Aqua May/June 2017

Aqua

COMFOR FOOD T Marcia

Jansen's popular column inside

Gulf Islands

Living

MAY/JUNE 2017

Creativity & class in decor, art, food and spirits

Volume 12, Issue 3

Jo's place A culinary love story on Pender Island

Colour MASTER Diana Dean is newest Salt Spring RCA member

Arts | food

| people

| passions

| T H E A TRE | V ENT U RES

160 Upper Ganges Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2S2

Page 2 – AQUA – May/June 2017

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S T A R V I N E YA R D S

jen maclellan PHOTO

More honours and exhibitions for Diana Dean, PAGE 8

contents

Last November Sea Star Vineyards was honoured to be asked by Jesse the Chef at pilgrimme on Galiano to include our 2015 Blanc de Noir as their partner wine in the Canadian Culinary Championships.

MAY/ JUNE 2017

TANTALIZERS! PAGE 6 COVER STORY

Jesse went on to win best Chef in B.C. !

Our Blanc de Noir went on to win best wine in Canada ! The first time a rosé has won the competition, and the first time a Coastal winery has been the National Grand Champion !

FINE ARTS

If you can imagine it, Madrona Bay Decor can make it, PAGE 12

Pender Isla nd s e a st a r vi neya rds.c a 25 0.62 9.69 60

THE ARTS

Painter Terrill Welch's work in high demand, PAGE 17 Crimes of the Heart entertains in May, PAGE 29

kiki roberts PHOTO

SEA

29 25

FOOD & DRINK

Victoria Distillers serves up luscious fun, PAGE 25 Feeling good at Jo's Place on Pender Island, PAGE 35

Q&A

Cicela Månsson and ArtSpring give us nights to remember, PAGE 38

peter hunt PHOTO

Comfort Food columnist Marcia Jansen with Suzie Baukol from the Philippines, PAGE 32

The Cobbler The Cobbler 8 View Street, 718 View Victoria Street, Victoria

0-386-3741 250-386-3741

Page 4 – AQUA – May/June 2017

jen maclellan PHOTO

12

elizabeth nolan photo

A lost vintage

I

f I were a rich woman, I would ensure I had a wine cellar. But somehow I don’t think “Give Gail a stocked wine cellar” has the makings of a successful Fundrazr.com campaign, so it isn't going to happen.

A couple of years ago I did manage to put away a bottle of lovely, award-winning 2013 Garry Oaks Winery Pinot Noir + Zweigelt (AKA “Pinot Plus”). My partner Michael and I had enjoyed a few bottles of it in 2015, and knew from talking to then winery owners Elaine Kozak and Marcel Mercier that it would never be reproduced again. One day Michael asked if I still had that bottle, since he felt like having a glass of red wine.

“Too bad for you,” I said. “I am saving that bottle of wine for a special occasion.”

“What kind of special occasion?” he asked, baffled.

“Our daughter might get married someday,” I said.

I got a rolling-eyeballs look for that bit of rationale.

As it turned out, I couldn’t remember where I put the bottle of wine in question, so even if it was required for a “special occasion,” the festivities would have to proceed without it.

Aqua

michael murray photo

Editor’s Message

Gulf Islands

Living

This issue published May 3, 2017

Then, during a snowstorm that caused a prolonged power outage this past winter, Michael went rummaging about in a storage cupboard on the porch looking for kerosene lamp oil. You guessed it. He came out with the lost bottle of wine in his hand.

Of course, the Garry Oaks Winery Pinot Plus did not end up back in the “wine cellar,” waiting for Chloe’s wedding bells to ring someday.

How does this wine tale relate to this issue of Aqua?

It’s because we noticed that our accumulating stories seemed to be about the finer things in life: Victoria Distillers’ wonderful spirits; the museum-quality paintings of Salt Spring’s Diana Dean; and the exquisite creations of Madrona Bay Decor. But as usual with stories in Aqua, they end up being more about absolutely authentic people and passions, rather than images and prestige.

So pour a glass of your favourite beverage and take time to meet more of your perfectly distilled island neighbours in the following pages.

— Gail Sjuberg

Publisher: Amber Ogilvie Editor: Gail Sjuberg Art Director & Production: Lorraine Sullivan Advertising: Fiona Foster, Drew Underwood Aqua Writers: Cherie Thiessen, Elizabeth Nolan, Dawn Hage Aqua Photographers: Jen MacLellan, Cherie Thiessen, Elizabeth Nolan Cover photo of lighting fixtures from Madrona Bay Decor by Hannah Warmisham Aqua is published by Driftwood Publishing Ltd., 328 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C. V8K 2V3 Phone: 250-537-9933 Email: news@driftwoodgimedia.com Websites: www.driftwoodgimedia.com; www.gulfislandsdriftwood.com Publications Mail Reg. #08149 Printed in Canada

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Harbour Air Otter painted for Canada 150 and pilot Eric Lucking.

• Campbell Bay Music Fest arrangements are moving into high gear for the ninth annual event on Mayne Island on June 2324. Performers include Citizen Jane, Cuddle Magic, Douse, Roger Roger, Only a Visitor and more. Mayne Islander Shelder the Electric Clamfish, AKA Michelle Footz, who now lives in the Maritimes, will also be there. Tickets sold out in advance last year, so people should get them online at www.campbellbaymusicfest.com while they’re still available.

• Speaking of festivals, mark the June Ventriloquial Investigations.

23-25 dates for the third annual Tour des Îles event, which sees the Gulf Islands connected through various water craft over the festival period. Visit www.gulfislands.org for more details.

• You never know what you’ll see on an ArtSpring stage. On May 21 at 2:30 p.m., a show titled Ventriloquial Investigations, presented by Michael O’Neill and Gamelan Alligator Joy, comes to Salt Spring Island.

Ventriloquial Investigations is described as “a 40-minute musical theatre performance of ventriloquist’s puppet, Javanese

gamelan and live video score by Sammy Chien, [which] could be one of the most engaging philosophical treatises you will ever hear.”

• Rainbow Road Pool on Salt Spring hosts all kinds of special events throughout the year. Coming up on May 14 is the Mother’s Day Swim, when moms swim for free and are otherwise treated royally at the pool. The following Sunday, May 21, sees the Junk in Your Trunk Community Garage Sale take place in the pool’s parking lot, with people invited to sell their wares from the back of their vehicle or a table. Sunday, June 18, is the day for the seventh annual Father’s Day Triathlon and pool’s ninth birthday party.

• The Gulf Islands are already well into Canada 150 celebrations, culminating in the July 1st sesquicentennial. The Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Regional District, with funding support from the Salt Spring Island Foundation, have collaborated to extend the party by presenting 150 Days of Fun on Salt Spring Island.

Community projects and events will be supported under the 150 Days banner up until the Salt Spring Apple Festival on Oct. 1. And Harbour Air is already flying Canada’s colours high by painting two of its aircraft in red and white and adorning them with the official Canada 150 logo.

