. It 100% hampered my creativity for sure (hence a relatively quite social media presence this year), as I spend more time just trying to figure out next moves. Its hard to know whether its better to divulge whats happening with clients and followers, or simply put my head down, get to work, stay classy and pretend like nothings changed for the sake of the deadlines (which definitely suffered a bit too). As I tend to be relatively private in my personal life, I just hammered though it, leaned into it and kept one eye on the light at the end… just letting go, and going with the flow. As I feel more settled in my new space, and I am pretty happy to be feeling like myself again. All the puzzle pieces are settling back into place now and I feel like the worst is over. I feel those creative juices FLOODING back, and now its time for me again to sink my teeth into building my work! Staying optimistic that 2021 will be a rockin’ good year!

Thanks again for everything peeps! Warmest wishes this season! xo

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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 each month as I am planning to start doing sometime this year, 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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Deep Blue - Colouring Page

in ,

It’s October! I forgot what it was like to live in a place with somewhat stereo typical seasons! To a visitor used to seeing the obvious leaf colour changes, it is harder to know the seasons are changing in Tofino unless you have spent time there as the trees remain green year round, and the temperature only fluctuates on average 15-20 degrees or so all year (I know a couple of people who wear sandals and shorts all year). The changes in season come in different ways. The season for the feeding bears and visiting whales, lifecycle of the salmon, the different birds on the beach, the levels of fog, the measurement of rain and strength of the wind, the weight of the dew, the location of sunrise and set, the size and quality of the swell, the line up at the coffee shop and the brewery, and the daylight… or diminishing daylight. October is on of my favourite months in both places. Wool sweaters, Turkey dinners, my daughters birthday, all the Halloween weirdos… its just a fun creative time. Now I get to explore Victoria area more, visit pumpkin patches, hike through fallen leaves, drink pumpkin spice everything, slurp soup and doodle some Inktobers! Perfect time now to get back on track and get some creative projects finished up.

On the note of hunkering down… Have you seen My Octopus Teacher on Netflix yet? Quite a touching and beautiful story/documentary. Definitely worth a watch. This months colouring page is all about those curious cephalopods… <3

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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 each month as I am planning to start doing sometime this year, 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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KAKAWIN - Colouring Page

in ,

I am a little mind blown that it is September already. I can feel the chill in the air in the evenings now, and see that the sun doesn’t want to stay up as late anymore, and the dew is a little heavier too. I actually love September. It is a time for organization, routine and a feeling of productivity. This year has flown by, and I am sure it has felt that way for many of you too.

We are settled in our place in Victoria now. I’m already sad to be missing my morning harbour sunrises, my dock family, my friends (sorry if I didn’t say bye… I’m terrible at them), and my little stinky otter pals, but I’ll be back and forth… often (and I’m not THAT far away). Being a live aboard in the harbour for over 6 years was amazing, but certainly not without its challenges. I love living on boats…it keeps you so in tune with the weather and the tides, and the sleeps are the best (except maybe the 6 weeks of storms in the winter), and doing so for so many years has given me a huge appreciation for the little things that most take for granted (showers, laundry, full sized fridge, freezer, actual WORK SPACE with all my supplies under one roof… and basically not living out of totes anymore). It’s made me a resourceful and pretty hardy gal, and truly grateful for the little things. I am looking forward to be able to spread out and be able to play with mediums that I couldn’t really use unless it was summer and could do so outdoors (I just bought a 36”x48” canvas to pick away at). So that being said, lets open the page to a fresh new chapter. All you peeps in Vic, I am here now… feel free to reach out!

As we were hauling all our stuff off the boat, there had been a few instances of Orcas, or Kakawin in Nuu-chah-nulth cruising through the harbour (I had the best neighbours), so I felt it fitting to include them into this months colouring page (and Robinson, I even included your boat at your workshop on Strawberry Island)! What colours do you see when the late summer fog breaks in the mornings? Feel free to colour and tag #tofinocolour if you want to show me your stuff!

