I imagine you have probably heard the phrase, ‘variety is the spice of life’. However, I would prefer if the saying went, “curiosity is the spice of life.”
Variety often depends on outside factors, but curiosity comes from within. I think curiosity is a skill that we can nurture and develop and, when you do this, you will reap great rewards. Curiosity means to engage with the world and not just take things at face value. To question things and ponder.
Curiosity is something that starts off strongly when we are young because there is so much that we don’t know. Although it’s intrinsic, it is something we can loose. As we go through life we can slip into a pattern of accepting things as “just the way they are” and loose that attitude of engagement with life. This is why I think it’s important to stretch out those curiosity muscles and exercise wonderment.
Do you need a little curiosity kick-start? Here are a few places that I find inspiration:
One of the main topics that stirs my curiosity is whenever art mixes with scientific elements. Add a pinch of imagination and I am hooked! Speaking of which, I thought I would share a few photos from the Watercolour Animal Pop-up workshop that I instructed last weekend. These are just a sample of the incredible and intricate creatures that the participants created.
And here are a few creatures in more detail:
Upcoming events:
This Sunday (tomorrow) I will be participating at Apple Day, an event at Sea Cider from 11-4 as part of the market inside the pavilion. For more information about this free event as well as a list of my upcoming holiday workshops, please click here.
It’s hard to believe that summer is starting to wrap up already. The individual days have felt full but as a whole it’s flown by very fast! A few highlights for me have been instructing a drawing workshop at the Sidney aquarium, participating in the Paint-In and summer markets (including last weekend in Tofino and Ucluelet), ocean dips, kayak camping, community kids’ craft activities, adding a new whale species to my whale ‘sightings list’ (a minke!), working on drawings for my calendar and getting to volunteer again with Straitwatch.
It’s felt like I haven’t had too much time to process everything that has been happening as I have been moving focus from one project to the next. This is why that day helping Straitwatch stood out for me this summer. Not just because I was able to connect with the team and support this important work (and get to see whales) but because it was a day that absolutely BUCKETED rain! I don’t know about you, but summer rain is one of those special things that make me feel refreshed and recharged. Because of the weather, it ended up being a fairly quiet day on the water for vessels. Surrounded with fog and dripping with rain we kept a watchful eye on a distant pod of Bigg’s killer whales as they forged the coastline of Salt Spring Island. As boats passed we checked in with them, let them know about the orca and asked them maintain a safe distance/alter course so as not to interfere with them. We stayed back much further than needed so as to give the whales as much space as possible. Blanketed with fog, soaking with rain, the majesty of seeing their stark fins break the surface and the white puffs of breath reminded me of why I love to create art about these mysterious and wonderful creatures. It was also a good reminder to slow down and rest in nature. I thought you might want to see a few photos, so I will include some here for you (taken with a telephoto lens). I hope you enjoy them too.
2026 POSTCARD CALENDAR
My most recent project has been working on a 2026 postcard calendar called ‘Whale Dreams’. I am almost ready to print, so I am taking pre-orders until Sept 15. If you would like to read more about it, please click here for images and info. If you would like to pre-order a calendar and pick it up locally in Victoria, please send me a message directly. If you want one mailed to you, please order through my online shop.
Coming Up: Apple Day At Sea Cider
I will be participating again this year at the Apple Day event at Sea Cider in Saanichton. This family friendly event is the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of fall: cozy up, wander the orchard, check out the local artisan booths and enjoy a class of cider. Sunday September 28 from 11-4.
Life gets busy and its easy to forget to pay attention to what we see—especially when it comes to nature. We see things we’ve seen before and automatically catalogue an object or creature, ticking a check box in our mind. Seen it.
This is the big hurdle when it comes to drawing from life: trying to teach your brain to slow down and try to look at something with fresh eyes, like its something you’ve never seen before. If you take time to draw what you see, as you see it in front of you, you will discover so much about it! Trust me, your brain and eyes will thank you for doing this. We humans are curious creatures, so do yourself a favoure and indulge yourself in watching nature.