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Fine Art

Colour Wheel Painter Diana Dean gets ready for another spin on her journey

BY ELIZABETH NOLAN Photos by Jen MacLellan

Page 8 – AQUA – May/June 2017

By the time they reach their 70s, most people would feel it’s time to it take it easy. Careers have come and gone, and so have the most intensive years of child-raising and family life. If one is lucky, time can be spent on the pursuits that interest one most, whether or not they pay the bills.

For the working artist, however, stopping the activity that’s allowed them to make a living would mean giving up an essential part of their core identity.

This appears to be the case for Salt Spring artist Diana Dean, who is now 74.

Although her paintings are found in numerous important collections and sales of her major works number in the hundreds, she still puts in at least six hours of studio time each day.

“It’s a journey of exploration and discovery,” Dean says during a visit to her studio.

Dean has many honours and accomplishments behind her, but in some ways she’s just now regaining her stride. She lost her main conduit to big collectors

recently when her Toronto gallery changed hands after 25 years. But this summer she will have two back-toback solo shows in Victoria and Salt Spring, shortly before she is inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. “This is the year for Diana. Her new work is so powerful — it’s among the best she’s ever done,” says island curator and collector Anthony Matthews, who is putting together the Salt Spring exhibition.

Dean’s oil paintings can be found in cultural institutions such as the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, DuPont Canada Inc. Collection, the Surrey Public Art Gallery and Lancaster University in England, to name just a few. Recent group shows include one at the MacLaren Art Centre in 2012 and Loch Gallery’s 2010 show Best of the Contemporaries in Toronto.

She is perhaps best known for The Banquet, a series of 10 interconnecting oil paintings totalling 68 feet in length, which she painted from 1994 to 2000.

The richly detailed narrative tableau has a Renaissance flavour while not staying mired in the past. Like many of her works, versions of herself, her four sons and other personalities appear, recast in

this case as various medieval figures. Dean represented Canada at the 2009 Florence Biennale with the panel called The Kitchen.

While she retains a distinctive and recognizable “voice” as an artist, Dean’s painting style continues to evolve. At the moment she is working with pure colour.

Smooth objects or figures are conveyed without visible

Above: Clayoquot: Morning of the Demonstration, oil on canvas, 6' x 8', 2010.

Previous page: Diana Dean with Moving Towards the Light, oil on canvas, 3' x 5', 2016.

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“I’m always looking and wondering, ‘How did that colour get there?’ It’s — DIANA DEAN a mystery.” brushstrokes for a style that is not abstract or impressionist, but not quite realist either. Perhaps “mythic” would be the best description, as the scenes she creates can’t be bound to any particular time period. In the same way, her landscapes are inspired by the West Coast’s topography of thickly forested hills and seas, but brim with an extra vibrancy and light that suggests a dimension unseen to most eyes.

Dean was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. When her parents divorced, her mother took her home to England, where they set up in a horrible, substandard flat. Dealing with all the changes was difficult, and the young Diana took up painting at age 14 as a kind of release.

“It was the only way I could express myself. I don’t how I got my first paints, but I had some paints and did my first painting, a portrait of a friend,” she recalls.

Dean showed the results to the boy’s

Above: The Gift of Flowers, self-portrait, oil on canvas, 3'x 4', 2016.

Next page: Tilai, oil on canvas, 3'x 5', 2012.

parents and they purchased the painting for 10 pounds — a small fortune for a teen in 1950s England. She used the money to buy more paints.

Dean was accepted into an academic grammar school and was enjoying the science stream when she suddenly realized she needed to be an artist. She completed the two-year arts program in one year, graduated with distinction, and from there went on to the Bath Academy of Art in Corsham, England. She started by studying painting under John Hoskin, a well-known English artist.

“But I really didn’t learn anything from him, so that’s when I switched to sculpture,” Dean explains.

Dean graduated with a distinction in sculpture in 1964 and began her life as a professional artist, with her work featured in many shows and collections. She’s lived on the West Coast since 1982, where the natural beauty was to form the backdrop

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for epic works inspired by Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer.

A look back at Dean’s earlier work reveals a consistent concern for how forms relate in space, and how they are expressed on the twodimensional surface. Leaving England meant leaving behind most of her sculptures, and the switch to painting at first involved remnants of that medium in abstracts. Dean was also influenced by the way lines converge into structure through her ex-husband, an architect, and the vanishing point concept developed by Renaissance painter Masolino da Panicale.

The importance of the relationship between forms is still evident is Dean’s work. By now she has an innate ability to sense how mathematic laws like the “golden ratio” make the arrangement of space pleasing to the eye. Her newest paintings contain elements from pastel studies she did of her garden back in the 1980s, as she returns to highlighting the relationship between positive and negative space.

“It’s almost like going back to my earlier work, which was much more geometric,” Dean says.

She’s also ramped up her ever-present fascination with colour. Each painting can have as many as eight layers of paint, with more oil added to each layer for richly saturated pigments. Her commitment to the whole means a corner of the sky is just as important as the figure or tree in front of it.

“Diana really doesn’t ignore any part of the canvas. Every part gets attention,” Matthews observes.

When not painting, Dean spends much of her time in her garden, which contains a lovely tumble of flowers nestling between towering arbutus trees. Living on a hill near Salt Spring’s northern tip has also given her access to the incredible skies, especially at sunset, that often appear in her work.

“I’m always looking and wondering, ‘How did that colour get there?’

It’s a mystery,” Dean says.

Trees and flowering plants are more like subjects than objects in her latest series, where ultramarine cedar fronds and bushes with glossy red leaves contrast with tender lavender shrubbery and soft heather.

Given that Dean has spent so much time portraying human narratives throughout her career, it’s not surprising these botanical forms have an almost meaty presence: an insistent life-force fit for the jungle.

Dean’s upcoming solo exhibitions start with a month at the Martin Batchelor Gallery in Victoria from May 27 to June 22, set up by her business manager Stephen Glanville. Her Salt Spring show, arranged by Matthews, will open at Merchant Mews on June 30. The month after that she will be inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Art, although she’s not sure she’ll be able to attend the four-day event in Toronto.

Dean was nominated to the group by fellow islander and RCA member Susan Benson. The rigorous, year-long juried process required having another five artists support the nomination and then a review by the board of directors.

Founded in 1880, the organization has fewer than 800 members, all of whom have been elected by their peers across the country; membership is poised to introduce Dean to a new level of support and recognition.

While she is quite amazed to have caught the attention of her fellow artists, Dean is typically humble about her own impact.

“It gives me some confidence, but not much. I still have to figure out what I’m doing,” Dean says.

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 11

Ventures

! e t a e r C

Imagination feeds function at Madrona Bay Decor

By Dawn Hage Photos by Jen MacLellan, except as noted

A

s I wind down a beautifully forested driveway off an unassuming road, a vista opens up and I find myself in Madrona Bay, another hidden Salt Spring gem. Nestled above the bay is the beautiful home and workshop of Rick and Wendy Wallace, owners and creators of an exciting new business.