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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 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 sometime this year, 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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TIDE POOL - Colouring Page

in ,

It has been a few months since my last post and colouring page. With Tofino Time taking a print hiatus during the initial Covid ‘crisis’, I took the opportunity to also give my creative brain a break too. It was a good rest, but now I am back in the swing of things again.

This colouring page is inspired by the current state of Tofino (or probably any small remote tourist town). A crowded ‘tide pool’ of groups of visitors hoping to escape the cities and go where there is ‘space’. Unfortunately though, being such a small town, Tofino is basically a potential petrie dish of possible infection. Residents are hiding out, while visitors crowd the shops, streets and beaches. Don’t get me wrong… I like having visitors here, and I know the business owners are happy to have ‘business’ again, but its such a strange juxtaposition of local economic needs versus the health and welfare of the people, and no one seems to know the ‘right’ thing to do these days. So much confusion, and that stress brings out so many different reactions in people. A little empathy can go along way (except maybe for the deliberate fools that totally disregard the suggested protocols). The weather has been nice so its not exactly a chore to chill in the harbour and watch the boats, enjoy some creative time, or disappear to less travelled trails and spaces for the day!

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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 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 sometime this year, 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.

I love donating my colouring pages for all to use. Heck, one day I may make a book, but who knows? Donations are 100% optional, but they’ll definitely help keep me motivated to do more of them.

Donate

ALONE TOGETHER - COLOURING PAGE

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Pretty crazy times these days. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken over the media and people minds all over the globe. It’s hard to clear your head when there is so much information… both accurate and inaccurate that is flooding the news and social media. Tofino is pretty much shut down… most of the shops and restaurants have voluntarily closed, and the District of Tofino along with Tourism Tofino and the Chamber of Commerce have asked visitors to stay home and not come (or go home if you are here). Fair enough… we only have one small grocery store, and a big enough population that solely relies on it so it is already stretched thin. No one knows how long it will last, and everyone reacts and deals in their own way, so it’s really important to practice kindness and compassion right now. Thanks to all the front line workers at all the essential services and businesses for hanging in there during this.

As a freelance illustrator, I work from home already so the concept of self isolation isn’t really a new thing for me, but we do live in a small space which certainly makes it tricky to buy lots of supplies to carry us through this. I also miss the spin bike at the gym already… but I bought a yoga mat, and the dog is getting regular walks. I’ve been getting regular text and messages from friends and family, and I am making sure to reach out to them too. Not everyone likes self-isolation so its important to check in with those people who are going nuts stuck at home. Rowan and I are working on staying creative, keeping well hydrated, eating and sleeping well to keep our immune system strong!

I am still finishing up some projects for clients. I am honestly not sure whether that will stop during this global crisis, or whether people and business owners who are forced to stay home and maybe work ON their businesses (creating work for me). Uncertain times, but I am just going to keep on trucking. If I don’t have client projects to do I will create more art and work on finishing up my playing card deck. I am sure the economy will be taking a hefty hit, but there is always plenty to do to keep me busy enough.

On a weirdly positive note, global pollution is way down. Apparently because of tourism and the traffic, Venice hasn't seen clear canal water in ages. Even Dolphins and fish have been appearing, and swans are enjoying the peace! Perhaps nature is taking an opportunity to reset. It will be interesting to see how we all come out of this.

In this meantime, here are some Pacific White Sided Dolphins to colour while you self-isolate. Let them remind you that we will all be swimming together soon enough (and not just in spirit)!

Oh, and wash your hands. xo

Greetings from my window… a few feet away from you all.

Greetings from my window… a few feet away from you all.

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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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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Happy New Year

in ,
WANTED: Turkey Bandit and accomplices. Probably moving slowly after all that turkey, yams, potatoes, roasted veg and stuffing. Seems to have opposable thumbs. May have a greasy face, bloated belly and still be carrying a container of his leftovers. …

WANTED: Turkey Bandit and accomplices. Probably moving slowly after all that turkey, yams, potatoes, roasted veg and stuffing. Seems to have opposable thumbs. May have a greasy face, bloated belly and still be carrying a container of his leftovers. Thanks for leaving us the cranberry sauce.

