The Salish Dream

This little painting was a gift to my 6 year old granddaughter at Christmas. It's a summer's dream where I hope her innocence will always be there at the base of her soul. Everything in the painting is a little bit bizarre, just like in a dream. Some of the leaves on the Arbutus trees are shaped like birds, the sun and the moon are speaking to each other, the Shore pine seems to be coming to life, an old woman. Shadows or protective spirits are far-reaching above and below.

All is at play and interconnected, like it should be.

My intention had been to paint in a series of tiny phrases and words like lace here and there, like a barely discernible poem to let her know how much I love her. I have the words in my sketchbook, and they will stay there. The painting speaks on its own.

The painting is based on a memorable trip my family and I took to one of the Discovery Islands last summer. My granddaughter at one point had stretched out on a large flat rock covered in moss and lichens, set in the forest on a bluff overlooking the Salish Sea.