Marja-Leena Rathje

on printworks and other passions
  • About
  • Gallery
  • Contact
  • Exhibitions
  • Home

PRINTWORKS

  • Hands
  • Fragments
  • Arkeo
  • Silent Messengers
  • Nexus
  • Paths
  • Meta-morphosis
  • Dreams
  • Veils Suite
  • Older Works

PHOTOWORKS

  • Found Objects
  • Human
  • Nature
  • Rocks
  • Textures
  • Urban

RSS Feeds

  • RSS - Posts

Blog

Search Results

← Previous Entries
by Marja-Leena

island hopping

11:20 am in Being an Artist, Canada and BC by Marja-Leena

HorseshoeBay.jpg

Last weekend we finally, after many years since, revisited Hornby Island, one of our favourite places on BC’s west coast. Creating our own five-day long weekend beginning Friday morning (August 28th) we caught the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, always a lovely ride over the Georgia Strait (or Salish Sea). From Nanaimo we drove north on the Island Highway to Buckley Bay to catch another but much smaller ferry to Denman Island, followed by a pleasant drive across that to catch the ferry to Hornby Island.

Our dearest friends have a lovely treed property with a cosy one room cedar rondavel (eight-sided cottage) which they always so generously give to their guests while they sleep in a tent trailer. Otherwise we spent all our time outdoors with an outdoor kitchen and picnic table where we lingered over many meals with much conversation. Across the road is the path to one of the rocky beaches. The roads and paths are lined with bushes heavy with blackberries.

HornbyTribuneBay.jpgHornby Island belongs to the northern group of Gulf Islands but I believe they are all noted for their sandstone formations.

We took numerous photos that I’ve barely sorted through yet, including the petroglyphs that we’d seen long ago and I’d used in some of my work. It’s amazing that we even saw a beach we’d not seen before with dramatic cave and hoodoo formations that were wonderful to photograph. As some readers know, my photos from past visits to Hornby have appeared here as well as in many art works, see some links below. I hope to be posting some of these new ones in the near future.

Too soon, Monday morning we packed up, took the two ferries back to Vancouver Island, then drove south to Victoria, then north to Saanich to visit my sister-in-law. The next day we drove back south to Victoria to visit with a cousin and his partner over coffee at the Royal BC Museum‘s cafe. We had planned to see the exhibition from the British Museum but with only a bit more than an hour left the $27.50 per person seemed too steep.

Instead we walked around Victoria Harbour, had a bit of lunch, then went to visit my 81 year-old aunt. That was heart warming for we hadn’t seen her since my uncle’s funeral nearly two years ago. Back to sister-in-law’s for a bit then onto the ferry line up and the journey home. All that driving left us tired and happy to be home again in our own bed. It’s taken all week to recover from the holiday, what with catching up with chores, getting my prints together for an upcoming group show and attending a memorial service for a departed friend.

This Labour Day long weekend our eldest daughter is here to visit her sister and nieces one more time before they return to England. We have been worried about the forest fires raging in BC, especially near their home east of Kamloops. Her partner stayed home to keep watch in case of an evacuation call if it gets too close. The good news now is that rains have helped to reduce the dangers, and some families that had evacuated another area have been able to return home. Yes, it’s a rainy long weekend here, much needed, so we were very lucky taking our mini-vacation last weekend. Anyway, it’s a busy happy family time…

Related links:
my favourite rock, now gone
my petroglyph photos in a book
a petroglyph
Hornby rocks
another rock photo
and another

19 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Hornby Island rocks

7:35 am in Being an Artist, Photoworks, Rocks by Marja-Leena

HornbyBeach1.jpg

Hornbybeach2.jpg

From time to time over the life of this blog, I’ve been posting some of my favourite photos of the uniquely weathered rocks on Hornby Island. They’ve inspired and become essential portions of many of my works, first in the Meta-morphosis series, then the Paths and Nexus series.

Obsession, passion or a call from my ancient past? Whatever the reason, I respond and revisit these with new eyes each time. It’s been several years since we’ve visited this lovely little island and our dear friends’ cottage there. I think it’s time for another visit soon.

