West Coast Prints

She’s Seen Better Days, just along the path past the RiverWest Marina and condominium complex, the Silver Challenger rested, dry-docked in an old lot for many years. She had once been a proud and mighty fishing boat on the BC coast. This was, I believe, the first boat I ever illustrated, and so many more have followed. My style has evolved and developed, but, still, this subject really does appeal to my particular aesthetic sensibilities; grungy, rusty, abandoned, slightly off-kilter, but, oh, so interestingly rich with texture and colour.

The Breadbasket at Twilight, was a charmer belonging to our friend Jerry. It was a 1946 converted BC Ferry Double-Ender lifeboat that he purchased in Victoria, British Columbia and motored over to Ladner. The breadbasket was moored outside of Speed’s Pub in Ladner one evening and my son took photos of it resulting in this illustration. The soft light in the cabin and in the Wharfinger House windows in background against somewhat stormy skies set a foreboding, yet serene scene. The Breadbasket itself unfortunately sank about a year after I completed this piece.

This illustration is based on a series of images I captured while on a boat ride with my friend Bob in the Fall of 2023. This is River Sunrise depicting a beautiful sailboat moored alongside a floating home; one of many, along the shores of the Fraser River near the town of Ladner. The sunrise is reflected in the calm morning waters of the river. Hues of river blues with the yellow accents of Autumn and sunrise dominate this illustration’s colour palette.

This illustration is based on a series of images I captured on a boat ride in the South Arm of the Fraser River with my friend Bob in the Fall of 2023. This is Autumn Reflections. It depicts a particularly favourite (I’ve completed a few other illustrations of this boat – namely Winter Reflections also available here to purchase) ramshackle and rotting fishing boat that had been left abandoned tied to a mooring just past the RiverWest condo complex along the river in Ladner, British Columbia. Hues of gold, orange, and yellow of the changing leaves of the abundant Poplar trees in the background and the white, teal and brown of the fishing boat in the foreground work in harmony to create a moment of serenity. All colours are reflected imperfectly in the silty, slightly disturbed waters of the Fraser River as we were just leaving the Chilcotin Slough.

This illustration is based on a series of images I captured while on a boat ride with my friend Bob in the Fall of 2023. This is Tucked in the Shadows depicting a group of old fishing Seine boats resting alongside a Norsk container barge in the South Arm of the Fraser River near Wellington Point in Ladner, British Columbia. Steely aluminum greys, river blues and rusty hues of the Westcoast fishing industry make up this restful colour palette.

This image was first illustrated as part of my 2022 postcard series. It depicts the Delta Museum and Archives historic building located on Delta Street, in the heart of Ladner Village, Delta, British Columbia. While it no longer serves the community as the museum and archives, (it now serves as the Delta Community Police station), it is still an ever present relic of the past, with its accompanying stone towered town clock (that never tells the right time). Lush spring greens and a spark of red flowers frame the brown and light vanilla of this Tudor styled building.

This illustration is based on a series of images I captured of the aborgylphs on a row of Alder trees in Deas Island Park, Delta, British Columbia. This image represent a labour of love twice over. The first ‘labour of love’ was performed by the person who originally carved these hearts on a tree in Deas Island Park, in Delta, British Columbia. And the second ‘labour of love’ was me spending somewhere in the region of 40 hours illustrating it! I’m fascinated by arborglyphs as they offer such a sense of wonder and mystery. Who carved these symbols of love and for whom? I always also wonder, too, what happened in all these love stories carved in the barks of trees?

This illustration is based on a few images I captured of the sunset outside of Speed’s Pub in Ladner British Columbia in March of 2023. Heading Home, Harbourside Sunset, depicts a small boat heading West at sunset in the Chilcotin Slough. In the background is the well recognized Wharfinger House of Ladner Harbour. The sun setting through the Poplar trees of Harbour Park light up the background and river reflections with hues of orange, pink and yellow. Silhouettes are created of pilings and a small boat with a single passenger, heading home. This illustration is dedicated to the memory of René, who was a solo traveller in the world and a constant presence around the river front in Ladner, BC. for many years.

This illustration was initially designed to enter Delta’s street banner competition in 2021. It was one of the first illustrations I completed. It depicts the essence of the little riverside town of Ladner. The Native Dawn fishing boat is moored to the docks in front of the red wharfinger’s house in Harbour Park while a Barred owl looks over the scene and a mute swan gracefully paddles along through the river’s reflection. I used a bold colour palette of red, green and blue to create a sense of both childlike whimsy and warmth.

Originally designed as a fourth street banner in my series of street banner illustrations, In the Deep Fall, depicts of the Wharfinger house, in Ladner Harbour, in Ladner, BC, in all its Autumn glory. The forest of tall Poplar trees are stunning dressed their vibrant yellow leaves of late Fall. They frame the radiant red of the Wharfinger house perfectly. The timely ‘slack water’ current of Chilcotin Slough offers the perfect river reflection.