Westcoast images
With our love to travel, I often forget just how spectacular our home is!  We live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world, where the waters range from turquoise to cobalt and cerulean.  Our beaches too can be blanketed in alabaster sands like on Hornby Island or textured with an array of pebbles and silvered logs  like around North Saanich, or even encrusted in jagged ebony black formations like around Tofino.   Our scenery is so beautiful I have dozens of wonderful photographs which inspire me to pull out my dye and wax!  I love the mesmerizing movement of  Westcoast water ... foaming crests repeatedly driving into the shoals. Periodically waves reveal translucent sea-green glimmers before diving back to their Prussian blue depths!  Our crystal clear water gives glimpses of starfish and crabs... even rocks lying just beneath the surface draw me to paint.  So, although I love to paint from my travels abroad, I especially love to paint my breathtaking island home!

*  click on smaller images in pairs to enlarge
*  size of artwork does not include frame

"Wickaninnish"
50" x 18.5"
artist's collection

"Schooner Cove"
44" x 16.5"
$2497 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery

"Waltz of the Waves"
34.5"  x  21"
$2423 (framed)
contact artist

"Shimmer at Twilight"
18.5"  x  30"
$2088 (framed)
SOLD

"Pintail in Flight"
 24.5" x 12" 
photograph by Chris Leach
$1680 (framed)
available at Abbotsford Art Gallery

"Silvered Driftwood"
 12"  x   33"
$1632 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery

"East Coast Sentinel"
12" x  24.5"
photograph by Antone
$1530 (framed)
Available at  Abbotsford Art Gallery

"Pinch of Saffron"
24" x 24"
photograph by my Dad (Bob Olafson)
$2182 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2019, Sidney, BC

"Reach Over Salish Sea"
  16.5"  x   39"
photograph by my Dad (Bob Olafson)
$2257 (framed)
SOLD
"Travels Through Batik" 2019
ARTSEA Gallery - Sidney, BC

"Haida Grizzly Bear"
  25"  x   12"
$1236 (framed)
SOLD
"Travels Through Batik" 2019
ARTSEA Gallery - Sidney, BC

Haida Grizzly Bear: 
Detail from a Haida House Frontal Pole carved in 1984 by Gerry Marks, Richard Hunt and Tim Paul.  Standing in Thunderbird Park at Victoria’s provincial museum, the pole depicts several creatures including this grizzly and two human-like cubs.  It is thought that these figures illustrate the Bear Mother story about a woman who marries a bear and gives birth to half-human, half bear children.  The pole is a replica of an original pole, circa 1878, that stood in front of a house called Rock Slide House, in Cumshewa, on Haida Gwaii.

"Haida Sea Bear"
  25"  x   12"
$1236 (framed)
SOLD
"Travels Through Batik" 2019
ARTSEA Gallery - Sidney, BC

Haida Sea Bear:
Detail from a Haida House Pole carved in 1966 by Henry and Tony Hunt.  Standing in Thunderbird Park at Victoria’s provincial museum, this pole depicts Sea Bear with his Killer Whale head facing downward.  He also has Bear ears with small animals peaking out.   The flippers of a sea mammal stick out the sides of his mouth as he swallows. 

"Sail Past - Prevost Island"
  19.5"  x   46.5"
$2760 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2018, Sidney, BC
Runner-up to 2018 People's Choice Award!

"Botanical Eagle"
31" x 16"
$1913 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

"Secluded Cove - Saanich Inlet"
   18" x   30"
$1845 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2018, Sidney, BC

"In the Garry Oak Shadows - Saanich Inlet"
24" x 24"
$1480 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC
Included in the International Juried Exhibition: Painting on the Edge (POTE) 2015

  "Solitude - Longbeach"
   16" x   44"
$2011 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2017, Sidney, BC
2017 PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

"Moments Beneath the Arbutus"
17" x 44"
$2047 (framed)
SOLD

"Seal Rock -  Saanich Inlet"
24" x 24"
$1735 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2017, Sidney, BC

"Cultus Giants"
21.5" x 37.5"
$2213 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

"Tranquil Shores"
16" x 42"
$1893 (framed)
SOLD

"Heavy Boughs - Silverwood"
20" x 35"
photograph by Terry Pearson
$1948 (framed)
SOLD

"Drifting Shadows"
15.5" x 27.5"
photograph by Chris Leach
$1322 (framed)
SOLD

   "Summer Shadows - Saanich Inlet"
   15" x   55"
$1790 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2015, Sidney, BC
MAJOR AWARD:  Colin Graham Award for Innovative Work
AND
2015 PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

  "Quiet Spot in the Inlet"
18" x 30"
$1670 (framed)
SOLD

  "Seaside Passage"
    17" x 30"
$1600 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney  Fine Art Show 2016, Sidney, BC

   "The Cerulean Surf - French Beach"
   16" x   46"
photograph by Thom Light
$1755 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

"Reflections in Sasquatch Park"
   17" x  30"
$1345 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

"Cultus Afternoon"
17.5" x 31"
$1250 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

 "Sentinel - Long Beach"
   17" x  43"
$1727 (framed)
SOLD

In memory of my wonderful brother, Rod,    
 who loved spending time at  Long Beach with his family     
(Sept 1964 - Nov 2015)      

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 "San Josef Beach - Cape Scott"
   21" x  27"
$1450 (framed)
photograph by Greg Schlit
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC

"Morning in Ardmore"
13" x 16"
photograph by my Dad, Bob Olafson
$740 (framed)
SOLD
                                            

  "Botanical Beach"
    20" x 33.5"
$1450 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney  Fine Art Show 2013, Sidney, BC

"Clear Water - Saanich Inlet"
19.5" x 30.5"
$1370 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2014, Sidney, BC

"Heron Botanical Beach"
35.5" x 22"
$1740 (framed)
SOLD
Sidney Fine Art Show 2015, Sidney, BC

"East Sooke"
34" x 25.5"
$1925 (framed)
SOLD
Abbotsford Art Gallery - Abbotsford, BC