Another Christmas come and gone. It honestly feels like yesterday that I was putting down LAST years tree! This season seemed short and sweet. We spent some time before Christmas in Victoria, Sooke and Mayne Island visiting family, then picked up our eldest daughter and brought her home for a few days over Christmas. It’s never enough time to really get quality visits with everyone, but I suppose thats just how it is when family is spread around like that. Tofino is tough to come to at that time of year… especially when living on a boat as there isn’t really room to put family or friends up and hotel accommodation can be pricey and pretty elusive over those popular days. Nevertheless, it was really nice to just stop and be present. This was also the first Christmas with our new stove, and Adam finished the salon table the week before so we could actually sit around a table and not our laps! I am not sure if those are the reasons it was easily the best Christmas dinner we have ever had, or if it was the company, or the food. Apparently the racoons thought so too… they were waiting patiently for us to put all our leftovers in the cooler outside (not a big enough fridge indoors). Those sneaky buggers managed to get in, and open click lock containers too. Perhaps that made our dinner even better… the fact that we didn’t get the opportunity to get sick of leftovers. 🤣

So here I am… writing a post, drinking coffee, and getting ready to take down this years tree. The week between Christmas and New Years is always a good one. I have no idea what day of the week it is, but I do know that I am already scheming and planning, writing lists and goals…excited for a new year. Wishing you all the best for 2020!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Artist In Action at The Wickininnish Inn: I feel pretty honoured to have been asked to join The Wickaninnish Inn to help ring in the new year as an ‘Artist In Action’. Looking forward to doing some drawing/painting in their super cozy Driftwood Café, while the forecasted wintery winds blow outside on Chesterman Beach! I'll be there at the following times. Come say hi!

Monday, December 30th: 4:00pm - 7:00pm (opening reception)
Tuesday, December 31st: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Wednesday, January 1st: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Thursday, January 2nd: 10:00am - 1:00pm

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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Happy Holidays - Colouring Page and December Events News

in ,

I’m late! I’m late! Wow… this fall/winter has been such a scattered mess of projects and ideas that it’s already December 5th and I haven’t uploaded my colouring page yet! I suppose it’s bad enough I have no new cards or calendars this year for you either!! So sorry! Sometimes it just is’t going to happen (yes you will notice some similarities in my colouring page as well… haha).

So on that note… there are a couple of cool things happening this month.

There are only a few days left to bid on TWO fundraising auctions that I am participating in. One is over at 1% For The Planet. I am auctioning off a Limited Edition ‘Coastal Hunters’ 16x20 Giclée print! This auction wraps up December 9th so get your bid in while you can!

The other one is ‘Friends of Pacific Wild’ #wildauction2019 in support of Pacific Wild’s Fundraising campaigns to conserve and protect the Great Bear Rainforest. Auction Week will be December 2-6, with the auction closing at 5pm December 6. Head over to Instagram to see the original 12x12 piece I created specifically for this event.

If that isn’t enough, I am also participating in the second Pacific Board Art Show over in Cumberland Friday December 6th. I will have a couple of hand painted skateboards for sale at this event. Sounds like its going to be a fun night! Art show with LOTS of cool creatives, live music, and the whole town is taking part in the Little Village Light Up. It also happens to be a fundraiser too… they all seem to be happening this month!!

I’ve also got some cool client projects happening too - book illustrations, logos, posters and an apparel collaboration. So as you can imagine, I had to pull out of the Christmas Winter Artisan Market this year. Sorry to all who were wanting new card designs or calendars… next year… next year.

There is a fun little piece of news though. I decided to sacrifice any chance of a winter vacation, and spend the money on a new printer (and not just any printer) a large format, pigment ink (archival ink), Giclée printer!! I was finding that with the costs to get high end prints printed, I was more hesitant to do smaller runs of archival prints. My lack of storage, and remote location (can’t just quickly drop in to the print shop) is also an issue. This will allow me try more images that I wouldn’t normally get printed. It will also allow me to give my smaller prints a more personal touch. Larger ones and cards will still be done through my favourite crew over at Art Ink Print. :) My little ‘Paperboat Press’ is sitting buried under half painted skateboards and paint until I can get through my list of projects. Looking forward to experimenting with it when I can get to it. haha! 2020 is going to be fun!