Residents of Salt Spring for 18 years, the Wallaces have recently launched Madrona Bay Decor, aligning their creative and technical passions into a functional and artistic union that is turning heads in both the tech and home decor world.

Madrona Bay Decor (MBD) represents their foray into the artisan side of the island.

“We have always been ‘brain’ people,” says Wendy. “But living on Salt Spring has brought out the artist.”

Originally from Calgary, electrical engineer Rick owned a geophysical data-processing business while Wendy holds degrees in education, project management/training and Page 12 – AQUA – May/June 2017

hannah warmisham photo

interior design. They sold their businesses and retired in 1999, moving to Salt Spring to raise their two children and enjoy island life. They spend winters in Mexico and were inspired when they observed how often goods are repurposed, recycled and reused in that country.

I step through the doorway of their stunning home and immediately sense that this is the living space of very creative people.

From the original iron rack that holds my coat to beautiful and eclectic art on the walls, their amazing collection is highlighted with special lighting and a flowing design. A Renaissance-style candelabra made of copper and steel lights a hallway, while an actual barn door slides open and shut on four custom wheels. Wallace McKnight stands guard at the hearth, a vintage knight with real armour, helmet and sword.

Wendy and Rick explain that the seed for MBD began with a lamp. They lead me to a funky, vintage-looking floor lamp lighting a corner of the living room. The most amazing feature is the on/off switch, which you control by pressing an antique sewing machine foot pedal. As is usual in their process, Wendy came up with the design and Rick made it happen, fashioning a concrete base, steel pipe post and welded steel shades to match the unique pedal.

The result was creative, functional and beautiful, saving the foot pedal from recycling or trash. And with that lamp, a new business and artistic partnership was born.

The next creations were some fun pieces for their garden, such as nautical-themed concrete planters and a concrete bistro table with steel legs. They are avid antique and vintage collectors and take advantage of this hobby to feed their creations. Nothing is considered

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hannah warmisham photo hannah warmisham photo

unusable when it comes to Wendy’s imagination and Rick’s technical genius.

“We look at antiques and old objects, recycled pieces, flea markets and junk yards,” says Wendy. “We are always looking for ways to repurpose things.”

“Wendy is always saying, ‘Don’t throw that away, I can probably use it,’” laughs Rick.

“It’s amazing what we can use to ‘MacGyver’ a piece together,” agrees Wendy.

They began experimenting with funky faucets and lamps, made with copper and bronze plumbing fixtures and attachments designed and printed by Rick on one of his three 3D printers.

In the fall of 2015, they launched MBD, setting up a website and Etsy page where customers could view and purchase their creations.

Demand for the faucets and lamps was high and they worked hard to keep up with the orPage 14 – AQUA – May/June 2017

ders. The couple finally took a break to travel and, when they returned, an amazing new opportunity came their way.

One of their creations was a beautiful coffee table made of concrete panels and distressed wood which they gave to their son Ryan, who lives in Vancouver and works as a software designer for the gaming company Kabam.

Ryan loved the table and posted a picture on Facebook to share with his friends. Amie King, director of studio operations at Kabam, saw the table and asked him where he got it.

Kabam was about to move into a new, twofloor, 30,000-square-foot office in downtown Vancouver that would house their 170 employees. King was looking for unusual furniture with a mixture of functionality and fun that would suit the feel and design of Kabam and keep employees engaged and inspired.

“Amie wasn’t happy with some of the interior plans for the office,” says Wendy. “She wanted specialty designs that would reflect the unique qualities of the company.”

Ryan explained that his parents had designed the table and owned MBD on Salt Spring Island. Wendy and King set up a meeting and the ideas started flying. The partnership was a perfect fit.

“Wendy was in heaven,” says Rick. “She would say, ‘How about this?’ And Amie would say, 'I love it!'”

The Wallaces were given a list of all the rooms and went to work. Each room had a theme and, apart from one particular item (the “Thor hammer” table) that King requested, all pieces were designed, pitched and constructed

by MBD. Rick would sketch out their ideas and King would send them on to home office in San Francisco for approval. Everything was enthusiastically received.

The contract coincided perfectly with the completion of their spacious new workshop on April 1, 2016. Within one week they were hard at work, making furniture for Kabam.

“We hit the ground running,” says Rick.

The couple designed, created and delivered 78 pieces of original furniture to Kabam in just five months.

“We were in the workshop from nine in the morning until 6 or 7 p.m. every day, seven days a week,” he says. “I still don’t know how we got them all done!”

Among the items created for Kabam were a 5’x9’ meeting table with USB ports, funky chandeliers, Rubik’s cube tables on castors with glass tops, steampunk scooters, unique dog tags (it's a dog-friendly office), vintage picnic tables

with beverage and ice trough, miner cart coffee tables, wine barrel table and chair set, tire table with sports car seats, swings, Scrabble game table with cubby hole for game pieces and sliding shelf for letters, and much more. All items include a little MBD trademark and they gifted the company with a steampunk dog-watering station when the project was finished.

“We took two full moving vans over to Vancouver with the furniture,” says Wendy. Kabam opened its new office doors in September 2016.

One of the most interesting creations is the Thor hammer table, an interactive living art piece. King sent Rick a picture of the hammer, envisioning it with lights, and asked, “Can you do it?”

After studying the picture in depth and sketching out a plan, Rick used his 3D printer and created a replica of the hammer that included 12 built-in blue LED lights that change and glow like a lava lamp.

“It took 45 hours for the printer to finish creating the hammer,” says Rick. “It was a nail biter.”

The hammer has built-in motion-sensitive special effects, including strobe, sparkle, disco and heartbeat lights, and is embedded in a white, acrylic plexiglass surfaced table with custom bent steel legs.

“It’s really unique,” says Rick. “We knocked that one out of the park.”

Rick uses his 3D printers constantly, for everything from USB chargers to fittings and faucet connectors and even small parts for boats.

It is a huge time saver, allowing him to craft items to his exact needs, rather than spending hours and hours in a hardware store.

“I’ve made hundreds of different objects with it. Almost every single piece we make will have a 3D printer element.”

The Kabam chapter ended with a trip to San Francisco to hand deliver a Thor hammer table to head office. The Wallaces would love to take on a similar big project and, in the meantime, they find themselves moving in a new direction with interactive living-art pieces.

Wendy has recently been working with fused glass, both as a functional and artistic medium, and finds that the technique lends itself beautifully to their funky and interactive creations. Adding motion-sensitive technology to the medium, the result is art that moves, changes, shifts colours and physically involves the viewer.

“We have a million ideas for these creative pieces,” says Rick.

Ideas include fused-glass wall features with electronics, the Flow Water Drops — a sculpture with motion sensitive water drops that flow and change colour — and Picasso steel tables with fused-glass art visible under a clear glass table top.

Another project with huge potential is 3D-printed handmade USB chargers that are fixed to either copper or black pipe and can be attached to bar or coffee-shop counters for the convenience of customers.

