One year ago today, I left Canmore for Haida Gwaii and a life-changing artist's residency at Gwaii Haanas National Park. In a month's time, I learned more than I could absorb, met new family and friends, saw, touched, smelled and heard things that were literally Super-Natural and was inspired and welcomed with open arms by the Haida Nation and the islanders.
Haida Gwaii sits at the juncture of three tectonic plates, with a total of 10 fault lines. A bit like Mother Nature's weak and ticklish spot, if you will. In short, this area is as unstable as the San Andreas fault, with a powerful oblique thrust that will put some kick in your behind. A tsunami would carry dirty crude oil a very long way.
Choices are one and the same. Through the process of creation, we destroy. Through destruction, we create. Through imagery of Haida Gwaii, contemplate your choices as an artist.
Visiting this place was a great inspiration for me. I would say it was one of the most stirring and inspiring moments of my visit, and I am grateful that the Haida Nation, these Elders and members stood so firmly to protect this place. We should do the same now, as the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project by Enbridge threatens once again, this magnificent culture and ecosystem. Stand up and speak out about the effects that this pipeline will have on habitat, culture and the ecology of our planet. Write your MP and the official opposition. Make yourself heard...and be part of the new "Line".
The verdant valleys that lay at the bottom of majestic snow-capped peaks that line the sides of the Yellowhead highway #16 westward towards Prince Rupert...have taken my breath away today. The smell of the air is different here. It's newer - fresher, filled with spirit and the life-breath of the trees. The life-breath of this planet. I get it. I get why we need to look at this land with different eyes, and protect it. I've never seen anything like it. Pristine...beautiful. There are no words for this place...and there are fewer people to see it.
