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ROCK step inside:
the house that built
LOVE
the interview: Arthur Vickers
the art of
CREATION chef brad boisvert ISSUE NUMBER 3, JANUARY 2014
2014 winter
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INSIDE this issue 6 36 10 38 16 40 28 42 30 44 chef de MISSION
life in cowichan: amuse bistro
joe barry:
ticket to ROCK
the interview:
arthur vickers the art of CREATION
what we’re:
WATCHING shopping:
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ashley LEE
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Station is a quarterly publication dedicated to the best in Cowichan Valley living, as recorded and presented by the community’s best writers and photographers. If you are interested in writing for Station, send a proposal to John McKinley at editor@cowichannewsleader.com.
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“I believe food starts way before it gets into the kitchen, it starts in the ground.” — Brad Boisvert STORY by Mike D’Amour PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
A
fireman, a police officer or doctor. Cowboys, astronauts or even jet fighter pilots. These are just some of the shoes and boots many boys talk about filling when they grow up.
However, and perhaps sadly, less than 20 per cent of those who took part in a recent survey conducted by Salary.com say they’re living out the dream jobs they wished for in the days before first kisses, growth spurts and breaking voices. According to the survey, a mere 16 percent of us are living our dream occupations. Bradford Boisvert counts himself among those lucky few. The celebrated valley chef and owner of the popular Amusè On The Vineyard restaurant not only knew he wanted to be a chef; he started training for it when he was in the fourth grade. When he thinks back, Boisvert admits his desire to lead a kitchen may have started even earlier. “My mother says my first word was ‘cook,’” said the married dad of two. Born and raised in Warwick, R.I., the second largest city in the smallest U.S. state, the 35-year-old chef remembers the day his parents took him to a demonstration at a mall.
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“Culinary students from a nearby college were doing vegetable and ice carvings,” he said. “I watched them for eight hours and afterwards asked my parents if I could do that.” They said yes and, less than a year later when he was the seasoned and ripe old age of 10, Boisvert started his own catering business. “It started when someone would ask me to make them a small cake. Maybe from being young and naive I would say ‘Yes,’” said the chef. “Then later I would figure out how to do it.” continued page 8
outlooksformen.com 6
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life in cowichan: AmusĂŠ Bistro
chef de
MISSION
2014 winter
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from page 6 Boisvert the boy was soon catering adult functions and his business grew to where he needed kitchen staff. Luckily, help was close at hand. “My parents would drive me (to the jobs) and a lot of times (would) work for me,” said Bradford — and it is Bradford, not Brad or Bradley. “They would help carry things in, then they and my siblings would help serve.” Boisvert began to garner widespread attention, and not just from the hungry faithful. When he was 12, Forbes Magazine did a feature on the pint-sized kitchen whiz. Since then, he has graced the pages of many more newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, USA Today, Epicure, National Geographic Traveler and, now, Station. Despite the fame, Boisvert continued to cook and to learn his craft. Part of the fledgling chef’s experience came at the now defunct Aerie Resort, a highcalibre restaurant on the Malahat. Boisvert later returned to the States where he received a bachelor’s degree in restaurant management at the Culinary Institute of America. He’s since cooked in restaurants in the U.S. and Europe, but it was the warm land, fresh fish and promise of clean produce that captured his heart and wooed him back to where he knew he belonged. “I’ve travelled quite a bit and can say there is no better 8
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place to be a chef than the Cowichan Valley,” he said. Boisvert opened Amusé — pronounced Ah-muse-ay —in a converted Shawnigan Lake house nearly eight years ago. “We wanted to amuse the valley with our food,” Boisvert said of the name. “We had our logo designed and the mark above the E in Amuse was just the designer’s brush stroke and, so, we became Amusé.” The restaurant has since moved to Unsworth Vineyard on Cameron Taggart Road in Cobble Hill and is now know as Amusé on the Vineyard. No matter the moniker, Boisvert has carved his name in cooking circles, much of that because of his imaginative flair with food, and his almost fanatical desire to use only local meats and produce, much of the latter from the restaurant’s own garden. “I believe food starts way before it gets into the kitchen, it starts in the ground,” said Boisvert, espousing his “seed-totable” philosophy. “I meet with our gardener and decide what we’re planting,” he said. “It’s the same with other farmers. I meet with them in January and tell them what we need — there are no GMO seeds.” But there are a couple of things Boisvert can’t get from the Island. “Truffles and citrus. Citrus like lemons and grapefruit are a little difficult to source locally,” he said, adding he hopes one day they too will be locally grown. While truffles are being grown in some areas of mainland B.C., other Valley fungi are a wonderful food source for the chef, a bounty he shares with others. “At this time of year we do mushroom tours every Saturday,” said Boisvert. “Brother Michael, a Benedictine monk, and I take about 10 people to show them the environment to find them, and then come back and do a three-course lunch with wine to pair with that.” To get in on those excursions or to make reservations, call the restaurant at 250743-3667. S 2014 winter
Boisvertisms: • “A home chef only needs three or four knives in the kitchen: a paring knife, a chef’s knife, a bread knife and a boning knife.” • “There are three things everyone should know in the kitchen: how to make a basic stock, how to butcher a fish and to know where your products come from.” • He’s not too crazy about any of the popular television chefs. However, Boisvert does have a soft spot for one of the pioneers of the business. “Julia Child,” he said. “I met her lots of times and sat down for a glass of wine with her and it was a huge moment.” • He maintains a relaxed kitchen. It’s true, forget all that yelling and carrying on you might see from television chefs; Boisvert’s kitchen is a very mellow place and you half expect spontaneous group hugs with the staff and the odd peace sign flashed between courses. “If there is chaos in the kitchen, that’s reflected in dishes,” Boisvert said.