I was recently asked to instruct a scientific drawing workshop supported by a grant from Early Career Ocean Professionals Canada (ECOP)…..which is why I found myself with an amazing group of curious humans at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea last Monday. This grant provided the opportunity, support and tools to offer this workshop, making it accessible and inviting to people who consider themselves early in an ocean-related career/studying ocean-related fields/interested in learning about our local marine ecosystems.
This quirky and whimsical workshop is inspired by historical zoological illustrations, such as those from the Encyclopedia of Nature, where the images are created in layers that you can lift to discover the anatomy inside. We will use watercolour, collage, drawing and paper cutting during this workshop. Happening at the Vancouver Island School of Art, downtown Victoria.
For more information and to register, click here (it’s already over half full)
Cadboro Bay Fest: Sunday August 10
Come check out the live music, community drumming, delicious food, engaging kids’ crafts, and informative interactive booths! Connect with ocean sports enthusiasts, learn about marine wildlife and discover how you can enjoy and support our oceans. If you know any young humans, bring them by to the craft tent! I have prepared a fun craft activity and will be facilitating it between 11am-3pm.
This is a FREE, family-friendly event 🙂 Find more info here
Ucluelet Market: Sunday August 31
At the end of August I will be participating in the Ucluelet Sunday Market. If you are in the area, come by and check it out! There will be loads of amazing vendors, live music, food and it in such a beautiful location 🙂 10am-2pm
This past weekend I had the pleasure of instructing Woodland Watercolour, a one-off workshop set in the Cowichan Valley. It was such a highlight to spend time in this lush, natural setting with the participants. Was it wet? Oh yes it was! We didn’t let the rain stop us 🙂 There were some great perks to the weather too: the greens in the forest were extra vibrant and the abundancy of slug-life was staggering. I don’t think I have ever seen so many slugs! I would also like to say a special thank you to the wonderful couple that hosted this workshop and provided delightful treats! Thank you as well to the Boundary Owls who (or should I say “whoooo”) assisted with defining the parameters of our exploration zone, and to the birds that serenaded us while we painted.
There were three main themes to this workshop: 1) nature, 2) watercolour and 3) creating three-dimensional paintings. After collecting inspiration from the forest, we got cozy and worked on our projects under cover.
If I ask you to imagine a watercolour painting, you will likely picture a painting on a single, rectangular piece of paper. This is absolutely valid and accurate, however it doesn’t have to be the only way we approach painting. During this workshop we explored a variety of techniques for adding depth and volume to our artworks.
Creating additive projects like this requires the creator to constantly be responding to what is happening in front of them. Each decision informs the next decision. So, when we come to the end, we find ourselves looking at something that we couldn’t have expected or predicted. It’s exciting! I love how each painting turned into a little world!
Thank you to everyone that attended this workshop! It was an absolute pleasure to spend the day with you and share our love of art and nature.
Future Workshops
I only instruct 2-4 workshops a year so they often fill up fairly quickly. If you would like to be notified when workshop registration goes live, please let me know by sending me a message via my Contact Form and mention that you would like to be added to the email notification list.
Upcoming Events
I have two upcoming events in July:
I’ll be at the Gorge on Art section at the Gorge Canada Day Picnic on July 1st (I will be located along the Gorge waterway at the bottom of Colquitz Ave)
I will also be at the Art Gallery Paint In event on July 19 (I will be located across from Sir James Douglas Elementary school)
A couple weeks ago I found myself somewhere new (for me). I was on Galiano Island, instructing a field sketching workshop to a class of students. But they weren’t art students… they were a university class studying marine biology..
Ferry switch at Mayne Island (BTW this is my favourite way to commute)
If you have spent any time around me, you’ve likely heard me talking about the importance of drawing. It’s good for our mental health, increases our observation skills, develops empathy, enhances our memory and can help connect us to nature. It is also practical (not that those other points aren’t practical). Have you tried explaining something complicated to someone—like the directions to a secret beach or your plans for how you are going to build a cupboard—and you find yourself searching for the words and end up grabbing a pencil and sketching something on a scrap of paper. Drawing is important for communicating. This is where science comes in. Art and science have been closely linked for hundreds of years because there is a need to be able to communicate visually as well as through words.