The USB chargers can also be integrated into children’s lamps, tables, drawers or anything that would provide a handy place to recharge.

Again, with the 3D printer and imagination, the sky is the limit.

Rick and Wendy’s immaculate workshop is always evolving with current plans to build an interactive art piece with the word “create.”

Visitors will soon be greeted by a robot man made of scrap metal whose eyes follow you and who will guard the workshop with a laser gun made from a discarded impact drill.

The future looks bright for this amazing couple who are overflowing with creativity and ideas, using objects that would otherwise be seen as useless or worn out, creating beautiful, functional art and furniture that will last forever.

To learn more and view their gallery, visit www.madronabay.com.

Above: Wallace McKnight at the home of Rick and Wendy Wallace of Madrona Bay Design.

Previous page, from top: Rubik's cube tables on wheels and the Thor hammer table at the Kabam campus in Vancouver.

Page 13: Swing set and game character at Kabam.

Page 12: Rick and Wendy with their repurposed barn door in their Salt Spring Island home.

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 15

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Island Artists

allison taylor photography

Expressing Connections

terrill welch photo

Mayne Island artist Terrill Welch

By CHERIE THIESSEN Photos as credited

It’s Feb. 21, 2016 and the Groove is living up to its name. Owners Sherrie McDonald and Andrew Smith are hosting a pop-up, New York-style art event in their vibrant venue as a fundraiser for the food bank. It’s the hottest place to eat and to listen to music on Mayne Island and it looks like perhaps the “in” place for exhibitions as well.

It’s certainly the perfect spot for this exhibit by accomplished artist Terrill Welch.

The Groove’s bright colours, its musical instruments hanging on the walls and its energy are perfect for her show themed A Sense of Place. The rooms quickly fill up with locals and visitors alike, sipping wine and enjoying hors d’oeuvres as they chat with the artist and admire the large array of 22 canvases on easels, hanging from the windows and displayed on the walls singly, in pairs and in threes.

A 48”x36” oil on canvas entitled Southern Gulf Islands Afternoon snags my attention, the arbutus wrapping its limbs around a dying fir in an effort to prevent itself from falling into the sea. There’s something very human about it — its need for contact and its desperate search for salvation. The clouds in the smaller 18”x24” May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 17

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Page 18 – AQUA – May/June 2017

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DUNCAN PAGE FILLER

terrill welch photo

walnut oil on canvas coastal seascape entitled Early March at Arena Lighthouse California Coast are roiling, but there’s a serenity below, an understanding between the sea and shore. The red cliffs are not endangered by the waves; the sea isn’t thwarted by the cliffs.

It has been quite a journey for the home-schooled seven-year-old who lived in a remote tiny home with her three siblings and parents near Vanderhoof, B.C., who never even saw an art gallery for many years but knew even then that she was going to be an artist. At 14 she was invited to join an adult evening painting class and her many years of art training began, more in the European style of mentoring and training. She sold her first painting that same year.

Welch recalls her mentors gratefully: watercolour artist and teacher Jack Peterson; and, when she left government employment in 2002 and had more time to devote to her passion, Glenn Howarth, whom she studied under for three inspirational years of figure drawing and painting. (Howarth was an innovative artist and teacher in the Victoria art scene until his death in 2009.)

It couldn’t have been easy for the artist to juggle raising two children as a single parent, working full time and even attending university part time to find opportunities for her art, but during the 1990s she somehow managed two solo art shows and some group exhibits (at which she received juried honours recognition for one of her works). Continuing the success she experienced at 14, her work continued to sell quickly.

In 2007, she and her partner David Colussi made the move to Mayne Island, falling in love with the home they found there. Sheltered by tall fir trees, it overlooks the bucolic pastures of Meadowmist Farm. A one-ofa-kind straw bale and timber frame home lovingly built by Pender artisan Tracey Calvert, it’s a home that Calvert told the couple “loves you right back.” It does, says the happy homeowner.

Above: Early March at Arena Lighthouse, 18" x 24" walnut oil on canvas.

Page 17, from top: Terrill Welch at work in her studio; On the Rocks in Tofino, 24" x 30" oil on canvas.

Obviously, it encourages creativity, too, as Welch has been one busy creator since 2010. Besides her beautiful, environmentally friendly home, she credits social media and being able to share and market her work online for her considerable sales.

“Living on a small island of 1,100 people, I was compelled to try and reach a larger market beyond our shores. I still show my work in brick and mortar venues, but there are many collectors of my work who only

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 19

sherrie mcdonald photo

Terrill Welch's Sense of Place exhibit at The Groove on Mayne, February 2016.

view and purchase my paintings from online.

I offer a 30-day return guarantee if a work is safely returned, no questions asked, for online purchases. This seems to provide the comfort needed for Canadian and international buyers

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to purchase paintings in the thousands of dollars directly from me online or from one of the online galleries showing my work. Before 2010, this wasn’t yet a viable option for art collectors and artists.”

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Now an internationally recognized artist, whose works are found rubbing frames with such Canadian art icons as Emily Carr, A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris, Welch happily has the time to create and the perfect place to do it. Since 2010 she has had 90 paintings of various sizes placed in private collections in North America and around the world, including Australia, England, Norway and Switzerland.

She says she paints her experience of the natural environment, describing her work as revealing her relationship to a place. “Stripping away the human illusion of our separation from nature is at the core of my work. During the creative process I am repeatedly reminded of humanity’s dependence on nature.”

Welch, who grew up in a close-knit and supportive family and whose parents are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and still farming, says that one of the most important things they taught her was that success had little to do with money.

“Success is mostly about feeling good about yourself, the decisions you are making and working hard while taking care of each other, your

Join us for Songjam on Wednesdays!

“Sometimes just a few words will push me further into the moment on canvas.”

— TERRILL WELCH family and helping out your neighbours. If we can do these things well, then the rest is just a little extra but not really necessary.”

She says that her rural upbringing and her relationship with nature have been strong influences in her work’s impressionist and intuitive style.

Looking at her blog, it’s clear to see that writing and photography also share the artist’s palette. “They’re all tools of expression that seem to be integrated almost seamlessly into my creative process,” she tells me. “Sometimes just a few words will push me further into the moment on canvas. Other times, a painting will allow me to say something for which I have no words. Then there is my camera, which I use to capture what I call photography sketches.”

A successful and busy artist, last year Welch had a solo show of larger landscape paintings Above the Stacks – Land and Sea at the Emily Carr Branch of the Greater Victoria Library and a group show of small works at The Cornerstone Gallery in Vancouver. She has a forthcoming solo exhibition, West to East Coast Canadian Landscapes in Paint, this summer at Mayne’s Shavasana Art Gallery & Café. “This show will include landscape paintings from both the southwest coast and from my recent work on Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada.”

When this skilled landscape artist paints her connections to trees, sky and sea, something magical happens. I’m going to make this show.