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no small fan: Joe Barry
ticket to
ROCK A lifetime of dedicated music fandom is why they call him Musicman Joe
H
STORY by Don Bodger PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
ey, Joe, what ya doin’ with that iPhone in your hand? When Joe Barry is shooting the breeze about music, it just triggers a reaction. He grabs his iPhone and goes directly to setlist.fm where there’s a listing of every concert he’s ever attended.
“Five hundred and 15 concerts that I’ve accounted for,’’ says Barry, who’s certainly no ordinary Joe. “That total is probably more around 535.’’ The most recent additions were Steve Winwood and Rod Stewart at Madison Square Garden in New York in early December. By day, Barry, 53, is the corporate secretary for the Cowichan Valley Regional District. By night and during his free time, it’s like he stepped into a phone booth and emerged as Musicman Joe. “When it became that way was email because you had to come up with a handle,’’ he says. “When I switched to Shaw, Musicman was already taken.’’
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Tacking on the Joe part did the trick and fit his persona. Musicman Joe is also lucky. He’s won tickets and prize packages to 26 concerts. “If I see something music-related, that gets my attention,’’ he says. Winning became a product of his diligence. Without giving away any of his trade secrets, Barry says the key to winning is quite simple. “You have to pay attention to the radio, newspaper, television and now Facebook.’’ Some contests don’t receive many entries because people don’t notice or don’t bother entering. The payoff can be huge like when Barry, with a little luck, found himself heading to Seattle for a Paul McCartney concert in July 2013. He felt like he wanted to jump after winning tickets to see Van Halen in Vancouver on a Good Friday that included transportation and hotel accommodation. Kool and the Gang was the opening act and that was cause for further celebration. continued page 13 winter 2014
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backstage
PASS
What is your favourite concert that you won in a song and started over from the beginning; The contest? Stones proved they were live and not Memorex; Paul McCartney, Safeco Field, a classic live music ARTISTS SEEN THE MOST TIMES Seattle, July 19, 2013 performance complete with IN CONCERT: Rolling Stones 8, subtle mistakes and expert Reasons: chauffered trip Harlequin 6, Loverboy, Wide Mouth recovery; Bill Wyman even provided aboard Rock 101’s Mason, George Thorogood and The smiled and moved. Magical Mystery Bus from Destroyers, and Cheap Trick 5 times Vancouver to Seattle, complete Who are some of the famous each. with onboard refreshments; musicians you’ve met? SONG HEARD THE MOST IN accommodation provided at Rick Allen and Vivian CONCERT: Miss You 9 (eight times the Seattle Hilton; concert Campbell (Def Leppard), by The Stones and once as a cover by Donnie Walsh (Downchild tickets provided in Terrace Club someone else). level seats; outdoor concert Blues Band), Long John on a gorgeous warm summer Baldry, Doug Bennett (and VENUE OF THE MOST CONCERTS evening; Sir Paul played 39 ATTENDED: The Ottawa Civic Centre. his Slugs), Frankie Venom songs; sound was exquisite; (and the rest of Teenage MOST ACTIVE CONCERT YEARS: surprise appearance by Head), Streetheart, Trooper, 1981 and 2004 (36 shows each). surviving members of Nirvana. George Belanger and Ralph James (Harlequin). LEAST ACTIVE CONCERT YEAR: What is the favourite concert 1999 (only one show — Sammy attended that you paid for? My favourites were Belanger Hagar in Seattle). Rolling Stones, Skydome, and James. I booked them Toronto, Dec. 3, 1989
Reasons: Seats were Row 7 on the floor with the massive Steel Wheels stage looming above; sound, pyrotechnics and energy were all first class; Mick (Jagger) had a miscue and messed up the lyrics during Sympathy For The Devil so he stopped the 12
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three times back in my concert-promoting days and hit it right off with the band. Great guys from Winnipeg with one of the greatest Canadian rock debut albums ever (Victim Of A Song). The band even sent me a T-shirt and card for Christmas.
winter 2014
from page 10 I Love Music would be a logical title for Barry’s autobiography one day. The turntables and eight tracks of the time first put that spin on his life at Killarney Secondary School in Vancouver.
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Barry felt like he was in heaven. Students loved the new singer, who turned out to be rather famous, and heaped plenty of praise on Barry for bringing in the group. D.J. duties got more serious at Carleton University in Ottawa. “The last two years I was program director for the residents’ association. I still have copies of contracts at home — Powder Blues Band, Klattu, bands like Doug and The Slugs, Streetheart — all that early ‘80s stuff I booked.’’ Barry was clearly doin’ it right but that strangely didn’t translate into a permanent career in the music business despite all that experience. Bruce Allen’s job was safe, in other words. “I graduated and started working for local government,’’ Barry says. “My first job was issuing parking tickets and catching dogs for a local government. Then I became a bylaw enforcement officer.’’
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Barry’s career and main interest area continued to stretch in opposite directions by the time he relocated to Prince George. “I still had the itch for music. I approached the local paper and offered to write a weekly column on music.’’ The itch was scratched by covering concerts for the Prince George Citizen on a freelance basis at $20 per column. continued page 14
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from page 12
PEOPLE ARE TALKING!
“Here’s the bonus — all the free CDs,’’ raves Barry. “At that time record companies would mail CDs to the newspaper.’’ People gotta move and The Musicman Joe moniker followed him from Prince George on subsequent moves to Squamish, Merritt and the Cowichan Valley in 2003.
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“I thought having a list of all the concerts I went to would be cool. So then I just kept adding to it.’’ There’s also a Pop Culture side to Musicman Joe. He had a gas visiting the production site in Rouleau, Saskatchewan of the Corner Gas TV Show that he appreciated for its humour and oh, what a thrill it was for him and his 90-year-old dad.