So I found myself ferry hopping my way to Galiano Island. I am so grateful to have been invited to lead this workshop to a group of marine biology students. A large part of their program involves maintaining an active field journal, where they record their observations and include sketches of the organisms they observe. During our time together I shared a slide show about the connection between art and science, provided them with practical tips for observational drawing and offered support as the students spent the afternoon exploring the low tide and documenting their observations. This was such an uplifting day for me—spending time doing what I love, talking about subjects I care about and hopefully encouraging a desire in these future researchers to spend time drawing. Despite the easily accessible phone cameras in our pockets, no technology has been able to replace the quality and clarity of field sketching, which is why it is so exciting to see these students spending time to build and develop observational drawing skills.
Waiting for the ferry & doing a little field sketching myself Active PassI picked up a butter clam shell on the beach to draw on the ferry
Also, not pictured here: 5-6 orcas that I saw on the ferry ride home. A perfect ending to the day! (and the students saw them the following day)
Thank you Dr Z. for inviting me to take over your class for the afternoon!
Upcoming Events
This Sunday, June 8th . . . . . . . . . . . The Cook Street Village Block Party First up, and coming up fast, is this super fun event happening in Cook Street Village. I am thrilled to be joining an amazing group of local artists and makers. At my booth you will find my sweater whales, wire whales, prints etc. and I have 100 special humpback tail postcards that I will be GIVING AWAY! So come by to pick one up 🙂 You will also find a variety of food and bevy vendors, music performances, a magic show and the “Fastest Dog in Cook Street” races. For more info, click here.
Tuesday, July 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gorge on Art at the Canada Day Gorge Picnic This is a super fun, family orientated event full of celebration, patriotism, pancakes, strawberry cheese cake, street hockey, a community parade, vintage cars, food, music, a lot of art and more! Here is a list of the artists participating this year. And here is more info on the Canada Day Picnic event.
Saturday, July 19th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The AGGV Paint In I am honoured to be participating in the Paint In again! Did you know, this is one of the largest art festivals of its kind in Canada? It’s true! This event features artists, activities, music, food and fun lining the length of Moss Street, from the gallery to the ocean. This beloved festival draws 50,000 visitors annually to explore art along Moss Street and brings Vancouver Island artists together in celebration of art! For more information, click here.
September TBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a workshop at the Vancouver Island School of Art Oh! Something very fresh is cooking up for the fall. I have an exciting watercolour workshop brewing. Here are a few hints: sciency…. small creatures… whimsical… cutaways. Details will be coming out when VISA publishes their fall schedule. These workshops tend to fill up fast, so if you want me to send you an email when it goes live—let me know. I can add you to my workshop notification email list. Just send me a quick message on my Contact Form and let me know.
Things are wrapping up now as we have come to the end of the fourth week. The main change is that I have stopped painting (to let it dry a little before we leave) and reorganized the studio for non-painting activities. The first thing I wanted to do, now that my little linocut orcas have had time to dry, was to cut them out. For this project my goal was to create an installation that counted the Northern Resident killer whale population. Up until this point, I have created multiple works about the Southern Resident killer whale population, which currently numbers 73 individuals. I have been wondering about the Northern Resident population and finally had the time to do some digging. Thanks to my amazing marine biologist friends and their engagement with this project—I learned that the Northern Resident population is more challenging to update because it is a larger population and it can be longer between sightings. Based on the most recent photo ID census (2023) the best population estimate is 345 individuals. The final artwork has some prints that are lighter and some that are darker, this is to reference the fact that this number could be changing without human knowledge. I also added some extra orcas as the number is based on data from a couple years ago. I am not going to tell you how many I added (I don’t even know… and that’s the point).
I have also been working on a series of gouache paintings to donate to MERS’s annual fundraiser auction. Gouache is similar to watercolour, but has an opaque and velvety finish. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about whales as individuals and I wanted to make something that focused on this. I am grateful for access to the MERS Humpback ID Catalogue, which was such a helpful resource for this project, and assistance by MERS staff in choosing which individuals to paint (three of the ‘regulars’ that are often seen along the north island: one with a mainly white tail, one with a mainly black tail and one with a tail that is a mix).