Where to See Terrill Welch’s ART › Solo exhibition called West to East Coast Canadian Landscapes in Paint at the Shavasana Art Gallery & Café, Mayne Island, from July 1 to Aug. 15, 2017. › Art! Vancouver Fair. It’s Western Canada’s international art fair featuring artists and galleries from all over the world. Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, May 25-28, 2017. › All confirmed open studios, shows and exhibitions can be reviewed under Gallery Info on the artist’s website at TerrillWelchArtist.com. › Welch’s blog is well worth subscribing to if you want to spend time with an artist and know something about how she works and creates: creativepotager. com. › A new artist-curated journal coffee-table book, published through Blurb at www.blurb.ca/b/7506435as-we-breathe, can be previewed from cover to cover. › Welch’s photography is for sale online at www. redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch. › And her paintings can be seen and purchased at: www.artworkarchive.com/artwork/terrill-welch.

For more information, contact Welch via email at tawelch@shaw.ca.

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Rejuvenate at Haven Spa & Salon and enjoy casual oceanfront dining at Haro’s Restaurant & Bar. Visit Victoria Distillers at Seaport Place and explore the countless shops and boutiques in the charming town of Sidney-by-the-Sea. Located 5 minutes from Swartz Bay Ferry, Washington State Ferry and Victoria International Airport.

Page 22 – AQUA – May/June 2017

Fall in Love with Sidney As soon as you arrive, the fresh ocean breeze and the charming ambiance of the town will energize and prepare you for a wonderful experience – a visit to Sidney by the Sea – our spectacular little town set on the edge of the Salish Sea! Once you’re in town, you will see how wonderfully welcome you are made to feel; Sidney has all the amenities of a big city with the comfort and friendly convenience of a small town. The stars of our town centre are our world class, independently owned boutiques where we will help you discover unique treasures for you or your home. Our clothing and shoe shops for both men and women are legendary, but did you know that you can also furnish your home or garden, purchase beautiful original artwork or find advice on remodeling a room? All that within a few short blocks!

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Shopping is fun but tiring; so don’t forget to take time for a delicious refreshment and made-inhouse goodies from one of our many cafes, or meet friends for lunch at one of several excellent and varied restaurants, many of them on the waterfront If shopping isn’t your thing, what better than to enjoy a spa day or a visit a salon? Perhaps you will enjoy Sidney so much that you stay a day or two in one of our luxurious hotels or inns so you have more time to explore! Learn about the romantic history of Sidney on an historic walking tour or bask in the beauty of our waterfront while you stroll the Sidney Sculpture Walk. Perhaps even take in a concert at the Mary Winspear Centre or a film at Star Cinema.

Whichever way you choose to enjoy Sidney, you will be warmly welcomed, so plan your visit soon! Visit distinctlysidney.ca for information on downtown Sidney businesses and events.

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PETER HUNT photo

Great Tastes

Sidney Spirits Victoria Distillers crafts a new generation of taste

elizabeth nolan photo

BY ELIZABETH NOLAN Photos as credited

From top: Victoria Premium Cocktail Gin; spices and samples of botanicals used in Victoria Distillers products.

whole new Sidney vibe is in play thanks to an exciting venture that set up in town a year ago.

The installation of Victoria Distillers next to the Sidney Pier Hotel & Spa has cemented the area as the local epicentre of hip sophistication, as the source of western Canada’s number-two premium gin.

With distillation and bottling done on site since May 2016, the company has opened its offerings to the public with a cocktail lounge and sales area plus regular tours and tastings, all within a lushly renovated space.

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 25

Taking advantage of a rare sunny day at the end of winter, a friend and I recently discovered the tour and tasting is a fine way to spend the afternoon following a little shopping and lunch. Though the level of investment has clearly been impressive, the atmosphere is fun and entirely welcoming.

“Take a moment to look at my office view. It’s not too bad to look at,” jokes distiller David Clark, who is leading the tour that day.

Sure, it’s okay — as long as you don’t mind an unimpeded view of the ocean through the tasting room’s large picture windows. The

Fun never asks how old you are.

Shot on location at Ardmore Golf Course

elizabeth nolan photo

Distillery visitors enjoy the tasting bar.

view inside is pretty nice, too. Visitors will find a sumptuously appointed lounge and retail sales area en route to the magnificent tasting area. After the tour of the distillery innards, guests are seated along a banquet-sized cast-resin table. Unique in my (limited) experience, the tasting spot is framed by a spectacular view.

Built in 1991, the distillery’s warehouse-like space has gone through many iterations. It was built as a conference centre, was the Captain’s Table restaurant for many years, and then housed Mineral World, a popular tourist attraction. More recently it was a police station film set for Gracepoint, an American remake of the British series Broadchurch.

Renovations were done by Hammer & Tidy, a local firm specializing in up-cycled and reclaimed materials. Interior design by Samantha Weeks capitalizes on the warm wood tones: a ceiling full of lamps adds to the ambience with reflective glass globes and sculptured copper shades playing off the stills used in spirit production.

It’s a step up from the company’s humble beginnings in a farmhouse basement, but perhaps that’s why the atmosphere remains so light and friendly. As Clark explains, founder and previous master distiller Peter Hunt started by distilling wine into eau de vie — a light unaged spirit that fits into the brandy continuum and is usually consumed as a digestif after a meal.

Hunt launched his award-winning flagship spirit Victoria Gin at the historic Bengal Lounge at the Empress Hotel. While still a key player in the company (Hunt moved to being president of the company in January), selling it allowed considerable expansion. The Marker Group now

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Page 26 – AQUA – May/June 2017

KELSEY GOODWIN photo

from orris root and red rose petals, cinnamon bark and star anise for spice notes.

“That smells just like heaven,” my friend exclaims after sniffing star anise in its soaking process.

Angelica root from Morocco has two main functions: to take down bitter notes from the juniper berries, and to pull out and layer all the other flavours.

At their farm location on Old West Saanich Road, the distillers used a 210-litre copper still from Germany, which was heated by the traditional wood-burning fire method. It’s a work of beauty in itself: the machinery is now on display near the tasting room. Since the Sidney fire department was “not so wild about the idea of having an open flame with potentially explosive materials,” and greater capacity was also needed, the company now works with a custom-made 1,000-litre copper pot with a gas boiler. It’s the first-ever Canadian designed and built still, and was made by Specific Mechanical. The energy byproduct is captured and sent via pipes to heat the hotel next door.

— DAVID For those who prefer vodka to gin, the company has created a special variety flavoured with toasted and raw hemp hearts. They also have the Twister Bitters line

Above: From left, distillers Phil Lecours, David Clark and master distiller Leon Webb.

Below: The Old Fashioned, with oaken gin, orange bitters and maple syrup in smoked glass.

“For us, we took the template and expanded it into a little more of a softer, balanced type of gin.”

CLARK

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 27

elizabeth nolan photo

counts Victoria Distillers and its Sidney location among its holdings and plans to move into the American market this year. The big dream is to conquer the British audience — still the world’s largest market for juniper-flavoured spirits.

