Secrets of the Great Bear Sea

Secrets of the Great Bear Sea

“My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.”

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

American Poet

Secrets of the Great Bear Sea—an abstract representation of the mystery and wonder that supports one of the last incredibly diverse and rich ecosystems in the world—in Canada’s wild pacific paradise. Stretching from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaskan border, these breathtaking azure-blue/green temperate waters that provide life to bizarre and colourful invertebrates on the seafloor, fascinating forage fish, sea otters and the great whales, are all at risk from overfishing, oil spills and pressure for an oil and gas super highway. I dedicate this painting to the protection of the Great Bear Sea.

The Land of the Midnight Sun

The Land of the Midnight Sun

“There was a time when it was believed that everyone was the same – animals, birds and humans. It was believed that a creature or human could change from animal to bird, human to animal, bird to animal. It was also believed that with the change, animals and birds had the power to speak”.

~ Edward Nazon

It is extraordinary to me that since my trip to Miami in January, I have been walking daily.

Long walks, sometimes briskly and sometimes leisurely. Cold days. Snow days. Rain days. Fog days. I walk.

I walk in one of Toronto’s most beautiful park areas, with rivers, creeks and streams.

I walk and see the horses at the stables. I walk up hills. I walk.

I walk for anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour.

I walk.

For years I have been watching people walk. Noticing how effortless it seems to them and thinking how most people take walking for granted. It’s just something the body can do without thinking, until it can’t.

For years the pain plagued me, saddened me, and made me more and more immobile.

In Miami we walked everywhere and we biked for hours at a time. It was the most active I had been in years. Every day I urged myself on, ignoring how my hips resisted. But, overnight I became determined that I needed to take action now. So, I kept on, and I kept on when we got home.

I’ve been working with a chiropractor who has created a list of hip stabilizing exercises and foot drills to support me. And, as I dove into my Canada Legacy series, first the Yukon piece and having just completed the Northwest Territories – Jewels of the Northwest, I found myself consumed and being changed.

In the walking, I feel connected and I connect to the land and piece before me. It informs me and it dreams me, and the paintings are flowing in a way I find so rich and rewarding.

Now, I wonder what Nunavut will bring…

Kiernan

Dreaming in paint for the Yukon…

Dreaming in paint for the Yukon…

From the depths of the waters that flow, the scale of the mountains on high, the wildness that refuses to be tamed, there resides a reservoir of strength that awaits any on a quest of seeking to know oneself.

It beckons the hungering spirit. It tests us to know where we are; where I end and you begin and to set the boundaries between while honouring the truth we are all connected; to each other, to LAND-SEA-SKY and every breath in between.

Spell of the Yukon—with passages of time abutting the forces of nature there is a bridge; a place where the stillness offers moments of reflection. Where have you been… Where are you now… Who are you now… What have you learned… What flecks of gold are offered to you now…What passion remains undiscovered, untapped…

The answers can be found in the slowing down, in considering life’s mysteries and heeding your own counsel.

SPELL OF THE YUKON: Yukon Territory by Kiernan Antares

SPELL OF THE YUKON: Yukon Territory by Kiernan Antares

It was a slow and labourious start with tests and a failed experiment, then finally it began to come together… dreaming each night of the mix of paint and the flow… the blending and scraping.

My first Canada Legacy series piece complete! Come on over and check out the information behind Spell of the Yukon.

Set on a 24 x 30″ panel – the painting is inlaid with an inch of black paint framing the art.

Ah… Yukon was glorious to explore and now thoroughly enmeshed in my soul.

Next up – Northwest Territories! Whoo hoo! I’m excited to begin anew!

Kiernan

Yukon: One of the last great wildernesses

Yukon: One of the last great wildernesses

“There’s gold, and it’s haunting and haunting;
It’s luring me on as of old;
Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.
It’s the great, big, broad land ’way up yonder,
It’s the forests where silence has lease;
It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.”

~ Robert W. Service, The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses

With the holidays over, the Art Fusion Galleries Gala Reception and mini vacation in Miami now behind me, and mostly caught up from the time away, it’s time now to finally get my Canada Legacy painting series underway.

I’ve decided to begin with the parts of Canada that I know the least about… the North.

This week I’ve been virtually exploring the Yukon Territory, and oh my… my oh my… the breathtaking beauty has captured my heart in ways I definitely did not expect. How I wish that I could be there in person, with my feet on the ground, taking everything in from wilderness and wildness to culture.

A land where once the whooly mammoth, mastadon’s, camel’s, scimitar cats, roamed the plains with bears, Yukon horses and other animals.

A land where the first people migrated from Asia near the end of the ice age, some 15,000 years ago, by crossing the Bering Land Bridge, a mass of land that connected the continents and later submerged in water.

“Ancestors of Yukon’s First Nations likely arrived early in the Holocene in a subsequent migration out of Northeast Asia. They are part of what is known as the Dene or Athapaskan language speakers of Alaska and Yukon. Throughout the ensuing 10,000 years these early Yukoners colonized the entire territory and developed lifestyles and cultures dependent on an evolving resource base. Bison, caribou, salmon and moose were all critical food sources at different points in time and all contributed to the diverse and vibrant cultures of Yukon First Nations today.” ~ Yukon Beringia Interpretative Centre

Yes, I’ve been researching Yukon’s history, learning about its landmarks, special moments such as the gold rush, arts and culture, First Nation’s peoples and the government and its status of treaties with these nations. This project… and this territory has become fascinating to me.

Watching videos, listening to music… all these things are informing me.

This project began with an intention to contribute energy into the world, but as I move more and more into it, I am reminded that one of the things that was a part of me from when I was a little girl, was to go into the stillness, the silence and to intuit, sense, feel, breathe and to know the energy of something.

The sun, the moon, the stars, the land; the rivers and creeks I walked and listened to, the lakes and oceans I would swim in or watch the ripples and tides, the trees and leaves that whisper in their steadfast presence… everything would connect and fill me somehow.

And, even though I am connecting virtually across Canada’s nation, and beyond in the future, I can tap into the grids of the world, of Mother Nature… and listen, feel, sense and intuit… then paint and write the impressions that come.

So, now it seems to me that it is not I that is and will contributing the energy, but simply being an interpreter… bringing forth the beauty, power, wisdom, love and grace of the LAND-SEA-SKY.

Mmmmm… much to experience and this excites me.

It’s time to choose the panel, connect with it, prime it and prepare… for the appearance of the Yukon piece. Wish me luck!

Kiernan

Fun in the sun, art show and now gearing up for the Yukon

Fun in the sun, art show and now gearing up for the Yukon

That’s my handsome guy Paul and the love of my life, in the photo. I’m standing on the tips of my toes to get in the shot. Yup he’s tall and I’m kinda short.

We made a mini vacation out of the Art Fusion Galleries Exhibition trip. Enough time to enjoy some sun, some beach, some biking, a good amount of walking, and a tour in the Everglades scouting for alligators and wildlife.

Enough time and activities to make me realize that I really need to get more physically active. So, when I got home I got myself an activity tracker – an UP3 Jawbone and boy do I love it! It’s handy dandy motivating and I’m absolutely amazed that today I have logged in 8,470 steps so far, and most of those were in this morning’s walk as I’ve been on the computer this afternoon trying to get caught up in things, so that I can get back to my research on the Yukon Territories for my Canada Legacy Series Project. Whew sorry – that was kind of a long sentence!

It seems all my inspiring captivating thoughts for today were scooped up in my walk. So, I’ll simply share a few photos…