At the top of the dock at Port McNeill, BC, sits this Steam Donkey (c. 1910). Signs posted all over it warn me not to climb on it, but I am more interested in sketching it than climbing it, as you can see. Logging is a big deal in Canada, particularly in the wet province of British Columbia. It is not uncommon for us to share the water with a tugboat hauling a log boom (a big raft of trimmed tree trunks). If you were to drive around here, you would see logging trucks with trees 4-5' in diameter as their loads.
With all of that tree-loss, is it any wonder that I take a special pleasure looking at the stands of trees near our anchorage? Their tops form a constant edge between sky and land, everywhere I look.
We are approaching the longest day of the year and up here, north of the 50th parallel, the twilight stretches longer and longer. Just last night, I took this photograph at 10:15 pm! Do you have special plans to celebrate the Summer Solstice? It is just days away, June 21, 2010.
Camp 18 is a great spot along Highway 26 between Forest Grove and Seaside, OR. Along the banks of Humbug Creek, Camp 18 is a restaurant and grounds dedicated to preserving the history of logging in this area. The Portland Plein Air Painters met a group of painters from Gearhart to paint at Camp 18. I brought watercolors and pen instead of my usual pastels. I felt awkward with the medium but pleased with the whimsy of this piece. It's far from perfect, but it captures part of the charm of the locale. I would like to go back there and paint again.
At the top of the dock at Port McNeill, BC, sits this Steam Donkey (c. 1910). Signs posted all over it warn me not to climb on it, but I am more interested in sketching it than climbing it, as you can see. Logging is a big deal in Canada, particularly in the wet province of British Columbia. It is not uncommon for us to share the water with a tugboat hauling a log boom (a big raft of trimmed tree trunks). If you were to drive around here, you would see logging trucks with trees 4-5' in diameter as their loads.
With all of that tree-loss, is it any wonder that I take a special pleasure looking at the stands of trees near our anchorage? Their tops form a constant edge between sky and land, everywhere I look.
We are approaching the longest day of the year and up here, north of the 50th parallel, the twilight stretches longer and longer. Just last night, I took this photograph at 10:15 pm! Do you have special plans to celebrate the Summer Solstice? It is just days away, June 21, 2010.
