Each night after our dishes were washed and put away our little group of four women would dig out our tiny set of water colours and brushes and small pieces of paper to sketch this scene.  We were traveling in our own kayaks and this was our camp for five nights.   Our husbands sat further back around the campfire sipping their drinks and spinning tails from past trips.  

The painting above is 36” by 48” in contrast to the 5” x 4 inch pieces of watercolour paper we painted on.  We have very comfortable fold up chairs that collaspe to almost nothing that can be shoved in a back hatch of our kayaks somewhere.  The watercolours are precious and keeping the paper dry is a parmount.  Does one really need sable brushes and the finest watercolour paper?  The sable brushes are traded for the brushes that have water in their handle. The paper and the paint quality are important so yes, they are the tools that make the job more fun and give you the power to create something that is precious and lasting. Mine never get framed but they are the inspiration for larger painting.  

This location holds all our memories. We were on Crease Island in Johnson Strait.  When we arrived on Crease Island we were first thrilled that there was a kitchen made from lumber that was salvaged from the beach. Our group has been kayaking together for 10 years or so and never had come across such luxury.  The floor boards, YES, there was a floor, had a hole big enough for us to fall right through and the benches at chest height for cooking and preparing were in need of more support. I do remember someone falling RIGHT through one of the steps up to the kitchen.   

One of our crew, Ron is exceptionally good at creating things in generel,  and he worked on our kitchen until it was a thing of pride with three separate stations for cooking.  If you have ever tried to cook while on a beach when kayaking you will know what a gift this was for us.  He also salvaged an old plastic sign that was flat on one side and corugatted on the other.  We broke it into pieces and used it as our pallettes.  The little paintings were later stashed away in our dry bags for the paddle home.  They become treasured memories in our books, most of them never framed.  Some, like this one become something bigger one day… painting that can be enjoyed.