Artwork

I was digging around in some old papers the other day and came across some drawings that I did between 2001 and 2003and thought I'd post them here.  Hope you enjoy

 Fly fishing reel

 Green Tree Frog

 Mountain Chickadee

 Old Prospector (concept sketch for a drawing that is hanging on my wall)

Owl

A bunch of paddles

It has been a while since I last posted so I thought I'd show some of the paddles that I've been working on.  These are to fill an order that I received, they are available to purchase at Classic Outdoors, a paddle sports store in Saskatoon.  They are made of walnut, cedar, and birch and have an oiled finish.

Fun in the Sun with good friends

On Sunday May 20 a group of us headed up to the Torch River for a day of paddling.  We do this trip almost every year as long as there is enough water in the river.  Most of the water in the Torch River is run off from snow melt.  So getting there at the right time is important.

This year there were 12 of us on the water.  We really lucked out with the weather, when we left Saskatoon at 7 am the local temperature was -4 degrees but by the time we drove the 3 hours and shuttled the vehicles to the take out the sun was high in the sky and warm.  The wind was very strong but luckily it was from behind.  I was very surprised at the amount of green on the trees.  Most years the trees are almost bare with only a hint of green.  Spring certainly came early this year.

On the drive up in the morning we saw two black bears in the Fort a la Corne forest.  The first one ran across the road and into the forest before we could get a photo, but this guy didn't mind us at all.  Both had very light colouring, brown almost like a brown bear.

Here's the entire group (minus myself, I'm taking the photo)  From left to right: Eddy, Thorsten, Grant, Valery, Gord, Judy, Jeff, Bryan, Zoe, Taiga, and Karrie

This was Zoe's first white water trip other than a weekend we spent a couple of years ago paddling white water.  By the end of the day she was doing very well, we only left green paint on a couple of rocks.

The day was sunny and hot and by the end quite a few of use were the colour of lobsters.  We got real lucky with the water levels this year.  The water has been a little high the last couple of year but this year it was just about right.  There were tons of rocks poking up out of the water creating hundreds of eddies and waves to practice our white water skills with.

It was difficult finding a suitable spot to stop for a snack.  All along the river the banks were strewn with debris.  At this particular spot there was a lot of moose sign (droppings and tracks in the mud). 

Bryan and Karrie sitting in one of the many eddies on the river.  In the back ground Gord is enjoying his usual paddling position.

Taiga is a perfect canoe dog!  She just turned one and loves swimming and chasing sticks in the water.  In the canoe she spends her time laying nicely in the boat, soaking up the sun.

Wandering in the Nisbet Forest

I took a break from my studies today to take advantage of the fantastic weather.  Taiga and I headed to the Nisbet Forest to spend the day snowshoeing and exploring.  Zoe is in Fond du lac right now so she couldn't join us.  It was a great day for wandering in the forest the sun was warm and there was no wind, the only problem is the lack of snow.  There really wasn't enough to warrant snowshoes but I used them anyway.  For lunch Taiga and I found a nice little sunny spot among a stand of jack pine and made a small fire to boil up some tea.  The lunch menu consisted of cheese biscuits, maple smoked salmon, and cheese.  Taiga had some treats.  While we ate lunch we sat quietly listening the the chickadees, blue jays, gray jays, squirrels, and crows.  Taiga loves to run in the forest and would run as fast and as hard as she could, then she'd dive head first into the snow and plow to a stop.  She's going to sleep well tonight.

 I took this picture to show how little snow there is in the forest

 One of Taiga's favorite things is to chew and sticks.

Boiling water for tea

 Enjoying warm tea by the lunch fire

 Taiga's waiting politely for her lunch

 Taiga doesn't have opposable thumbs so she finds it difficult to operate the camera, so this is a self portrait

She had fun in the snow

Happy People: A year in Taiga

I came across this fantastic film by Werner Herzog a German film maker, producer, screen writer, actor, and opera director.  The film is an excellent portrayal of life in the Siberian Taiga and how traditional craft skills, and perseverance are needed to make a living from the land.