First layer of gouacheAdding more layers Close-up of details
Click here to view these paintings on the MERS auction website. You can also visit the main auction page and view all the items (including two more of my donations). And here is a page with information about MERS and what the funds are used for, how the auction works and bidding tips. The auction will be live from April 10-13.
It was also time to change the installation in the front window of the art shed. I left the most complicated installation for last. It took about two hours to install “Feeding Giants”, an installation I created for the Yukon Art Centre in 2021. Other than prepping this artwork in my kitchen, this is the first time I have installed it. I am so glad I had left detailed notes/diagrams in the box for the gallery, as they proved very helpful! This installation depicts humpback whales participating in a cooperative feeding strategy called ‘bubble net feeding’. The artwork shows the various states simultaneously, focusing on the visual pattern and activity that happens hidden below the surface of the water. I learned a lot while I was researching and working on this project. For example, did you know that when the whales swim around the fish and make their bubble net, they always swim in clockwise rotations?
On Saturday I hosted an Open Studio inside the art shed. It was such a lovely opportunity to visit with people, show them what I have been up to and share whale tales. I full of gratitude to this warm community for being so welcoming and taking time to come look at my art. It was a good way to start wrapping up for my time here at the Sointula Art Shed and processing the past month. It was also a good excuse for me to tidy up the space and take a little time to step back, look at the work and consider which direction I might want to continue to work on at home.
Matt arrived on Wednesday—which was the best part of this week! It has been wonderful to have this time together at the end of the residency and we have enjoyed kayaking between studio sessions. I am so grateful for this time to relax my mind and spend time in nature.
We saw this rainbow-puff-cloud appear and disappear the other evening as we walked along Bere Point.
Thank you so much to Kerri, Tyler & Teddy for the opportunity to do this residency and for your warmth, kindness and wonderful conversations. It has been such a joy to get to spend this time focusing on art, looking for whales and exploring this magical part of the world ♡
I have one week left here at the Sointula Art Shed Residency and I feel like since the halfway point, time has really started to pick up speed. If I had to pick a theme for this past week, I think it would be: relationships.
The week began over a lovely visit with Kerri, co-director of the Sointula Art Shed Residency, and Jai Sallay-Carrington, a ceramic sculptor who was also doing an art residency in Sointula. It was great to chat art and share stories before Jai went back to Vancouver.
On Monday I decided to go for a walk and I ended up talking with a man about his large wood pile. This man’s name is Stewart Marshall. I mentioned that I was staying at the artist residency and he said he likes to make art on kayaking trips. One thing lead to another and he asked if I would like to see the wooden kayaks he built. We walked down through his garden to a large wooden outbuilding. When my eyes adjusted to the darkened interior I realized I had just stepped into a magical world. A beautifully crafted kayak was propped up in the middle of the building. It was 23 feet long and had gorgeous inlay work. Stewart showed me the two hatches. One was for him and was big enough that he could sleep comfortably inside (at sea!). There was even a plexi window so that he could see under the water. The other hatch was for his art supplies. Then he brought me to a cozy room in the corner of the building and flipped through a book that documented his work and his travels. He would head out kayaking in the spring and come back in the fall—his objective: to paint. I felt like I was talking with a member of the Group of Seven. His work so poetically captured the pure wildness of the places he visited. We both enjoyed our unexpected meeting. I am a quiet person but often when traveling during residencies I have found myself wishing I spoke the national language and could interact with people I met. That’s what I was thinking about before striking up a conversation about a wood pile… a good reminder to be open in life. Maybe you have already heard about Stewart. There are some articles online and an interesting documentary that he directed me to that I highly recommend watching. Here is a link.
The next day my parents came over for a little visit! This is there first time visiting me at an artist residency, and my first time having visitors. As I was preparing for them I received a text that there were orca in the area, so I quickly finished what I was doing, packed my camera and headed for the beach to watch for whales and wait for the ferry to arrive. No orca. I enjoyed showing mom and dad the cottage that I am staying in and then we went for a walk down the road to Rough Bay. When we came back I showed them around the studio and what I have been working on over the past few weeks. After lunch we walked back down to the ferry dock to say good bye. As I was heading back I was sure I saw a couple blows, so I ran home, got the binoculars, then ran back to the beach. Nothing. Later that evening I received another text that orcas were rounding the point on the far side of town. *phew* These whale alerts are keeping me active! I stayed till it got too dark to see. Oh, and I made friends with a dog who also wanted to see orcas. Its at least nice to know that whales are around, even if I don’t see them.