I am also admittedly excited to be back to working on the boat! My studio space wasn’t quite working out for me, and I honestly seem to work better in the chaos of my floating space. I decided to save the rent, and go back to working around Rowan’s homeschooling and Adam’s galley/salon building (keep it simple… sort of). It’s weird what we get acclimatized to. That being said… we do have a new stove and almost a salon/work table so our wheelhouse is getting closer to finished!

Anyhow, on that rambling note. A very BIG THANK YOU to all of my supporters this year… it keeps me going on doing what I love to do! I am super excited for 2020 and all it may bring.

And don’t forget to use CHEER2019 if you go to my card for 20% off for the next couple of weeks.

Wishing you all a warm and happy holiday season!!!

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Inktober 2019

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Inktober started about a decade ago by an illustrator named Jake Parker. Each day there is a prompt word, and the challenge is to interpret the word how you want and essentially draw each something each day over the month of October. This is the first year I have actually completed the challenge (with exception of one two day combo drawing). Although I certainly found it challenging (and quite time consuming), I absolutely loved how I felt the freedom to draw what I want, and how I want. No rules other than the prompt, no client requests, no expectations, just drawing for the sake of drawing and getting creative with the prompt words. If you look up the #inktober hashtag on instagram, you will see that there are MILLIONS of artists participating. Some follow themes, some are random, some use just ink, some use digital, and some paint. There are pro and beginner artists too… a pretty wide range of enthusiasts.

I think I am pretty happy with most of my images… some I like better than others for sure. I certainly want to thank all of you for your likes and comments. It was so interesting to see the feedback from folks on my instagram feed, and which ones were favourites. ‘Enchanted’ was the favourite… people seem to like my whales. Next was the combo ‘Ghost/Ancient’… again… bears and salmon. I suppose most of my followers found me by my west coast work so that would make sense. The next was of course, Misfit… everyone likes a smart ass unicorn amidst a pile of uniform horses. I admit I enjoyed drawing the cheeky ones… the ones people would never expect from me. 😏

Maybe next year I will follow a theme, but maybe I will just stick to random, unexpected thoughts and doodles and not put myself in a box!

Bin Bandits - Colouring Page

in ,

The wild west coast often brings on the thought of bears, wolves and cougars as the ‘local’ wildlife, but these critters are the ones who come out at night to cause trouble. Racoons may be super cute, but they can be nasty if cornered (my old husky/malamute lost part of her ear to a young one once). They also will take any opportunity to raid any left out trash. Tofino is full of ‘animal proof’ trash/recycle bins around town so they can’t get in, but they seriously will come all the way down the dock to the boat if we accidentally forget to take our garbage up! You will also notice that most of the bins in town are artfully wrapped (there are three with my art on them). I was going to draw in this one, but I decided to let you try instead. If you want to share it with me, just hashtag #tofinocolour on your post!

This page is also in November’s Tofino Time magazine and up on the Tourism Tofino’s website.

**Please remember, these are free for download, but if you are printing them off to use in businesses or schools, please leave my contact/website information at the bottom of the page. Thank you!**

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Stream Keepers - Colouring Page

in ,

Autumn is finally here! Every year I am stoked for the crispiness of fall. Time to break out the wool socks, beanies, sweaters and gumboots. I’ll miss those warm mornings and long days, but there is something to be said about just getting cozy and creative in this less chaotic time of year. This year I have a studio to retreat to when the weather gets rocky which is something I certainly look forward to!