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“My dad’s from Saskatchewan. I knew this would be the last trip he’d ever make back there and it turned out to be the case.’’
BLACK
August 19, 2011
Barry’s also a big sports fan and it’s on his bucket list to watch an NHL game in every NHL city. He’s up to 20 so far. He also wants to visit the Coke Museum in Atlanta, Georgia someday for its historical significance. But music will always be the heart and soul of his existence.
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“Ya it sure feels good to be alive,’’ goes a line in Adams’ hit. “Someday I’ll be 18 goin’ on 55.’’ S winter 2014
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1. Hey Joe (Jimi Hendrix), 2. Winning (Santana) 3. With A Little Luck (Paul McCartney & Wings) 4. Jump (Van Halen) 5. Celebration (Kool And The Gang) 6. I Love Music (O’Jays) 7. Heaven (Bryan Adams) 8. Doin’ It Right (Powder Blues Band) 9. People Gotta Move (Gino Vanelli) 10. O What A Thrill (The Mavericks) 2014 winter
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STORY by Maeve Maguire PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
O
n a sunny, crisp November morning I fell under the spell of First Nations oral tradition, and time stood still.
I was sitting with Arthur Vickers in his gallery, beside the Masthead Restaurant in Cowichan Bay. With thick, old wooden beams overhead, and white walls covered in the finest works of art depicting haunting West Coast First Nations imagery, Vickers talked with me about his creative process and shared stories his grandfather told him when he was growing up. Vickers was born in the coastal Tsimshian village of Kitkatla on Dolphin Island off the north coast of British Columbia. His mother was English Canadian, his father was of Heiltsuk, Tsimshian and Haida First Nations ancestry. He spent many of his younger days with his grandfather, a carver and fisherman, and the man who inspired Vickers to live a creative life. Though recognized at an early age for his talent, it wasn’t until his mid-40s that Vickers put down his construction tools and became a full-time artist. He works primarily in serigraph, pencil sketching, carving, and low-relief 24-karat gold leaf — a technique he developed, creating designs influenced by his First Nations heritage. He and his wife Jessica — who manages the administrative aspects of his business — converted the old boat-building house in Cowichan Bay into the Arthur Vickers Gallery, where they show his work in a comfortable and inviting space. continued page 19 16
station
winter 2014
the interview: Arthur Vickers
Cowichan Bay’s premier artist speaks to the creative process and the nurturing of the muse
the art of
CREATION 2014 winter
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“I wake up with a head and heart full of dreams of what I’m going to create.” — Arthur Vickers (with wife, Jessica)
www.patrykadesigns.com 18
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from page 16
2014 PROMASTER
He received the Order of British Columbia in 2008 in recognition of his original artwork and for his charitable efforts with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, among others. He has also received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria and a Distinguished Alumni award from Camosun College. One of his most famous pieces is the Leadership Desk, commissioned by Gordon Campbell for the premier’s office in Victoria, where it resides today. The desk is in the form of a bentwood box, and is made from red cedar found — after an exhaustive search everywhere else — in the boathouse that now houses his gallery. Vickers is an enchanting storyteller. He tells stories at a natural and deliberate slow pace so his audience can absorb the meaning in each phrase. He keeps eye contact and smiles often. The stories he shares reveal the source of his values, rooted in the natural order and symbiotic relationship humans have with each other and the environment. The lunch hour passed us by without notice. Nearly four hours later, I remembered I had responsibilities outside of the gallery. In that magical setting, in the presence of a great man, discussing the intimate topics of family, honesty, and connectedness, it’s a wonder my eyes welled up only twice. What follows is a short excerpt of our meeting that day.
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MM: What’s your creative process? AV: My creative time is now. It’s early in the morning. By the time afternoon is here, I’m done. I wake up with a head and heart full of dreams of what I’m going to create. It’s going from that dream state, if you will, to, “Oh, I better hurry up and get this done before it’s gone.” continued page 20 2014 winter
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from page 19 MM: So you roll out of bed in your pajamas and bedhead and get straight to work? AV: No, I sit. For an hour or maybe two hours before I wake Jessica up and talk to her about what I just dreamt. It’s through the subconscious state — which is the dream state — that we acquire what it is we’re going to do. It’s the wisdom in being able to achieve that. Sometimes when we’re awake you think, “Well, I can’t do that.” MM: Logic kicks in. AV: Well, have I tried? Wisdom and knowledge come through experience, as well. If I don’t expand my creative process then I become stagnant. Just doing the same thing over and over again.
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MM. Do you go through periods of that? Like there is writer’s block, is there artist’s block? AV: No. MM: Never? AV: Never. I always have six or eight pieces going at the same time. It’s really hard to turn it off.
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921B Canada Ave. Duncan MM: If you could work harder and faster you would still have more to do? AV: Absolutely. Anytime you reach a point of stopping in the creative process, it’s usually when you think. The creative process doesn’t come from my head it comes from my heart. It’s all feel. So my intellect doesn’t have a part in the process. I’m working with feeling when I’m creating. MM: How did you start working with gold leaf? AV: It goes way, way back to seeing a King Tut exhibition in Seattle in the late ‘70s. Going in and viewing pieces that were over 2,000 years old and they were busts and pieces carved out of wood, then sized and gold-leafed and burnished. MM: Burnished means? AV: Using tools to make it look like a pure piece of gold. MM: I didn’t know it wasn’t solid gold. AV: See? Neither did I. At the time, the curator was talking about these pieces and I was sort of a smart-alecky builder and I said, “That looks like it was done yesterday.” And he looked at me and said, 2014 winter
“Well, this piece is over 2,000 years old. And if it’s kept in this condition it will look like this 20,000 years from now.”