The rest of the week involved lots of studio time, looking for whales and two long beach walks. I also changed the installation in the Window Gallery! Here are a few pictures.
The week ended with a lovely forest walk with Kerri and her son. They wanted to show me “The Big Tree”. Based on the name, I already had grand expectations before setting out, but I was not disappointed! It’s hard to capture scale on a camera (and even in person sometimes), so please just take my word for it, this tree is massive.
Thank you for reading my musings of the week and coming along on this journey. Matt comes back in a few days to join me for the remainder of the month, which I am very excited about! It’s been strange being here by myself, but it has heightened my awareness of the time I spend with people and the gratitude I have for spontaneous conversations.
Today closes week two of my residency here on Malcolm Island at the Sointula Art Shed and officially marks the halfway point of my time here. This week I have been able to get some solid studio time and I’m starting to feel like I’m gaining momentum on my residency projects. The weather has been gloriously unsettled, swinging from golden sunshine, to melting-grey clouds, pouring rain and even hail. It must be spring! Even though I have only been here two weeks, there is already a visible difference in the plants. Leaves are budding and little flowers are popping up everywhere!
Me taking advantage of a studio where I can pin things to the all and leave projects on go
I started the week by working on a project about counting the Northern Resident killer whales (as seen in the image above, hanging from the horizontal lines). I am representing each member in this pod by making a linocut orca print… this work is still in progress and I am now in the problem-solving stage trying to figure out how I want it to all come together.
Someone recently gave me some mylar charts and before I left for the residency I dry mounted pieces of it to shaped matboard offcuts. This combination has turned out to be quite an inspiring surface for oil painting. I am working on a series of small paintings based on my experiences of seeing whales exhale and the way light often catches their blows. The surface of mylar is velvety and smooth—lending itself perfectly for the removal of paint. So, in away, these are anti-paintings because the subject matter is represented by a physical absence.
Yesterday I hopped on a ferry to Port McNeill and instructed a workshop inside the office of the Marine Education & Research Society (MERS). I wanted to do this workshop as a way to connect with the community and also to help support the important conservation work MERS. Three lovely researches were there to help set up for the event and offer whale knowledge during the workshop. The main theme of the workshop was to not make perfect drawings but rather I wanted people to think about the individuality and quirkiness of whales. And yes, apparently there are whales out there with some pretty hilarious underbites—point made! We began by making blind contour drawings of whales, finished it by using pieces of cedar as drawing instruments, and did a bunch of projects in the middle. My heartfelt thanks to MERS for being such welcoming hosts and to each of the 11 participants that made this afternoon special.
Before installingWHALEFALL during the dayWHALEFALL during the night
And this brings us up to today! This morning I installed my first of a series of three artworks that I will be displaying inside the Window Gallery that is adjacent to the studio. This is now the fourth time that I have exhibited WHALEFALL, and every time it looks different because it is comprised of a collection of individual orca sculptures that need to be assembled and disassembled. Depending on the size of the plinth, the shape of the artwork changes, but also the amount of orcas is slowly growing. I had to add four orca since I last showed it in June of last year. This installation shows all of the Southern Resident killer whales that have passed away since we started counting and naming them in the 1970’s. There are now 147 orcas. I don’t know if this link will work, but I made a video showing the setup with me talking about this installation (probably the most high tech thing I’ve ever done): WHALEFALL video. You may have to unmute it by clicking the symbol at the bottom.
This is a view from the beach that only takes 2 minutes to walk to from my studio
Okay, I think I will leave it there for now. Thank you so much for reading along.
It is hard to believe that a week has already gone by since arriving at the Sointula Art Shed Residency on Malcolm Island. I will be here for the month of March, spending time working on my art practice and focusing on the local whale species along the northern cost of Vancouver Island.