8 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Hornby Island photos

4:15 pm in Canada and BC, Photoworks, Rocks by Marja-Leena

HornbyTribuneBayRock1.jpg

HornbyTribuneBayRock2.jpg

HornbyTribuneBayRock3.jpg

Still very busy, now preparing for a new schedule for this fall as I head back to the printmaking studio, but wanted to quickly post some photos of the amazing rocks on Hornby Island. More to come…

12 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

island hopping, day 3 Sointula

1:40 pm in Canada and BC, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, History, Travel by Marja-Leena

After our Quadra Island visit on day 2, we returned to Campbell River and headed north about 250 km. along a very good highway lined with forests, mountains, glimpses of lakes and ocean inlets but with very little population. Our destination was Port McNeill, but our accommodation was about a ten minutes drive beyond at a seaside campground, in a one bedroom log cabin. Though we knew that every cabin was full we were surprised by all the motorhomes and campers in the campsites. As we’d had great difficulty finding accommodation for four in town even a few weeks in advance, we surmised that there must be a lot of workers living in all the hotels, motels, and campgrounds in the area because of a lack of housing. We’d also been told that it was a popular fishing season for tourists as well.

CluwexeCabin.jpg

Anyway, the cabin though tiny was rather cute with a loft meant for kids (husband slept up there the second night because of our awful hide-a-bed). I enjoyed watching and hearing the sea birds along the estuary, and the view across to Malcolm Island, with its lighthouse. We actually spent little time here, only to sleep two nights and make our own breakfasts and packed lunches for our outings. Dinners in town were very good.

Day Three was a full one with two very different destinations on two islands accessible by ferry from Port McNeill: Sointula on Malcolm Island and Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. I will write about Sointula first.

SointulaBoathouse.jpg
One of many old boathouses sitting partly over the shores, evidence of an early fishing community

Sointula has long interested me because of its early Finnish community. Sointula, Finnish for “place of harmony,” was settled by Finnish workers in the beginning of the 1900’s, as a co-operative community of utopian socialists led by Matti Kurikka. Eventually it failed with many Finns leaving for other parts of BC, yet many stayed. Some of their descendants are still living here. Please read more about their history here.

After a little drive around the old village, we headed for the Sointula Museum which offers a unique educational experience. Its collection includes artifacts, publications and photographs specific to the development of this community from a Finnish socialist commune to the quiet village of today. The 100-year history of the settlement from its utopian beginnings involves the development of socialist thought in Canada and the building of the commercial fishing industry, unions and cooperative economic structures.

At the museum we met Sue, the lively and informative manager with whom I spent most of our time there chatting. She said this building was the former schoolhouse which she’d attended as a child. The teacher was her English mother and she had a Finnish father. The museum is full of old objects from the lives of the islanders. I barely had time to see it all while husband and our visitors did. I especially loved the loom, so like the one we had in our home on loan for a few years when I was in my late teens. My mother wove a few things, I made a rag rug now long worn out.

SointulaMuseum_loom.jpg

As Sue said, most visitors find many of the admittedly worn and shabby things brought back memories of our elders. I don’t mean to be unkind, but I believe the museum really does need a lot of help and perhaps more space in organizing things in a more presentable way for it seemed too much like a junk shop. It must be difficult to find that help in this tiny remote village. For me, the personal contact with Sue was most heartwarming.

SointulMuseum_WashingMachine.jpg

Because this was Monday, the bakery in town was closed to my husband’s extreme disappointment for he had been looking forward to some Finnish pulla. The Co-op store, the first of its kind in Canada was also closed. We went for a drive around the island, passing some newer homes and marinas, signs of perhaps vacation or retirement homes in some cases. On the east side of the island is a large campground and lovely views east to mainland BC.

MalcolmIs_east.jpg

Sointula was preparing for an exciting conference just a week or so later, called Culture Shock: Utopian Dreams, Hard Realities. And most exciting was that a Finnish musical theatre group was coming! Do check out this link to an excellent story and video by CBC. Wish I could have been there.

More about Sointula in Crawford Kilian’s articles in the Tyee : In Sointula, Survival of the Finnish, Radical Finns Persevere off BC coast. And Kilian’s own blog called Sointula.

Added November 1st: After Jean mentioned a Finnish Utopian society in Brazil in comments in another post, I searched and found a list of Finnish Utopian communes around the world – fascinating. Sointula seems to have had the largest population except for one in Karelia, next door to Finland.

Added November 4th: I have only recently come across the blog associated with the Suomi-Seura organization for Finnish expatriates to which I belong. It is called Kotisi Mailmalla (Your Home in the World). In it is a wonderful post about one person’s weekend visit to Sointula’s Utopia conference. In Finnish only, sorry.

14 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

island hopping, days 4-6

2:02 pm in Canada and BC, Travel by Marja-Leena

After a very full and fascinating day of exploring Sointula and Alert Bay, the next morning we had to leave Port McNeill and head south to our next destination, Victoria. It was a pleasant drive of about 450 km. (5 to 6 hours) including stops for a picnic lunch and in Chemainus to see some of their famous murals. Our German visitors kept commenting on how many trees there are, especially in the northern portion of Vancouver Island with its lesser population. As we approach the south, the populations increase, with ever more towns and farms.