A tour at Victoria Distillers yields a fascinating amount of information about the history of gin and the distilling process. As Clark explains during my visit, most people are familiar with London Dry Gin, a style the British developed from the Dutch genever by adding ingredients from their colonies. Gin and vodka must start out with a grain-neutral spirit. Victoria Distillers uses a corn-based distillate, which has a softer profile than barley or rye grain.

“There’s one regulation on gin; the rest is really open to your interpretation as a distiller as to what type of gin that you’d like,” Clark says. “You can actually start with any type of base. The one stipulation is that you must have juniper berries in your spirits.”

Coriander, originally sourced from India, is usually part of the base. Caribbean colonies lent gin citrus notes through lemon peel.

Victoria Distillers differ from many gin producers by putting their focus on cocktails. Their gin recipe is purposely formulated so that it will mix well with other spirits and flavours. The juniper berries are sourced from Bulgaria, where the climate produces fruit with light floral notes.

“For us, we took the template and expanded it into a little more of a softer, balanced type of gin,” Clark says.

“Not only did we want it to be a great gin for gin and tonics, but we wanted to be a nice premium spirit that you can drink on its own, make great martinis with, but also a wide range of cocktails. When you try London dry style in cocktails, it works in some recipes — maybe. Not for others.”

Botanicals soak into distillate for 24 hours before the distillation process actually happens. Ten different botanicals combine to give Victoria Gin its distinctive taste. The recipe includes extra citrus in the form of orange peel, floral notes

with four flavours that can be added to drinks (their motto is that bitters are the salt and pepper of cocktails) or added to soda water for a refreshing treat.

The extra floor space in the new location has allowed the distillery team to introduce new products while continuing the flagship gins and the eau de vies made with grape wine, or raspberry or black currant flavours.

Having Scotsman Leon Webb on board as the new master distiller has helped crack an important new market in Scotch-style single malt whisky. The first batch of Victoria Craigdarroch sold out in just two weeks. A cask aging now is already mostly pre-sold.

Just before Christmas the team came out with Sidney Spiced Rum and a chocolate liqueur made in partnership with Serene Chocolate in James Bay, distilling their leftover shaved cocoa husks and nibs.

Visitors have the opportunity to sample most of these products during the tasting session after the tour. Again, the experience is full of information and always fun. The spirits can be enjoyed along with readily available gin-spiced almonds and water for between tastes.

For an extra layered experience, a follow-up visit to the cocktail lounge is recommended.

Prices reflect the premium nature of the ingredients, but even one drink will showcase how

the cocktail recipe really works in practice. We tried a modern take on the Old Fashioned — oaken gin, orange bitters and maple syrup in a smoked glass — and the truly divine Fan Tan Sidecar. Victoria gin, lime juice and Cointreau are elevated with Thai basil foam made with whipped egg whites.

While Victoria Distillers’ gins can now be found in fine liquor stores around the region, many of their single batch products are only sold out of the tasting room, so return visits are encouraged.

“They make great gift ideas, and that’s the great thing about spirit or alcohol gifts, they always get used,” Clark observes.

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Play for May

Theatre

kiki roberts photo

By GREGORY AND JULIA NICHOLLS

Wren Wilde in the lead role of Crimes of the Heart.

So, here we have the three young Magrath sisters, whose father walked out and whose mother then hanged herself, leaving them in the care of their well-meaning but inept grandparents. After the grandmother dies, the grandfather sets the girls, now young women, on what he considers their appropriate paths into the future.

What could go wrong?

A lot. And it already has, as the play called Crimes of the Heart opens.

In this funny, sad, sometimes quirky play we will see how these sisters, in various states of disrepair, finally discover their inner strengths and once more become a family.

Beth Henley, the playwright, wrote a number of plays after this one, but none as good as this, her

Crimes of the Heart comes to Pender

prize-winning masterpiece.

It is set in the Mississippi of the ‘70s, where men were men and women were ladies whose role was to obey their menfolk and not complain. Fortunately, things didn’t always work out this way. And also fortunately, there were some men, like lawyer Barnette Lloyd and “Doc” Porter, who were gentle and sensitive and could reach out to these women and help them regain their sense of self-worth.

Though the playwright and the main characters are women, this is not a feminist play but a humanist play that happens to be about women. And it is about how sibling resentments and rivalry can give way to love.

Crimes of the Heart is a beautiful script, performed by fine actors. We, the directors, have felt honoured to work with them, and to have the support of a wonderful team who have given their time and talents to create lighting, sound, costumes and all the other essential ingredients of a great theatrical experience.

Come and see it at Pender Island Community Hall on May 12, 13 or 14.

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known for their unique character, natural beauty and tranquility. Bring your friends and family to explore the rocky shores of these islands, kayaking the waters between them, or simply browsing through the local craft markets.

For details on accommodations, restaurants, things to do, attractions, events information and maps

gulfislandstourism.com May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 31

Comfort Food

Taste of the Philippines An adobo recipe for every village STORY & PHOTOS BY MARCIA JANSEN

You’d be surprised by how many different nationalities live on Salt Spring Island.

And each one of them has their own comfort food.

T

Suzie and Dave Baukol with their dog Gigi and a plate of Chicken and Pork Adobo with Eggs.

he first time Suzie Baukol came to Salt Spring in 2005, the island reminded her of her hometown in the Philippines. The trees and the ocean brought back memories of her childhood before the logging started in

Marcia Jansen is a Dutch journalist and writer who has lived on Salt Spring since 2012.

the 1980s.

“We visited a long-time friend who’d moved to Salt Spring Island for the summers. It was in July and it was beautiful. We went to the lavender farm, Salt Spring Vineyards, we drove up Mount Erskine and did a cruise on the water. It was heaven to me.”

Suzie grew up in a small rural village in the Philippines. She left her home country when she was 23 and moved to Hong Kong. “A lot of young people leave the Philippines because there are more job opportunities elsewhere,” says Suzie, who grew up in a big family. “My dad was a politician — it was always busy at our house, with people coming and going and gatherings — and we had a comfortable life. My dad was not happy about me leaving. I have two brothers, I was his only daughter, so it was hard for him to see me leave. But I was ambitious. I’ve always wanted to earn my own money and explore opportunities. I

Page 32 – AQUA – May/June 2017

studied business administration and I worked at a bank before I moved to Hong Kong. Our life changed when my dad died. I worked three different jobs at a time to support my family back home.”

In Hong Kong, Suzie met Dave, an American who worked for a Canadian company. The two got married in 2003 and moved to Canada in 2005.

“Dave was offered a job in Calgary. I had never seen snow and was up for the adventure. I enjoyed the snow for two years, but by the third year I was done with it,” Suzie smiles.

Dave and Suzie had their kids in Calgary, son Evan in 2007 and daughter Zoey in 2009. Dave still travelled a lot for his job and was asked to work in Asia again in 2009.

