Gilles Bay

12” x 16”; Acrylic on board; 2012

(Available in print only.)

In 2012, my husband and I spent six glorious months living in a cabin on the ocean on a small island in British Columbia. Texada Island is a tiny island between Powell River, Canada, and Vancouver Island. There are two stores on the island, 1,200 residents, and seemingly endless stretches of temperate rainforest. We lived in Gilles Bay in a tiny cabin built around the trees right on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. Every evening I would watch the sun set over the mountains on Vancouver Island in the distance, and every evening a sea lion would settle in the same spot in the water and watch the sunset at the same time as me. I’m still not sure if I was more awed by the sunset or by the fact that there was an animal that seemed to appreciate the beauty of the sunset just as much as me. This was just one of the wonders Texada offered, and a part of me will always remain on the deck of the cabin, staring out over the setting sun.