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MM: Wow. AV: That’s exactly what I said. I’m looking at these pieces and thinking somebody created these over 2,000 years ago. It was a recording of their period of time and here it is today. We’re witnessing something created that long ago. They are recording their history, as far as I’m concerned. That stuck with me. Working in the building industry, I got to work creatively with my hands and loved it. But I’ve done my art ever since I was a little boy. MM: Do you have an idea how a piece is going to look? AV: Feel. The look comes from the feel, I believe. Of course, when you’re creating the piece it comes from what you’re taught. In my head, I have to look at it and think it’s going to encompass a scene of what I envisioned. Once I have that, the area I’m going to produce this piece in, whether it’s a scene or First Nations design, or a carving, it comes from within. continued page 22
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from page 21
MM: How did your parents meet?
MM: Is that part of the feeling?
AV: My mother went up north to Prince Rupert to a doctor’s office and asked if she could be of assistance in a First Nations community. She had two sisters who were missionaries; one in China and the other in Borneo.
AV: Absolutely. The first time you do it, you have no idea. You just have a feeling that it’s going to be able to do this. If you look at the low relief work of the gold, if it was just gold leafed flat on a piece of paper, it doesn’t have the feeling of depth. When the light hits the edges, you all of a sudden feel the depth. You have people walk around the gallery and they may glance at things and maybe they’ll stop at a piece and look at it — spend some time really looking at the piece of art. What has happened is they have connected with the feeling and intent the creator of the piece had. There is a connection that completes the cycle of the creation of art.
MM: Did she ever explain what drew her to that? AV: I think she wanted some experience in the First Nations communities before she went abroad, to follow her sister to China but…. MM: …that turned out different. AV: Turned out different (laughs). Mom stepped off the boat in the little village of Kikatla on Sept. 3, 1943 and met a whole lot of children — from those too young to walk, up to about nine or 10 winter 2014
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years old. She was a little taken aback so she asked, “Where are your parents?” They were working in the canneries along the Skeena River, and some were out in the fall camps catching fish to smoke and dry for food for the winter. “Who is looking after you?” “Ya-a and Ts’i’i.” Grandpa and Granny.
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MM: Back in the good old days when grandparents were taking care of the kids. AV: And she thought it was really strange at first but then you realize you have the wisdom of the elders and the preciousness of the young minds and children. It was perfect. This was something mom realized was really quite amazing. I remember this really clearly from when I was a child: a mom and dad continued page 24 2014 winter
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from page 23 with children have this emotional roller coaster that’s happening all the time, but when Granny and Grandpa come around, you sure don’t want to upset them. MM: They have this sense of authority. AV: It’s wonderful. At the time, the teacher really didn’t want to stay in such a remote community, so she left. The chief of the council at the time asked mom if she could teach. Mom said, “Yes, I can, but I don’t have my teaching certificate.” “But can you teach?” “Yes, I can.” “Will you teach?” So Mom took on the duties of teaching in the community Grade 1 to Grade 7. She eventually met dad and they were married and eldest brother Roy came along. MM: How many siblings do you have?
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AV: There are six of us. For me, my grandfather and uncles and aunts were real supporters. My grandpa was a canoe carver, so I was raised in quite a creative life. His encouragement for me was unbelievable. As I’m growing up, I’m starting to learn from him. He sketched with a pencil before he carved. I used to hold my pencil — I still do — the way he held his because he had a very light hand, and I do in my sketches as well. He used to carve little canoes. I always thought he was carving them for me. I would put a nail in them and tie a string on them and put a stick and tow them around the beaches and proceed to lose them. What he was actually doing was carving models, scale models of the huge ocean-going canoes. MM: And did he carve the large canoes as well? AV: Absolutely, until they put motors in boats. When they put motors in boats, his purpose in life changed forever. Nobody needed canoes anymore. He just adjusted by learning how to be a fisherman, where I learned a lot as well. As a young boy I just wanted to go out fishing with him all the time, and did so. His stories winter 2014
of the history of the coast of British Columbia and all the places he had been were unbelievable, and he’d repeat them and say, “You must remember these so you can tell other people.” I loved it.
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MM: Did your siblings feel the same? AV: I think so. But I kind of felt like he was mine so I hoarded the time as much as I could. He really encouraged the creative process. He’d have stories like, “We born with only one thing: feeling. We hungry, we cry. We happy, we laugh.” Intellect comes in our pre-teens and we start thinking. If we’re hungry we have to learn how to cook and fish. But the creative process we’re all born with, it’s feeling. And he always encouraged education. “Today the world is changing so you have to learn as much as you can but keep your creative side alive.”