“It was Singapore this time and I was happy to go there. It is only a three-hour flight from there to the Philippines, so I was closer to my mother. Singapore was an amazing experience. It was safe, beautiful, clean, nice and warm, and the food is great. But Dave worked a lot. Our son always asked when he was leaving again. So while our kids were growing up, we started to think of a different lifestyle.”

Chicken and Pork Adobo with Eggs Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Marinade • 4 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed) • ½ cup soy sauce • ½ cup vinegar • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar • 1 tsp. whole peppercorns

Ingredients • 1 pound pork (belly or shoulder) • 1 pound chicken thigh or leg • 1 garlic head (peeled and crushed) • 1 medium onion • 3 bay leaves • 2 Tbsp. oil • 1 cup water or broth (and more if needed) • 6 boiled eggs

The only question was “Where?”

“I am from the Philippines, Dave is from Minnesota and our kids are Canadian. We couldn’t make a decision, until our friend on Salt Spring said, ‘Why don’t you come here?’ It was further away from my family, but Salt Spring reminded me of home, so we packed everything and came here.”

“Salt Spring is my sanctuary,” says Suzie. “We love it here.

There are only a few things I miss from the Philippines: my family, the heat and the food. Luckily there is a big group of Filipinos on the island, around 14 families. We come together at least once a month for a potluck and share food from back home. I don’t cook a lot of Filipino dishes. I’ve lived in several places in Asia, so I mix it all up. But I do have a few favourite Filipino recipes that I cook every once in a while. That’s real comfort food to me. It reminds me of the time I grew up on the farm.

We had acres of farmland with sugar cane, rice, coffee beans, vegetables, fruit trees and livestock. There was always fresh food on the table.”

It was a basic lifestyle. “I remember the day, somewhere in the ‘80s, when we got television and our first refrigerator. It was a big party. Before, we preserved meat and fish with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sugar and bay leaves, and we stored it in big barrels.”

Suzie’s favourite recipe, chicken and pork adobo with eggs, dates back to the time people preserved meat by cooking it in vinegar. Adobo (from the Spanish word “adobar,” which means marinade) is a traditional Filipino dish but also a cooking process. “You can use everything in this dish: meat, seafood or vegetables. There are eight major languages in the Philippines and every region, or even every village, has its own recipe.”

1. Prepare the marinade by mixing the ingredients. Place the meat in a glass bowl. Pour the marinade and make sure all the pieces are coated evenly. Leave to marinade for three hours or preferably overnight.

2. Heat oil in a heavy pan. Brown the meat on both sides.

Keep the marinade for later.

3. Saute the garlic and onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the meat, bay leaves and peppercorns. Add water or broth and let it come to boil. Turn the heat to low and put the cover on and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the marinade liquid and let it cook until soft. Add the boiled eggs and salt and vinegar (if desired). Serve with rice.

Spring Island!

150 Days of Fun on Salt Join us for Canada’s 150th Birthday!

Starting in April and going through to October, we will be celebrating every day on Salt Spring with the big event on Canada Day. Learn more at:

saltspringtourism.com

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 33

Island Marketplace

The deadline for advertising in the next issue of Aqua is June 7, 2017.

To advertise, call 250-537-9933

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JO'S PLACE photo

Food

’ oo d FeelinG Jo’s Place celebrates positive vision & great tastes

By CHERIE THIESSEN Photos by Cherie Thiessen, except as noted

hat do Jo and Alix Down have in common with Leonard Cohen? A name.

They have a young son, Henry, whose middle name is Cohen because, as Jo tells it: “The day we found out we were having Henry, we were going to see Leonard Cohen in Victoria. It was the first concert I had ever been to and it was fantastic, however, I was basically comatose! I kept thinking, ‘Wow, we’re having a baby.’ It was both frightening and exciting. So we decided that Henry’s middle name should be Cohen because those two events are forever linked.”

What does the couple have in common with burgers?

They serve them up with gusto and panache at Jo’s Place, their popular new restaurant at the Driftwood Centre on North Pender. The couple met in 2005 when Alix applied for a job at the Bleue Coyote Bar & Grill in Brentwood where Jo was working, and they started dat-

ing a year later. Since then they work together like hash browns and Benny Burgers.

Jo has come a long way since the days of sizzling up Bingo Burgers at the community bingo hall in Sidney in 1986, and since the days of pouring beers at a small pub in what used to be the Brig in Brentwood, and since his 17 years at the Bleue Coyote. He and Alix even moved to the United Kingdom for a year in 2008, where they managed a boutique hotel/pub/dining room in a hamlet in Northeast Wales and also consulted on a pub teardown and renovation program in Plumtree, a village just south of Nottingham. How then, did these two whirlwinds ever wind up on a laid-back southern Gulf Island? Henry Cohen had a hand in that.

“Alix and I were on our way back from Wales,” explains Jo, while he multi-tasks, setting a succulent Jon Denver omelette in front of a salivating customer while talking to me. (Picture ham, tomato, bell pepper, red onion and cheddar cheese all bedded down in an omelette, with chunky golden cubes of potatoes snuggling up against some hunky toast). “We settled in Victoria and, although I was offered work at Port Browning on Pender, I wasn’t interested. Fast-forward five months and I’m working at Milestones and that’s when we find out we’re having a baby. Then I thought maybe we should re-think our future and check out Pender Island after all. So we got the ferry over and it was an ugly, mucky day and we met some characters at the pub who weren’t that great and some staff who weren’t that great and we took the ferry back and I said to Alix, ‘Well, what do you think?’ And she said, ‘I loved it.

Let’s do it!’”

Ergo, in early spring of 2009, they moved to Pender, married a year later in a Gulf Islands-style beach wedding, and Jo worked at Port Browning until 2016.

“Alix and I have made a lot of decisions together over the years, but May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 35

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Page 36 – AQUA – May/June 2017

“Alix and I have made a lot of decisions together over the years, but moving to Pender Island was the best decision we ever made.”

— JO DOWN moving to Pender Island was the best decision we ever made,” says a beaming Jo. “I feel good about this” is written across Jo’s business card. On the flip side is his mantra: “You’ll be fine.”

So, wouldn’t you want to know what those words mean? I did.

“They’re light-hearted things I’ve always said to my staff over the years. There’d be a staff member in tears, or the cook calling in sick, or a customer being difficult, and I’d tell my staff: ‘You’ll be fine; everything’s fine.’ No matter what the problems, I always tell them this because I want them to know there’s no need to panic.”

The staff has definitely listened; you can tell by their smiles and by the fact that they’re enjoying working here.

Jo was born in Britain and, while you can’t hear any signs of it in his voice, you can certainly see traces of his roots on the menu.

Heinz Baked Beans and Bubble & Squeak for example, lurk in that breakfast menu. The gourmet touch that chef Jon Grelik puts on Jo’s comfort food and “classics with a twist” will get the glands going. The Downs are thrilled with their food artisan.

The “I feel good about this” refrain written on the other side of the card pertains to the fact that Jo and Alix do feel good about this and have from the start. They especially feel good about their employees.

