I find a lot of the images I paint from the seat of a canoe. Canoes take me not only to beautiful places; canoes take me to a creative, peaceful place in my mind.
In March of 2017 a group of us took up residence in the world-class resort called The Painted Boat in Madeira Park, British Columbia. We brought along with us our big Voyageur canoe and for two days we paddled the waters of Pender Harbour and the Salish Sea. The waters were calm and the sun, unusual for this winter, was out in all its glory as we paddled one morning around Beaver Island. As we approached the gap entrance to Pender Harbour a spectacular and stately tree leaned out over the water. I had to stop the canoe and get a photograph that would become the painting. Sometimes, particular locations just “demand” my attention and this was one.
Some weeks later I made my way up to Madeira Park and drove to the property and home where that impressive tree is located. That’s when I found out that the people who own that beautiful tree have the last name of Dodd. Over the years, as our canoeing family has traveled together, we’ve come to adopt our own unique names for specific areas we paddle in. Some of those names are derived from particular paintings I’ve done as a result of paddling those waters. The Coast Guard would never be able to find us were we to use those names, but within our paddling community we know exactly where those names refer to.
And so, for those of us who in the future paddle together in these waters around Pender Harbour, that narrow passage has its own special name from this day on. That unique tree leaning out and diligently standing guard over the entrance to Pender Harbour will mark the waterway that we’ll always know as “DODD’S CORNER”.