October being the month of fall colours and Halloween, I did up some wild salmon for you in their more ‘ghouly’ stage of life. The return to spawn to the river from which they came. Starting from tiny eggs buried in beds of fresh water rivers, they go through many stages of fresh water life before venturing out to the open ocean for a few years before making the trip back. Between deforestation and destruction of natural habitats, fish farms, sea lice, natural predators, human industry, climate change, rising ocean temperatures, pollution and other threats, these incredible fish have a tough life. Wild Salmon are a foundational species to life on the Pacific Northwest. Wild Salmon have been a huge part of First Nations culture for ages. People and many species of wildlife depend on the marine-rich nutrients that wild salmon provide. Salmon watersheds provide clean drinking water, and because they are composed of flowing rivers and dense forests, they absorb carbon to slow climate change! The commercial fishing industry also supports local economy and communities along the Pacific Northwest. Wild Salmon are important for so many reason and I am glad to see more and more organizations fighting to protect them and restore their habitats.

You’ll see this page in Tofino Time magazine this October. Please feel free to download from my site as well, but please… pretty please… leave my contact info on the bottom if you are sharing them in your business, or other public spaces. :)

** I love doing these colouring pages and I hope you do too. I am so happy when I see them printed out in restaurants, or used in schools, and I love to see people colouring them! The other day however, I went into one of my favourite shops in the city and saw kids colouring one of my pages. Normally I would be so stoked to see that, but this time honestly I felt cheated and disappointed. The line of contact information at the bottom of the page was cropped off! Now I completely understand that images posted on the web are at risk of this, and perhaps it was an honest mistake, but I have included that contact info at the bottom of every upload so it was definitely deliberately cropped. That info is my calling card. That is so if someone sees the pages and likes my work, they may hire me for a project. I do not get paid for the hours of work these pages take, nor do I charge to use them, but that ability for ‘exposure’ (yup, artists hate that word), and the projects that may come of it is in essence how I do get paid for them. If you want me to keep doing these, then please, all I ask is you leave my info at the bottom of the page. If that is too much to ask, then I will just have to stop giving them away for ‘free’. **

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Deep Sea Drift - Colouring Page

in ,

It is September already… what the heck!? Fall routines are around the corner… back to school shopping, fall sweaters, mushroom picking, and earlier sunsets. Tofitian’s are excited to be able to catch a breath after a busy tourist season once again. Even though I don’t work in the tourism industry per se, I still feel the pressure of everyone who does. Between keeping up with stock for the market and the shops that carry my work, and trying to remain creative while holding down the fort at home while Adam (who IS in the thick of the industry) is out on the water 10-12 hours per day can be a challenge. Not to mention clients needing work done, art shows, and holiday season preparation etc. Short stolen moments to enjoy the summer season in the form of a quick swim, beach walk, or ice cream cone is about all I got in this year… and now it is September.

Even though I love the temperatures in the summertime, fall IS my absolute favourite time of year. Cooler temperatures, wool sweaters and cozy socks. I get caught up on all my admin work, client projects and get to spend more time in the studio. I look forward to holiday preparation and if all goes well, may get an opportunity to enjoy the hot sunshine a couple of borders down. We’ll see…

So with school starting around the corner, here are some jelly fish (Moon Jellies, and Lion’s Mane jellyfish to be more specific) to colour. You’ll find it in the latest Tofino Time magazine too! Enjoy!

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Feathers and Fins - Colouring Page

in ,

We’ve had a convocation of about 6-7 Bald Eagles flying around in the harbour often these days. It is very distracting from work as it is really fascinating to watch them (it also seems to be making all the gulls a little unsettled). They all seem to be full grown, so not sure why there are so many that seem to hunt/fly together as I know they tend to be alone or in pairs. Anyway they are beautiful regardless!

Summer has been busy with work, and sadly not enough play as of yet. I am also thick in prep and painting for the Pacific Board Art show coming up mid August, which is a really fun change and having a studio space actually makes it possible to do! Lots of client projects and busy Saturday markets so its nice to do a little something for me.

Pacific Wild will be receiving 30% of all art sales at the show so in the spirit of the wild (and inspired by all those eagles), here is August’s Colouring page for you! Look out for it in August’s Tofino Time magazine too!

