Skier Riding Caribou Home : Holiday Cards

The holiday season has arrived!  Time for chocolate rum balls, pine sented candles and Christmas lights.

This year I created an illustrated holiday card.  You can pick it up in Toronto at Scout or Freedom, or if you're out of town, you can buy a set of 8 from my Etsy shop.

Sketches From British Columbia

I went on a 3 week vacation to British Columbia in September.  I'm always blown away by the beauty of the mountains and ocean.  I make sure to spend the most time possible out doors, hiking, kayaking and biking.

I wanted to share a few little sketches I made during my trip.  I like to sketch in pen, as it forces me to slow down, really look carefully, and make marks.

The above cabin, is my dad's tool shed at his Savary Island cottage.  He lived in this tight space while he was building the cottage.

This sketch I made while on an impromptu fishing trip in a boat on Kootenay Lake.  Andrew was very sporting about sitting still while I drew.

This last one is of my dads cute little wood stove in his cabin.  But don't be fooled, it gives some powerful heat on chilly days.

Savary Island Tradesman

My dad has officially moved out of Vancouver and into his beautifully self-crafted cottages!  My dad has been building houses my whole life.  He worked as a draftsmen at Bush, Bohlman & Partners, but whenever he could take some time off, he was building his log cabin in Slocan Park or his ocean cottage on Savary Island.  Two of the most beautiful locations in British Columbia.

Now that he's semi-retired, and his homes are completed, he wants to keep busy and take on small building jobs around Savary Island.  Dad asked me to make him a business card for his new small business venture.  Above is the crest I illustrated for his double sided card.

Below is his gorgeous Savary Island home.  I love how he incorporated drift wood logs into the railings.  You can contact him by e-mail robjan22000@yahoo.ca

And here's a photo of the sign I painted him, I blogged about it here.  You'll know he's on the island if this sign is displayed.

I also illustrated a map of Savary Island that I blogged about here.

Woodrough Lodge

Woodrough Lodge

I've been living in Ontario for so many years now (11 years maybe?), I thought it was high time to create a special, Ontario cottage country dollhouse.  I wanted to include lots of the great local wildlife.  Some highlights include a moose, beavers, coyotes, red wing black birds and black bear.

I was really pleased how it all turned out matted and framed!  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the frame has nice textured bark detailing on it.

Thanks to Jesse, for taking the photo, it's so hard get a good picture of art behind glass.

Savary Island Map

Savary Island Illustrated Map

I'm so happy to finally share my newest map illustration!  Click the image to see a larger view.

I created this piece as a gift for my dad and step mom, Janice.  Dad has been building a beautiful cottage on Savary Island for the past ... hmm ... I'm not sure ... maybe 7 years? He's built it all himself, sometimes dragging large, beautiful, drift wood logs from the ocean behind his kayak and incorporating them as beams in the house.  I could pretty much go on and on about amazing stories about my dad, but I should talk a bit about this map illustration as well.

So Savary Island is off the coast of British Columbia on the Sunshine Coast and is filled with beauiful wildlife.  I wanted to include and label some of the most prominent island animals.  Also, I included my sister painting, my dad kayaking, Janice looking through the binoculars and myself wearing my red sweater ridding a bike.

Below you can see the work in progress.

And bellow is my all time favorite Savary Island photo!  I was on that rock posing in the hot sun for 2 days while my bikini clad sister painted me.  (This was clearly used as reference on my map.)

And now you must be curious to see how Kristy's painting turned out ... take a look! Beautiful.  Can't wait to visit again this summer.

Savary Island Sign

My summer of painting continues ...

While I was visiting British Columbia this summer, I decided to whip up a sign for my dad's cottage on sunny, sandy, Savary Island.

Kayaking just off Savary

I've been going there every year for the past 5 years now.  It's so beautiful!  It's a great place to bike, kayak and walk in the ocean.  And one of my favorite things about it is that there's no scary predators on the island (bears or cougars)!  But there's plenty of other lovely wildlife.  On the sign I included a humming bird and a robin (as these a plentiful).