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AV: For work and mom teaching. With that many kids, seasonal work, fishing on the coast, is a little challenging. I was devastated because I didn’t have my grandpa and family. But I saw a lot of new things. I’d sketch all the new things I had never seen. Horses. MM: Snow. AV: Snow. Vehicles, not boats. There were new things to capture on paper. MM: Were you a good student? AV: I think so. Having the support of educators in school was amazing to me. I sketched a band of horses and my Grade 4 teacher said, “Who did this?” I said, “I did.” He said, “Where’s your mom?” “Home.” He needed to find the truth in it so went to Mom and Mom said, “Yes he did.” He said, “This boy’s going to be an artist.” Mom said, “You never know.” MM: She was leaving your options open. AV: My Grade 7 industrial arts teacher was a German pilot who was shot down and imprisoned in Africa, had one eye, was a painter, incredibly creative. He continued page 26 2014 winter
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from page 25 wanted to go hunting and saw that my dad had a .22 and said, “How about I trade you a painting of that mountain for the .22 rifle?” And I’m just thinking: please do it. Dad did, so he brought his easel and paints and canvas and painted the Roche De Boule out of our living room window and I was overwhelmed by what he was doing. I wanted to know more about it. One day in school he said to a few of us, “Would you like to carve? I have a Zulu chief’s mask and you can carve it.” OK. So he proceeded to cut these pieces of Honduras mahogany, these beautiful pieces of Honduras mahogany, into a 2 by 10. He put the mask up and gave us the carving tools and said go ahead. Because I witnessed my grandfather carving, I got really excited about it. Sat there and worked the whole year carving this Zulu chief’s mask and finishing it. I had no idea what I did with it. But I got to do this and I loved it. We lost mom in 1995 to ovarian cancer and I was privileged to have her at the
house because she wanted to stay at home to pass away. And she said, “I have something for you.” MM: No. AV: She said I have a box with your name on it. So I went and got this box and there was this carving of this Zulu chief’s mask from when I was 12 years old. I turned into a 12-year-old on the spot because you remember what you did in the process. I was really, really grateful for that. When I’m asked to go to schools, I take my Zulu chief’s mask. I encourage parents who have children who are creative to just keep the pieces and put them away. MM: Raising children, we’re waiting to see what their “thing” is. AV: Absolutely, and it’s supporting the good in it. MM: The challenge is supporting it even though it’s something we don’t understand. AV: They’re going to go through their experience in life no matter what the rest of us think or see or feel. I think
the blessing for me was that I had so much support in what I was doing. My grandfather would never say to me, “No, no, no, don’t hold the knife like that.” He would just say, “Maybe if you held the knife like this it would work a little bit better.” MM: He let you make the choice. AV: He could very caringly show me without telling me. MM: He knew the art to parenting. AV: The creative process that he relayed is completely reverse to how we learn today. I was never, ever given anything that I hadn’t accomplished before. So, if we took this bowl, you see the hookknifing detail on the outside? It’s a finishing texture. Well, before this was hook-knifed, it was smooth. When my grandfather had almost completely finished carving the bowl, he would give me a hook knife and say, “Just take it and go like this all the way around. When you finish, just bring it to me.” And I’d take it to him and he’d pick it up and go, “Grandson, look what you made! This is beautiful. It’s finished.” The next
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time, the outside wouldn’t quite be done, and he’d be sketching the lines in it. He’d say, “You take this adze, and chip like this all the way around. Try not to go over the line. You can feel when there’s bumps. When you feel that bump, just chip it off.” I’d go do it and take it back to him and he’d say, “Now you just take that little hook knife, and you make those little marks all the way around.” I’d take it back to him again, finished. He’d just teach in reverse.
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MM: So smart. AV: We’re not given the problem to solve, something that we hadn’t accomplished and pushed. It was something that you’d done. A child says, “Oh I don’t know how to do this.” “Well you can figure it out.” We’re already putting that amazing amount of pressure on, right? Rather than just the tiniest little thing that encourages that development in the creative process. If we did that intellectually as well, there would be huge changes.
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AV: Yeah, those pieces found homes. MM: How do you feel when one leaves? AV: My purpose in this is done. MM: Do you feel that way when it’s finished? Or do you feel that way once it’s left? AV: When it’s done. A lot of people struggle with the creative process but if your purpose is to create, then you need to create. You don’t hold on to creations, because they’re not yours when they are done. They go on a whole new journey in life and you never know where it’s going to end. You’re always honoured that someone collects your work. S 2014 winter
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VIEW Raindrops keep falling on my head PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
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“We did build the house with entertaining in mind.” — Pat Carson
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STORY by Mike D’Amour PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
ove. It’s been said that simple emotion can move mountains, start wars and build
empires.
Indeed, only love can break a heart, but it can also be the incentive for beautiful art and stunning abodes. For proof of the latter, look no further than the Taj Mahal, the universally recognized white marble mausoleum in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was built in memory of a Persian princess. Or, closer to home, take a glimpse at the spectacular home at 6434 Woodgrove Way, just off Maple Bay Road. Built by Pat Carson in 1985 for about $700,000, the gorgeous, 5,500 sq-ft estate is a jewel in the Cowichan Valley. “I built this house for my wife,” he said. Sadly, Carson’s wife has since passed and he has remarried, but he remembers planning the huge home. “We were getting close to retiring and decided to build a house,” he said. The couple decided on the Woodgrove site, wooded, fairly secluded property that was owned by a local florist. “It was about six and-a-half acres and had an older house on it.” continued page 32
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from page 31 The old home was razed and the only thing kept was the in-ground pool Carson had refurbished. The three-bedroom, fivebathroom home — with five, count ‘em, five — propane fireplaces built around the pool and vast patio is truly spectacular. The exceptional million-dollarplus home displays near perfect craftsmanship with plenty of marble, granite, glass and dark wood accents throughout. The chef’s kitchen is loaded with premium cabinets, granite countertops, a sub-zero fridge and what has to be one of the largest dishwashers available. That was probably in preparation for the guests Carson expected to drop by. “We did build the house with entertaining in mind,” he said. continued page 34
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from page 32 And entertain one can using a formal dining room and three living rooms with cathedral ceilings. Harvey and Nevis Patton have lived in the home for seven years and put their own touch on the place with fixtures, flooring and a new roof, replete with 40year shingles. They have decided to sell in order to relocate in Cobble Hill. The asking price? A mere $1,295,000.