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OTTER CHAOS - COLOURING PAGE

in ,

I am a little mind blown that we are just about in July already. I fear this summer it going to sneak away from me before I know it! Last month was a busy one… market mode is officially on now, and as much as I try in the summer to scale back on client illustration projects, it has been hard to do this year. Lots of fun projects makes it really tough to say no… so I inevitably say yes to too much. Before I know it another colouring page is due and I am out of print and card stock. I am wearing too many hats right now… haha!!!

Otter chaos... July’s colouring page inspired by one my favourite creatures - Sea Otters. Whenever we head out on the water out here we often see them, either singles or in rafts like this... floating on their backs with babies or their lunch on their bellies. These little ocean hero’s play an important role in keeping our kelp forests healthy. Sea otters love to eat Sea Urchins, which if left unchecked, will ravage the ocean floor and eat all the kelp holdfasts. That may not seem like an important role, but Kelp Forests provide hiding spots and habitats for a huge variety of invertebrates, marine mammals, fish and even birds!  As these fascinating floating fuzz balls rarely come to shore, the only time you can be lucky enough to see them is out on a boat. ;)

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Forest Forager - Colouring Page

in ,

I can’t believe it is almost June already. The weather is getting warmer, the whales and bears are out now, and the streets and beaches are already packed with visitors. I just got back from a week in NYC which ended up being a great idea as it really kept the busyness of Tofino in perspective (the theme for this colouring page). Walking through the streets of Manhattan require speed and purpose in order to blend in… the complete opposite of the laid back cruisey nature of this west coast town (if you try to stop in the middle of the sidewalk there, you basically get run over by the person behind you). I loved it there though… museum visits, a huge variety of food, a multi-cultural immersion, amazing subway system, friendly and helpful locals (despite the hefty amount of tourists). For a place so hectic and overwhelming, the people had so much patience with the visitors. That was definitely a take away from my visit and something I will reflect on when I need get somewhere in a hurry here in the summer. ;)

But back to perspective… I’ve got a black bear foraging along the shoreline for you for June’s colouring page. This is the primary location you will find bears at this time of year (except maybe on the side of the highway driving in). It is a good idea to remember that bears are the locals here and we share our wild spaces with them. If you do see one, give it plenty of space. Don’t go running up to it attempting to feed it or take photos with it (yes, people DO that). If you love them as much I do, DON’T FEED THEM. “A fed bear is a dead bear” means that a habituated bear (one ‘comfortable’ with people’) is more likely to be euthanized if they inadvertently cause problems. Bears have a wicked sense of smell, but terrible eyesight. If you are hiking in the forest, try not to surprise them. Make noise if you are in a bear area! I know its hard… they are beautiful animals, and its such a cool feeling to see one in the wild. Just try to remember, they are WILD animals and it is best to see them from a safe and relatively undetected distance (ie. a boat).

Feel free to download it here or open up a Tofino Time magazine and give it some colour yourself. :)

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First Coin Design for the Royal Canadian Mint!

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Soooo, guess what? Yeah thats right… I’ve been MINTED! I can’t tell you how proud and honoured I feel to have designed my first COIN for the Royal Canadian Mint. Not in a million years (as a small town west coast island girl) did I ever think this would happen, and I’ve been bursting at the seams with this little secret for the past YEAR. The final product may be small in physical size, but it is definitely one of the BIGGEST highlights to my career thus far. 

As you know my usual subject matter is much more nature oriented, but this was a really interesting challenge to do. I have a full history around boats and ships… everything from growing up around or on the water most of my life, to my parents being involved with the Merchant Navy and Cruise Ships, and even my great great great uncle worked on and survived the sinking of the Titanic! I grew up hearing many maritime stories, and was surrounded by shipping paraphernalia so I certainly felt a familiarity with it. 

This totally unique shaped, special edition, 2oz pure silver, commemorative coin is designed to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the St.Lawrence Seaway (you can even see my tiny initials at the bottom right). It was definitely difficult trying to envision what my drawing would actually look like as an engraved coin during the process, but the engravers did such an incredible job and brought it to life! THANK YOU so much to the Royal Canadian Mint for including me in their collections. There are only 2,000 made so I’m ordering mine right now. Haha!!