Chatham and Discovery Islands, Acrylic, 18″x36″ sold
This is another in the ongoing series featuring the south shore of Victoria, BC, Canada and it is the third to depict the lovely Chatham and Discovery Islands.
Chatham and Discovery were the names of two ships commanded by Captain George Vancouver in the 1790′s. In his circumnavigation/exploration of the world, he charted much of New Zealand, some of the Australian coast as well as much of the South Pacific. As a sailor he also knew Hawaii quite well, having been there with Captain James Cook in his younger years where he was to witness the elder captain’s murder. Vancouver’s expedition took him from New Zealand to Hawaii, then to the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver Island where the Spanish, Americans and Russians were all feverishly snooping about, mapping and seeking out the fabled Northwest Passage. The Big Island came to bear his name and Captain Vancouver himself named many of the features to be found in this part of the world. I had thought that Vancouver had named these two islands for his boats, but it turned out not to be true. These islands were named in honour of Vancouver’s two-ship fleet by the citizens of Victoria about 1840, some fifty years or so after Vancouver’s visit. Not that this painting is about all that history, though – that’s just a long-winded way of telling how these islands got their name.
This beach is on Chatham Island’s south side, looking across to Discovery Island. I found a whole line of bleached-out driftwood and thought it would make a nice contrast to the life and motion of the place. Chatham and Discovery have many of these little beaches, interspersed between the more typical rocky shoreline and they seem made for relaxation and exploration. While I was doing my own trifling investigations, I thought about Captain Vancouver, wondering whether he had bothered to send anyone ashore here to look around. I kinda doubt it. I thought about the native people who lived and fished and traveled around these islands and I tried to picture how and where they lived. I picture them looking offshore at the Chatham and Discovery as they sailed past and thinking to themselves, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of these guys…”
Another excellent painting! I love all the interplay you create between the different shapes. It definately gives the feeling of an isolated expanse. I could cope with relaxing on a beach like that!