It’s a 25-minute ferry ride to access Malcolm Island from Port McNeill. The village of Sointula was created in 1901 by a group of utopian-minded Finns. Sointula does have a different feel from other villages in the area and its Finnish roots can clearly be seen through the architecture. My favourite part of the village (so far) is a narrow stretch of road that follows the winding shoreline towards Rough Bay old. It is lined with wooden boat-houses and net-houses built on wooden pilings along the shore. Each one feels like it has a unique personality and history. Speaking of history, according to the Art Shed Residency website, the cottage that I am currently staying in was “originally located near the beach . . . and was known to the Finnish speaking Aro family of Sointula as “mummun talo” or grandmother’s house”. There is nothing more welcoming than visiting grandma’s house, so that explains a lot about this cozy cottage. The inside of the cottage reminds me of those “I Spy” books we used to get from the library as kids. I am finding new little tableaus everyday: a little carved boat on a piece of driftwood, collections of rocks and shells, handmade mugs and quilts, a vase of dried flowers, etc. A pair of binoculars sit on the living room windowsill ready for whales to swim past. The studio is inside a shed next to the cottage. It’s comfy, heated and also has windows that face towards the sea.
For my first week here I am focusing on exploring the island, collecting ideas and taking pictures for potential paintings. It has been a fairly active week with lots of beach walking and kayaking. I have also been settling into the studio and starting to play around with ideas. I have a feeling that I am going to be spending next little while oil painting and printmaking. It’s nice to take advantage of having a studio that I can pin stuff up on the walls and leave projects partway finished without having to worry about space shortages and tidying up.
Here is a list of animals I have seen so far:
a sea otter
sea lions (one was sticking its fin in the air to thermoregulate)
a bunch of deer
possible dolphin blows (but unconfirmed)
orca blows! About 6 or so of them.
and seals
Next Saturday I will be heading back across the ferry to teach a drawing workshop in Port McNeill. I am doing this workshop as a fundraiser and all proceeds go to supporting the Marine Education & Research Society. As they are based just a short ferry ride away (and because I love all the beautiful humans involved and agree wholeheartedly with the work they do), I wanted to prioritize getting involved while I am here. I came up with the idea of a drawing workshop about whales and registration is already full.
Well, the sun has set and my incredible husband is just about finishing dinner (homemade bread and lentil soup) so I think that is my cue to wrap up here. I am so grateful for all the support and encouragement that I have received to be able to do this. It feels like a dream to be able to do a residency here—my first art residency in Canada! Sending love to you all. 🙂
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of spending the day with a room of lovely people all drawing jellyfish with ink at the Vancouver Island School of Art! I enjoy instructing this workshop because it brings together so many things that I love: ink, water, natural processes, control verses chance and a heartfelt curiosity towards the magical and strange creatures that live in the ocean.
This is me giving a demo on how to turn an accidental ink splat into a jellyfish. Special thank you to A for thinking to take a picture of me ♥
We started the day by making colour swatches. This included creating a catalogue of colours and practicing making gradients in a variety of ways. We also experimented with drawing and writing with a dip pen and absorbed ourselves in paying attention to what was happening on the page. Believe me, when you allow ink to come into contact with water… magic happens! You really can get lost in the patterns as they swirl around!
During the rest of the day we discovered a variety of ink and water techniques as well as approaches to drawing imaginative jellyfish. I never intended the projects to necessarily lead to a point of completion in the classroom (as one could easily spend all day on a single drawing), but the work that was created over these 6 hours was remarkable! My heartfelt thanks to each student for participating in this workshop.
I hope you will enjoy this collection of images from the workshop. This is just a small taste of the work that was created on Saturday. Many of the works are in progress. 🙂
Upcoming Workshops
Drawing Whales with Ink: a two-hour fundraising workshop for the Marine Education & Research Society taking place at the MERS office in Port McNeill March 15. Click here for more details.
Imaginative Nature Drawing: a weekend MISSA workshop at Brentwood Bay School July 12 & 13. Click here for more details.
Join my email notification list for upcoming workshops!
If you would like to be notified about my upcoming workshops, send me an email (tasha_van_netten@hotmail.com) or a message through my contact form.
Natasha van Netten 