at the Campbell Clinic
Located on southern Vancouver Island, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt has been a site of military importance since British colonial times. CFB Esquimalt or dockyard paintings have been an ongoing series since 2017, although inspiration came from just one sunny, September day more than thirty years ago.
My husband is a retired Canadian Forces Marine Engineer. While he was still a serving member on Vancouver Island we spent an afternoon walking in the Esquimalt dockyard. For anyone who has been on southern Vancouver Island its natural beauty is mesmerizing. Historic dockyard buildings seem to have evolved from the topography of the island – some constructed in combinations of red brick and island rock. Arbutus trees majestic with colour and undulating form created a visual tapestry around many of these historic buildings. The seemingly haphazard evolution of period infrastructure to meet evolving military needs added another visual element. It was my intention then to paint from many of the photographs I took that day. Unfortunately, in the days before digital photography and during our move to southern Alberta, the prints and negatives were lost. Happily I came across them.
Interestingly and perhaps because of the distance in time, my perspective as an artist changed. Many subjects became interpreted increasingly as conceptual and abstract.
I want to thank the practice manager of Campbell Clinics in Lethbridge for allowing me to present these paintings together for public display.