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“After I listed the place a guy saw it on the internet and gave me a call,” said Mike Eddy, the realtor enlisted by the Pattons to sell the home. “The guy was the construction manager when the house was built and he said all the wall studs are two-by-eight and skilled labour from the mainland had to be brought in for some of the marble work.” Added Carson: “We had good tradesmen and good people that made sure everything was done right.” Just up the sweeping staircase (I’m starting to feel a little like a realtor myself here) is where one will discover
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The fully irrigated grounds were professionally designed and feature mature trees — including a small orchard sporting apple, cherry and two different types of plum trees — and an array of different plants and shrubs including about 100 rhododendrons. A 27,000-litre fresh water pool with a Grecian arch at one end is the obvious focal point, and a sunken outdoor hot tub will catch your eye. One more thing: the house was purposely situated to face west to catch late afternoon rays and evening sunsets. Carson chuckled when asked if he was a bit of a romantic. “Aren’t we all?”
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Artwork from Vancouver Island Artisans
check out what your neighbours are watching on the small screen
Brian Kroeker,
local yoga teacher and Cowichan Theatre publicist (with partner Debbie Stapleton) Orange is the New Black We just finished the first season over the holidays and it was refreshing to see characters we’d never seen before on the small screen. An alternately smart, sensitive, hilarious and harrowing portrayal of what women’s prison is like. Project Runway As crafty and creative people ourselves, we love seeing other people’s creative process played out every week. Project Runway consistently does the competition-type show the best, making you feel like a fly on the wall in the designer bullpen, delivering everything from diva breakdowns to design breakthroughs.
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139 Station Street Downtown Duncan 250-748-3311 36
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Eastbound & Down Kenny Powers is the funniest, most outrageous, jerk-thatyou-hate-to-love character on TV since Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Add in genius cameos by the likes of Will Ferrell and Tim Heidecker and a surprisingly heartfelt story arc and you’re left with an out-of-the-park homerun.
winter 2014
Katie Wolfe,
artist, curator, owner of 4Cats Arts Studio Duncan Modern Family All the characters are so funny, and their situations are so real. I laugh out loud every episode! Downton Abbey Coming from my background in costume design, this series offers a marvelous slice of history, depicting the class differences in the turn-of-thecentury couture. Game of Thrones As an avid reader, I love this magnificent adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s bestselling phenomenon: the TV series is so true to the books, it’s just as enjoyable to watch as it was to read!
Sherwood House is always a great place to come & meet new friends! We are looking forward to seeing you soon!
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Devon Gillott,
photographer/owner Devon Gillott Sessions and her family Nat Geo Wild This is a big one. Our three-year-old is a huge fan of their top 10 selection of most venomous creatures. Ghost Hunters This is another show my 10-year-old is a fan of. He only wishes he could stay up that late to watch them more often. My kids like the creepy stuff. Oh boys! Top Chef I have always been a big fan of the cooking channel. My partner and I used to have date night and watch Top Chef...good times! Nowadays, I am too busy to sit on the couch and watch much TV — time to grow up and work hard.
2014 winter
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imagine
THIS!
C
STORY by Krista Siefken PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
onsider it a microcosm of the Cowichan Valley.
You’ll find it nestled comfortably among the store fronts in Duncan’s city square, an unassuming little shop with big, beautifully decorated glass windows and a quiet brown sign. Inside its doors you’ll discover a trove of the kind of unpretentious talent that defines the valley. More than that, you’ll find a co-operative of artists who blend creativity and business in a model all their own. It is indicative of Cowichan as a whole: quaint yet sophisticated. Small but innovative. Imagine that. Lorraine Taylor did. She founded Imagine That! Artisans’ Designs and helped lay the groundwork for what
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would become a perfect encapsulation of what makes Cowichan unique. She had toyed with the idea of starting an artists’ co-op and began hosting meetings in the backyard of her Gibbins Road home to gauge interest. “Some people stayed, some people argued, and some people left,” she remembers. “Lots of people left, actually.” But she persevered, sifting through until there was a core group. Finally, she set up shop. “I thought it was going to be pretty hokey,” admits Margot Page, an artist and 18-year member of Imagine That! “But I thought I’d take my enamels down there and show them.” Page remembers walking into the store that first time and being forcefully reminded of the professional shops she’d left behind in larger cities. But there was something more. “It was not like the sophistication of Toronto or Montreal. It was more
Celebrating 20 years of exposing Cowichan Valley art and artists subdued, understated, subtle,” she says. “It drew me in rather than being in your face. I wanted to be part of it.” Small-town charm definitely seeps into the business. Page points out the shop doesn’t even have a cash register. “This is not like a regular retail store,” she says. “We still do everything by hand. We greet our customers. They become friends.” But even the free-spirited need to occasionally be strict when running a successful business. Page explains the shop is heavily structured by a set of policies set out 20 years ago. “A lot of the ideas came from the Craft Connection in Nelson,” she says. “We adjusted the information from the Nelson co-op to suit us and we’ve only changed it slightly during the past 20 years, here and there, because times change so you have to do some things a bit differently. But we all learn to run winter 2014
the co-op the same way, and there are definite forms and processes you have to follow. I think that’s a big part of (Imagine That!’s success).”
always knocking at our door to have us represent their beautiful images of Cowichan in our windows.”
There have been a number of members who’ve been involved with the cooperative over the years but the current line-up includes Page and four other members who run the shop and jury the pieces that come in from consignees and other artists.
“We turn down far more stock than we ever accept,” Page explains. “We’ve got a quality level, and it really has to suit the valley.”
The selected works are what one would expect of Cowichan: beautiful but useful, too. “Gorgeous wooden bowls from locally felled trees,” describes Page. “Silk screens with nature themes from (artists’) own gardens. Comfortable, appealing, useful pottery. Floor mats with designs of homely cats and folk-art elephants. Wildlife like quail, eagles, and deer abound here, and that’s what our artists depict. Photographers are 2014 winter
Not everyone makes the cut, though.
Imagine That! walks a fine line — it aims for high-calibre work at reasonable prices. That can be difficult when cheap is synonymous with tasteless in the minds of many.