Chemainus_Mural
The town of Chemainus is famous for its murals, and this one is my favourite.

Victoria_InnerHarbour
The venerable old Empress Hotel by the Inner Harbour

We checked into a nice hotel (not the above) in downtown Victoria near the Parliament Buildings and the Inner Harbour, a unique and pleasant experience for my husband and I, for we’ve always stayed, quite happily too, with family or friends when here. We had wonderful visits with everyone and our German visitors were given the grand tour by a niece and her husband.

BeachHut
On Cordova Bay, a temporary ‘beach hut’ installation with all manner of humourous found objects, apparantly made every summer by the family living above it.

OnTeanookLake

Our last afternoon was spent celebrating daughter Elisa‘s birthday with family and friends at their home by a charming little lake with lily pads.

waterlily_Teanook

Goodbyes, then one more ferry ride back home to Vancouver! The next day our German visitors headed for the airport to catch a flight to the US for the next leg of their holiday.

So, that concludes the saga of our island hopping holiday. Total ferry trips: eight in six days!

Should you have missed some of the island hopping posts, here they all are in their confusion (along with ferry counts, heh):

Day 1 – ferry Vancouver to Nanaimo, drive to Campbell River

Day 2 morning, and more – ferry to Quadra Island, ferry back, then drive to Port McNeill

Day 3 morning – ferry from Port McNeill to Sointula on Malcolm Island, with more about Sointula, then ferry back

Day 3 afternoon – ferry to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island with several posts:
more Alert Bay,
colourful Alert Bay,
Alert Bay history,
the residential school and
the seaside
then the ferry back to Port McNeill.

And lastly this post of course as
Day 4 – drive to Victoria
Day 5 – in Victoria
Day 6 – ferry from Victoria to Vancouver

6 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

island hopping ’13, day 2

4:13 pm in Anthropology, Canada and BC, Culture, Rock Art & Archaeology, Travel by Marja-Leena

Ah-Wah-Qwa-Dzas.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph852.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph746.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph855.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph862.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph874.jpg

QuadraPetroglyph872.jpg

One reason we stayed at Campbell River the first night of our island hopping holiday was that we wanted to visit Quadra Island, a short ferry ride away. Some years ago when I was researching rock art around British Columbia, I had come across and written about Spirit in the Stone, a marvelous book by Joy Inglis, about the numerous First Nations petroglyphs on Quadra Island. It had been a longtime dream of mine to visit this island and its rock art, some about 3000 years old.

Our focus was to visit the museum and to see some of those stones that had been placed nearby. Photographing these were a challenge for the light was already too high and bright, so there was much processing needed, these ones being the best I could do. We did not have time to explore the whole island and visit other stones but hope to revisit again another time.

The top photo shows Ah-Wah-Qwa-Dzas, a gathering place on the shore in front of the museum. You can see Campbell River on the other side. We admired the displays inside the museum called the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre – the numerous masks and other fine arts and crafts, a longboat, many photos of the old longhouses and much about the early history and impacts (many quite devastating such as several deadly smallpox epidemics) of white man’s arrival to these coastal communities. I think our German visitors found it all enlightening and sometimes quite shocking. No photos were allowed. Please do read the museum’s interesting website for more information.

12 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

island hopping ’13, day 1

1:40 pm in Canada and BC, Travel by Marja-Leena

sea_off_ferry.jpg

As I mentioned in my previous post, husband’s cousin Walter and his wife Elisabeth from Munich were with us for a visit for about ten days. They had first driven from Calgary over the Rockies to Vancouver, a very popular trip for European visitors. In Vancouver, we showed them around for a few days, then we headed out for an island hopping tour focusing mostly on the northern part of Vancouver Island and some smaller islands east of them, areas that we ourselves had not explored before.

Day One had us on the morning ferry from Horsehoe Bay to Nanaimo. We had dense fog all morning until about Buckley Bay where we stopped for refueling. This was a familiar spot where we have many times taken the two little ferries to Hornby Island. It was the only day, really a half day, on this journey that the sun did not shine which was quite incredible. We had only once, over 40 years ago, driven north of this point, in a rush to catch the overnight ferry to the northern port of Prince Rupert on our way home to Fort St. John where we lived at the time.