“The most valuable asset you can have in this business is your staff,” says Jo. “And in that we have been lucky. We’ve got a great chef, great servers, and our baker, Nora Brulotte, who worked for years at the bakery here, signed on with us before we opened.

We’re blessed to have her. She designs cakes, pancakes and soufflés — you name it. How we do things here is collectively we talk about an idea and we say, ‘How about we do something like this?’ And Nora will say ‘I can make that.’

And it will turn out to be something that no one has ever done before, like a caramel root-beer cheesecake. Sometimes we’ll have something we need to use and I’ll ask, ‘What will we do with this?’ and she will create something. I’m lucky as well that I’ve never had staffing problems.”

The energetic couple also feels good about their venue, which got a thorough renovation prior to their moving in. Somehow the décor, which initially is a bit of a surprise with its black walls and ceiling, still pulls off warm and welcoming. Partially because of the venue’s expanded size, partially because of the homey touches on the walls, partially because of the vibrantly coloured wooden chairs and low lights, and partially because of the opening up of the ceiling and its exposed rafters, it does not feel claustrophobic.

The various pictures on the walls are all meaningful to Jo. “The final weekend before we opened we said, ‘We’ve got to put something on these walls,’ so staff said, ‘It’s your restaurant, why don’t you put up stuff that you like?’ We went to a place called Urban Art in Victoria and we were in there for about 30 minutes and we went around and picked things that related to me when I grew up.”

So the poster at the entrance advertises Friends, the popular TV program that Alix and Jo used to watch in the evenings after working together. The pictures of the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Bears and the Boston Celtics celebrate Jo’s favourite teams. The tiny picture of a pub behind the bar is where he was born, a pub he wants to own one day.

Near that is his parents’ wedding photo. A large mural you see on the left when entering is from Star Wars: “It was an original trilogy poster with a bit of each from each of the first three movies released.”

The ambience is also enhanced by the warm welcome from cheerful and efficient servers,

Above: Customers enjoy good food and company at Jo's Place.

Page 35, from top: Alix and Jo Down; restaurant sign.

and from Alix and Jo themselves. The large centre stage, well-stocked bar and counter and the stools that always seem occupied, personify the welcome.

Opening a restaurant is one of the riskiest business ventures anyone can try and, on a small island with its fluctuating population, the risks are even greater. I’m curious to know how it is that Jo and Alix, who opened in January 2016, seem to be thriving.

“You have to love what you’re doing and recognize that you’re going to lose money for a long period of time before you begin to make money. It’s not how many people come into the door, ultimately, it’s how carefully you manage your property dollars and your spending and how well you keep your nose as close to the water line as you possibly can.

Then you need to hold your breath until spring.”

So what’s good to eat? The skillet dinners go down well, says Jo. “And people’s eyes always pop open when they see our hashes. The ‘You’ll Be Fine Burger’ is visually imposing.”

My favourite is the pan-fried oysters on sautéed spinach with bacon, mushrooms and onion on cheddar beer bread with that yummy pesto hollandaise sauce, but the curried prawns over wild rice is not easy to walk away from either.

Jo’s Place is going to be fine. No worries, you’ll feel good about it too.

The restaurant is currently open for breakfast and lunch, but check the website for summer changes as well as monthly special theme dinners: www.josplacepender.com or visit them on Facebook.

May/June 2017 – AQUA – Page 37

Q&A

Heart of the Arts What does a typical work day look like for you?

A. A typical day starts with a small cup of really strong organic coffee, and then another. I have a beautiful commute from the north end, though my dog Mia snoozes the entire time. Once at ArtSpring she takes her job äs “greeter” very seriously. Things are busy around the building. I find myself often getting into creative conversations or strategic sessions with our team and community members on topics that go from booking a performance, to a front door sign, to funding for next year.

Q. What do you enjoy most about being ArtSpring’s artistic and executive director?

A. This is a big role with a big community who have even bigger hearts — it’s not like anywhere else — and over the past three years I’ve learned that this community is wonderfully creative and incredibly supportive. There is never a dull moment around ArtSpring with all sorts of events, ideas and opinions, all of which are invaluable to my role.

Q. Tell us about your musical path and artistic career.

A. I studied music at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and then at McGill University with a minor in computer science. Interestingly, this was a perfect match for what later would lead me into an interesting career in voice recognition software, energy-control software and telecommunication, along with teaching voice and performing classical and jazz music. With many twists and turns that life brings, I eventually found myself at ArtSpring. I believe that if we’re open to what life has to offer, incredible things happen!

Q. If you could only sing two songs for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?

A. Oh, that would be sad, but if I had to choose . . . Charlie Chaplin’s Smile and Zueignung by Richard Strauss. When I left university I continued to study voice privately with the most influential of all of my teachers, the wonderful Canadian soprano Christiane Riel. She really helped to cement my technique and my artistic self. Everyone should have such a mentor. I was fortunate indeed. She said two great things to me: 1) The study of voice often mirrors our life. 2) We strive for perfection knowing we will not achieve it, but every once in a while we have a moment of grace.

Page 38 – AQUA – May/June 2017

HOWARD FRY photo

Cicela Månsson is the executive and artistic director of ArtSpring on Salt Spring Island, as well as a coloratura soprano.

Cicela Mänsson with Mia.

Q. What elements would be included in “a perfect night out” for you?

A. I should probably say a performance, right?! Well, yes. That. And, a lovely evening at home with my partner, our dog Mia and cat Gracie. We enjoy our home in the north end and love to have friends over for dinner.

We have fun trying to keep it local with meat and produce from North End Farm and often some local wine.

Q. What do you like the most and least about Salt Spring Island?

A. I love that we have such a vast community of dedicated and passionate artists. It truly makes Salt Spring an outstanding gem in the world of the arts. Besides the great community, the sights this island offers constantly amaze me. The sunset over Booth Canal, the epic view from Mount Maxwell, and that the local vet really feels local and knows my dog’s name every time.

I used to live in the south end and many commented with surprise that I commuted into Ganges every day. Everything is relative and I, having grown up in Toronto, found my new commute was the easiest of my life! I love that everything is (relatively) close and each year I find more familiar faces.

I wish there were more bike and walking paths on the island.

Be Water Savvy Use Only What You Need

Water is one of Salt Spring Island’s most precious resources. Please join islanders as we work together to ensure that this summer, and every summer, we use this limited resource wisely, and that we respect and protect our island watersheds.

Try these handy water saving tips: Keep showers short. Use low-flow shower heads. If bathing, try a 1/4 tub only.

Run only full loads in dishwashers and washing machines.

Shut off the tap while brushing teeth, shaving, or washing up hands or dishes.

Use low-flush toilets. Flush less often.

Use a bucket to capture and reuse shower, bath and dishwater in your garden.

Inform guests about our islands’ limited water supply, and ask them to be please be aware of keeping consumption down.

Together EVERY water saver makes a difference.

North Salt Spring Waterworks District www.northsaltspringwaterworks.ca

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