Robin Millan, Eva Trinczek, Clare Carver and Sandra Greenaway. “We really do pick through the stuff that comes in,” says Page. “A lot of it never gets to the shop floor.” What’s left is something that’s perfectly Cowichan: artistic excellence accessible to all. “Locals are hard-working folk,” says Page. “They work with their hands, and they appreciate something that is handmade.
“Quality is a huge part of Imagine That!,” says Rick Kennedy, long-time coop bookkeeper and, according to Taylor, the backbone of the operation. “It’s not a junk store filled with tacky stuff.”
“Cowichan is the home of farmers, fishermen and loggers,” she adds. “They too buy art, and know what they want. From back 18 years ago to right now, we have sensed what the valley people want, and we look in our jury for people who can produce such work: simple, useful and with craftsmanship of the best quality.”
Every piece that sells in the shop is juried by Page and fellow co-op members
S
But this is Cowichan.
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A
shley Lee is a selftaught chef, caterer, and event organizer at Bird’s Eye Cove Farm in Genoa Bay. We sat down to chat with her about what makes Bird’s Eye Cove so special, her favourite thing to do on Saturdays and how she accidentally got into the event and catering industry. How long have you lived in Cowichan? I moved here three years ago from Nanaimo. What brought you to the Valley?
Pet Food, Pet Accessories, Livestock Feed, Fertilizer, Grass Seed, Garden Seed, Giftware, Clothing, Wild Bird Feed, Wild Bird Feeders, and a
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Pet Food, Pet Accessories, Livestock Feed, Fertilizer, Grass Seed, Garden Seed, Giftware, Clothing, Wild Bird Feed, Wild Bird Feeders, and a
Pet Food Pet Food,• Pet Accessories, Livestock Feed, Whole LotFertilizer, More! Grass Seed, • Pet Accessories Garden Seed, Giftware, Clothing, Wild Bird Feed, Wild Bird Feeders, • Livestock Feed and a • Fertilizer
Whole Lot More!
• Grass Seed • Garden Seed • Giftware • Clothing • Wild Bird Feed • Wild Bird Feeders
5410 Trans Canada Hwy. Duncan, B.C. / 250-748-8171
5410 Trans Canada Hwy. Duncan, B.C. / 250-748-8171 40
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My husband got a job with the Timberframe company that built the barn at Bird’s Eye Cove. What are you favourite memories of the Cowichan Valley so far? Going to the Saturday Farmer’s Market in downtown Duncan. It has a nice long season and we have access to such great produce here. Also I love the proximity to the lake and ocean living here. In the summer I swim a lot. How did you get into the event and catering industry? I got into catering and cooking in general through a serious of accidents and referrals. Cooking and baking is something I’ve done as long as I can remember. My mother was a caterer and family spent lots of time cooking and spending time in the kitchen. winter 2014
What makes Bird’s Eye Cove unique? Bird’s Eye Cove Farm is special in my opinion because it has so much potential. We are a farm primarily, and everything we do is in order to make the farm profitable and help grow the business. What is the biggest misconception about what you do out here at Bird’s Eye Cove? People assume that when we cook it all comes from freezers and they’re always surprised when they find out that we make most things from scratch. Everything is sourced locally or from the farm. The chickens are raised here, the sauces, the mayonnaise, the pasta, everything is made from the produce here on the farm. You organize a lot of weddings here, what advice would you give to brides? Try not to do too much yourself. Hire a wedding planner and don’t spread yourself too thin! What is your claim to fame? Probably baking! I tend to lean towards the pastries. I make all of my desserts from scratch. I really like (baking) cookies. When they’re done properly there’s a lot of versatility in them. I’ve also been playing with French macaroons. They’re really popular right now and I love them. What is your current passion? I’m trying to utilize the new wood fire oven more. It’s a bit of a learning curve. I’ve been working on some new breads and I’m going to Portland next month to meet with a bread maker there. Right now that’s my main focus. What do you enjoy most about what you do? I love seeing people enjoy the food I create. Food is such a big part of life, it invokes memories and is a part of every holiday and special event. I love being a part of people’s special events, especially weddings. It’s very rewarding. What does the future hold for you? We plan on expanding on what we’re doing by adding more animals and finding more ways to turn what we raise and grow into product for the community and our clients through catering. Our entire catering menu is based upon what we produce on our farm. What’s on your bucket list? I’m taking a hip-hop class at Adagé. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. What advice would you give to people looking to get into cooking/catering? The advice I would give to anyone interested in catering or cooking is enjoy the opportunities this profession offers, such as travel. This profession offers an individual many opportunities to keep learning and growing your skills. This is why I love what I do. There is always something new to learn. S 2014 winter
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words with:
Nick VERSTEEG
How a Dutch pastry chef turned his film hobby into a career that’s taken him around the world STORY & PHOTOS by Peter W. Rusland
T
he Americans unwittingly did Nick Versteeg a big favour by testing nuclear bombs at Bikini Atoll.
The tiny string of radioactive islands gave the veteran Cowichan Bay filmmaker his big break into making marketable documentaries. Versteeg also did some of his most memorable diving in the Bikinis, plunging into a film-making career that’s eclipsed his first seeming-unrelated trade as a pastry maker. But to the native Netherlander, all of his work boomerangs to the Golden Rule. “It goes back to my grandfather who taught me to treat people with respect. I’m not a journalist, I’m a storyteller. From the people you meet, you form the story.”
film maker; an amateur.”
A&E’s brass at the Banff TV Festival.
His pro camera career continues this spring with the documentary Resilience, about the stresses faced by the heritage Cowichan River. Resilience follows his 2013 award-winning tourism picture Once Upon A Day . . . Cowichan — and Island At The Edge, Versteeg’s timely 2008 message about food security.
