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Hello All ;)

I'm back in SA full time after what has been an amazing 6 weeks of kayaking and photographing the West Coast. I've just dusted off the studio and sat down this week to start painting for the year 09/10 so I should have some new paintings up before the end of the month. Photos from this years trips can be viewed at http://gallery.shylo.ca/main.php?g2_itemId=168  many of these are going to become paintings. This years kayaking trips were fairly local with multiple trips to the Gulf  Islands, Broken Group Islands and Barkley Sound, and Desolation Sound as I had the amazing opportunity to bring friends who were newer to sea kayaking with me this year. I also did a few bigger group trips with SKABC and after going it solo in a Current Designs Slipstream for the past 8 years; I'm amazed at the things people can back in kayaks!

I've added a new Gallery page to my web site as many people have pointed out that the images of the paintings were too small to be properly viewed. Horizontal paintings are still going to be a challenge to show large without having to scroll the page across the browser. I'm trying to avoid that. When you have the time please review my site and let me know if there are any areas that can be improved on or that are not working properly.

I hope that you are well and have had a great summer.

January 2009

As 2009 is about to begin my thoughts turn to the fact that spring is just around the corner and its time to start making trip plans for this next kayaking season. It looks like the May long weekend and the week after will be spent traveling by kayak from Victoria to Nanaimo. This year will be the first year that my partner Wade will be on the ocean with me. Wade has spent the past few years kayaking the interior and southern coastal lakes and its time to get that sea kayak where it belongs.

For the month of August we are thinking that a start in Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands is in order. This is a great area for the beginner paddler and for those experienced paddlers too. The Broken Group can have a little bit of everything and it’s easy to plan trips there around weather, as there are some more sheltered locations to paddle. All thou its no longer one of my favorite spots as it’s extremely over used its still a beautiful location.

After a 5-day trip through the Broken Group or Deer Group, it will be time to head north. At this point I haven’t completely decided on what areas to paddle next as the options are all good and there are many places on the west coast of the island I would love to kayak and photograph again. We will see how Wade’s surf landings go! We will have close to a month in this area to explore and much of where we paddle does depend on weather.

Also on the list this year (July) is Hakai Pass and Rivers Inlet but this trip will depend entirely on who wants to paddle with me.

December 2008

As a off and on student of women's studies, I can't help but be some what disillusioned by the way that women treat each other in groups, in the workplaces, and in their friendships. It appears, that to many women, even the smallest differences in opinions, appearances, and ideas signals an automatic defensiveness within themselves. Consistently, I've witnessed first hand at work, within social groups, and friendships, that women sabotage each other with slander, gossip, and shunning. (Woman's Inhumanity to Woman by Phyllis Chesler) Really, women just want and need the respect and support of other women. This subject has been fascinating but yet disappointing in that it effects so many aspects of my own life.

Note: This is an interesting read from my last semester, I suggest it in all kindness to every women who has ever been the victim of gossip and slander. LOL; That would be about all of us.

Woman's Inhumanity to Woman by Phyllis Chesler