One of my favourite aspects of my own artistic process is something that happens long before I ever pick up a brush — gathering subject matter. I have a personal rule that I only work from reference photos I took myself. I’m not saying everyone should follow this approach; one of the beautiful things about creativity is that we each get to find what works for us. But for me, there’s something irreplaceable about standing in a place, feeling its light and energy, and being the one who captured that moment.
My beloved spots are the Gulf Islands, Tofino, Bamfield, and any of my local rivers and waterfalls. I love climbing around a location, exploring different angles, trying to find the shot that truly conveys the soul of a place. It feels like searching for treasure. When the light cooperates, I take a lot of photos — and over the years I’ve built a digital library of thousands of images, each one a little seed that might one day become a painting.
My routine after a photo trip is almost as enjoyable as the trip itself. As soon as I get home, I download everything onto my iPad and start sorting — deleting the ones that didn’t work, flagging the ones with promise. Then I dig into the best of the best: cropping, adjusting the light, sometimes playing with temperature and saturation until the image starts to feel like what I remember seeing with my own eyes.
Philip and I just returned from four wonderful days on Salt Spring Island. We were so lucky with the weather — clear skies and gorgeous light — and we spent a good part of each day simply driving around the island, watching, waiting, looking for those moments worth stopping for. Below I’ve attached my favourite image from the trip. I already know it’s going to become a large painting — probably 30 x 40 or 36 x 48. I’ll be sure to post it here when it’s finished. I can’t wait to get started.