“The toughest part is selling your first production because you have no background — we only had our corporate background. It’s trust building; A&E trusted us, and we got our second assignment for Bikini Atoll.”
Food has been his focus in recent years when he made a plate full of culinary documentaries. But Versteeg’s appetite for people and places first propelled him from pastries to producing pictures for Canadian corporate clients, then various networks. “In Holland, we saw a film on Banff on TV, and I fell in love with the place.”
Versteeg’s story started in Holland with high-school pastry studies, then a hitch on the Dutch army’s kitchen wagon. In the ‘70s he baked by day in his shop, then screened community movies at night with brother, Dick.
He immigrated to Canada after buying a bakery in Hinton, Alberta. It fizzled as Versteeg’s movie making grew through new cameras, and the 1980 doc The History of the Foothills. Versteeg moved to the coast 1982, studied at Vancouver Film School, and made videos for BC Hydro, B.C. Gas and other clients through his company, Dusmar Productions.
“I was always an avid eight-millimeter
Crucial connections happened with
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His firm’s first A&E outing was 1995’s The Legacy of Truk Lagoon, chronicling Second World War naval carnage between Japanese and U.S. forces in the South Pacific. “It was an amazing place slowly falling apart; the ships and tanks are deteriorating. Production-wise it did very well, and the DVD has sold well — we held on to the rights.” Costa Rica’s jungles — during a corporate job for the nation’s government — helped usher Versteeg’s ‘96 Discovery Channel doc Mayan Pompeii, unearthing El Salvador’s ancient culture. “The area was covered by volcanic ash. We were the first ones to go in,” he said of village excavations. “The story is about what happened to the people. On every project we hired a professor, experts on the subject. winter 2014
“El Salvador was also just out of a war; it’s the first time I had a body guard with me.” But his 1997 Bikini doc — and the region’s gentle people — left “spectacular” impressions. “It’s also a sad production because it was 50 years after the Bikinians were asked to leave their island, and still haven’t returned. The bottom’s still highly contaminated.” Versteeg doubts he suffered radiation effects (“The Geiger counter never showed any readings”) while gawking at incredible fish and coral. “It’s completely untouched. I dove lots of places in the world, and that’s still the highlight.” He may even return to Bikini for his 65th birthday this July. “We didn’t make a penny from Truk, but with Bikini the company started making money. You travel the world and from everyone you meet, you learn something completely new.” By ‘99, capturing kitchen action gave Versteeg fresh material. He won a James Beard Award for The Road to the Bocuse d’Or competition where 2,500 people cheer on 25 chefs from around the world. “It was like a soccer game for chefs. It was a thrill; the Oscar of the culinary world.” Through an acquaintance came lucky connections with the Food Network, where he shipped execs a pilot idea. “It stared a 10-year relationship, and that’s when we created our company DV Cuisine (‘91).” Another Beard grew from The World Pastry Cup, and four Leo Awards for The Next Great Chef. While more projects continue to marinate, Versteeg didn’t hesitate naming his second career choice.
“If not making movies, I’d be a pastry chef.” — Nick Versteeg 2014 winter
“If not making movies, I’d be a pastry chef. (But) don’t ever expect me to retire; I love my job. I wake every day with ideas for productions.” S station
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behind the final
FRAME No, that’s not photoshop: The making of fly me to the moon STORY by Ashley Degraaf PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
Y
ou can’t help but wonder what goes through a photographer’s mind coming up with fresh, cool shots.
a location.
Especially when a wicked replica photo of the E.T. movie poster ends up in your inbox, filed by photographer Andrew Leong for this edition of Station.
“After some thoughts, it dawned on me (to ask) our 2012 News Leader Pictorial youth athlete Mark Wallace (local International downhill mountain bike racer). At the same time, I approached Cowichan Theatre’s technical director Michael Schaefer and explained to him about my project and to use the theatre stage as my primary setting for the session.”
We had to ask the long-time local photog why this shot and how?
Safety and liability issues were handled swiftly before the big photo shoot.
“I saw a video on YouTube of a European photographer (with the help of two of his buddies), demonstrating how to attempt a shot similar to the E.T. poster without using photoshop,” Leong summed. “He had to scout out the location for his project ahead of time, making note the time the full moon rises above the hill, and calculating the distance from the bottom of the hill, where he was photographing from, to the top, where his two buddies prepare for the aerial ride.”
“(Mark and I) went to the theatre stage, met with Mike, and Mark calculated the width of the stage for his jumps. Mark, with help from his dad, built a scaffold and a long ramp from home, tested a ride on it and sent a video for my approval.
Leong’s always up for a challenge so it was an easy decision to pursue a similar shot. “But knowing I’ll never find a similar setting and location in the Cowichan Valley, I did some brainstorming to find a way to produce an image that’s not related to a photoshop production,” he said. Leong already had neat shots of full moons in his stock archives, but had to find a kid who could do aerial jumps and 44 station
“In the meantime, I rear-projected the full moon image onto a large white screen (from the back of the theatre), and got a proper exposure reading of the moon before the actual jumps. “Then I photographed the jumps by Mark (about six tries) in pitch dark to get that silhouette effect by the moon.” Leong’s shutter speed was set at 500 of a second to freeze the action in mid-air. The scaffold and ramp set up took the boys about 45 minutes. The photography itself only took about 15 minutes. “So the session took less than an hour to complete,” Leong said. see “final frame” page 46 winter 2014
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2014 winter
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final
FRAME fina
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...and the last word, we give to award-winning photographer Andrew Leong winter 2014
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Pots & Paraphernalia
863 Canada Ave. • 250-748-4614 Mon.-Sat. 9:30-5:30 SUNDAY 11-4 48
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shop online at www.potsandparaphernalia.ca winter 2014