Right now, I'm working on two new paintings for the Finn Slough Art Show, which will be April 8, 9 and 10th - with the reception being on the 9th from 7 to 9pm at Richmond Art Centre in the Lecture Hall. The one I did last year is "Finn Slough Spring" and is one of the five paintings up at Omega Gallery.
Finn Slough is one of the few remaining pieces of natural near-wild riverside environment. It dates back to the early 1890's when a group of Finnish people arrived in south Richmond. That, of course, was before the area was even known as Richmond. Because of flooding - hand-built dykes did not really keep the river off the land- a lot of the houses were built on pilings. The settlers were mainly fishermen and needed a safe harbour for their boats. Today, there are still fishermen, fishing nets and fishboats but many of the people living at Finn Slough are active in the arts- painting, design, music and so on. They have a society which is endeavouring to preserve and maintain the heritage values of Finn Slough. For a painter, the place is a "natural". I wonder how many paintings and photographs there are of the "Mermaid III" ? I was sorry when the old net loft collapsed into the river as it was lovely to paint- with the interesting shadows created by its boards. Every painting I have done of the "Eva" has sold - but, no, I'm doing something different this year.