Our destination for the night was the town of Campbell River. We had heard how much it is thriving, attracting young families to jobs and affordable homes, and it certainly is an attractive, clean and pretty town. Our bed & breakfast place is in a nice quiet neighbourhood with lovely gardens. Inside we were astounded by the amazing art collection in the home, mostly prints, some paintings, sculpture and pottery, mostly by German artists. Elisabeth is very knowledgeable about art and was most surprised to learn that the owners, also German, had an art gallery in Munich before they came to Canada. Too bad they had to be away, leaving a friend to take care of us. (Sorry no photos since they weren’t there to be asked permission.)

CampbellRiver_boats.jpg

We had a lovely dinner by the pier where we noted numerous fishing ships, mostly owned by the First Nations. Breakfast next morning was a visual and gastronomic feast! Husband and I have said we’ll be back!

CampbellRiverBnB.jpg

Day Two was a highlight… report coming soon.

5 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

island getaway

4:39 pm in Canada and BC, Travel by Marja-Leena

Malaspina06.jpg

Drumbeg228.jpg

As some readers may have suspected, we’ve been away on a week’s getaway to a couple of islands. The day after our disastrous federal election, we took a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, then a small ferry over to nearby Gabriola, one of the Gulf Islands. This was our first visit to this island, one that has been on my wish list for some time because of its noted rock formations and petroglyphs. We stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast for three nights and were lucky with perfect weather in which to explore and take numerous photos.

I’ll write more later, including about the rest of our trip on Vancouver Island itself. We made it home Monday evening, happy and pleasantly tired. Amazing how much there is back home to catch up on, I could just turn around and go back to the lazy life on ‘island time’. With hundreds of photos to still sort to post here and many blogs to catch up on, I will just leave a couple of scenic shots here to say I’m home.

18 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Hornby: more wildlife

1:50 pm in Canada and BC by Marja-Leena

HornbyPurpleStarfish.jpg

HornbyCoralStarfish.jpg

HornbySeaLife.jpg

You saw the jellyfish.

Here are some more sea creatures found in the tidal pools on Hornby Island.

HornbyEagle.jpg

HornbyEagle2.jpg

This handsome bald eagle had a prize salmon in his claws as he flew down onto some driftwood. He seemed proud to show it off to us for a moment before taking off again. Times like this we wish our cameras had stronger zoom lenses!

HornbyAnthill.jpg

Less exciting visually yet impressive in size and industry are the huge anthills on Hornby.
Watch out if you stand too long on their ant highways!

8 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Printmaking and Granville Island

2:51 pm in Canada and BC, Culture, Printmaking by Marja-Leena

It’s now raining hard in Vancouver at long last after a hot dry summer and instead of outside work, I suddenly have some free time to blog.

Malaspina Printmakers is the subject of a review: Freedom Of The Press by Robin Laurence in the Straight. Laurence views the summer group show in the newly expanded gallery and also the printshop facilities. There are some interesting comments about the closure of the printmaking program at University of Victoria, but the rumoured closing at Emily Carr Institute is fortunately only rumour.

As you will have read in the review, Malaspina is an artist run printmakers’ workshop with a gallery space. Dundarave Print Workshop is another one, and both are located on Granville Island near downtown Vancouver. The “island” is a lively place with a colourful public market, numerous art and craft studios and shops, theatres, restaurants and the art school, Emily Carr Institute. Granville Island is a very popular tourist destination and is a wonderful example of how the arts, business and tourism can thrive together.

We took our European visitors there recently and they were quite enthusiastic also about the colourful and funky houseboats behind the art school, sailboats coming and going, the crowds feeding the seagulls while listening to buskers outside the market and eating takeout food from the variety of stands, all with the city’s sleek highrise condominiums in the background across the water glimmering in the sunshine.

Comments Off on Printmaking and Granville Island

← Previous Entries

RECENTLY

  • New Year’s Eve 2016
  • Season’s Greetings
  • November already
  • this summer’s moth
  • Michiko Suzuki: Hope Chests
  • hand with Easter eggs
  • for Women’s Day

THEMES

  • Anthropology
  • Art Exhibitions
  • Art Institute (Printmaking)
  • Being an Artist
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Canada and BC
  • Care of Art Works
  • Concepts
  • Culture
  • Current Events
  • Digital printmaking
  • Drawings
  • Environment
  • Ethnicity
  • Films
  • Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric
  • Folk Legends & Myths
  • History
  • Home
  • Linguistics
  • Modern Rock Art
  • Music
  • Neat stuff
  • Other artists
  • Photography
  • Print Triennials
  • Printmaking
  • Rock Art & Archaeology
  • Tools and technology
  • Travel

© Marja-Leena Rathje 2004-2022