Chum and Coho Salmon
99cm
This buoy was found washed up on Hurst Island near the Northern tip of Vancouver Island. It was likely used in the crab or prawn fishery. The line it hangs from I found washed up on the beach of Balaclava Island. I have tied it in a figure eight and a flat lanyard knot and lashed the ends with waxed sailing twine.
On this piece I have painted a bull kelp forest. This species of kelp has buoyant, carbon monoxide filled bulbs, which hold the fronds of this brown algae near the surface so it can photosynthesize. The long blades stream behind the bulb, rippling in the current. On sunny days, swimming through a kelp forest can feel like you are under a ceiling of golden stained-glass which undulates and sparkles with the moving water. I have also painted two of the species of salmon that live in our coastal waters, a chum and a coho. There are five species of salmon that inhabit the West coast of North America. Each species of salmon is incredible, from their epic migrations to their beautifully evolved bodies that change dramatically over the course of their lifespans. These fish are vital to the coastal ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest as well as to the Indigenous Peoples and settler peoples in this area. There are white plumose anemones and green surf anemones growing along the bottom with ochre and vermillion sea stars. Floating through the kelp forest is a lion’s mane jellyfish and several moon jellyfish. Clinging to the stalks of the bull kelp are brightly coloured proliferating and brooding anemones and tucked into rocky crevasses along the bottom are green surf anemones.
The Ocean is the heart and lungs of our blue planet. It is a source of infinite beauty and wonder as well as providing us with a source of renewable nutrition. Let's return the gifts we receive from our watery world by taking care of what we put into it and what we take out of it.
Thank you for supporting the creation of art from waste, 10% of the purchase price of this piece of art will be donated to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, an organization that puts salmon first and supports all Salmon Communities on our coast.