Artist Notes: Rain and wind has come through in unpredictable squalls over the past few weeks. However, in between has offered brilliant winter sun bringing unexpected colour and texture into focus in such a way that my brushes simply cannot resist. It is a combination of endurance and hopefulness that has me digging deep for both acceptance and resilience in equal measures. It is the kind of weather that flickers across our brow, registering deeply lined frowns that are then replaced by intermittent squinting grins. This intimate ‘landscape of the small’ brings us close to the seafloor at the tideline pulling our gaze above the slightly abstract shapes of seashells and out across the Salish Sea towards the mountains beyond. As the first viewer, I can feel my knees pressing into the shore with wisps of fragrant sea leaving sticky, damp, salty traces on my skin.