Skookumchuck Narrows, Sunshine Coast BC Mini-holiday

We took a mini-holiday, basically a staycation, as we did not leave the Sunshine Coast, but drove an hour up the coast to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge. That's a fantastic place for a little R & R, with one of the most beautiful dining areas I've ever seen out on their patio. We had some bicycle trail adventures before checking into the lodge, then relaxed and dined.

The next day we had thought of exploring further on our bikes, but there was some drizzle coming down, and so we decided to revisit the world famous Skookumchuck Narrows. This is a place where the land narrows, and the tides rush through like a crazy river. We happened to hit it at one of the more fantastic viewing times (there are published times for viewing at its best). Although I've visited perhaps half a dozen times over the years, it never, ever fails to impress.

The Tide Ripping Through the Skookumchuck

It's an easy, mostly level, 40 minute stroll into the furthest viewing point. Just before arriving back at the car, there is a very good bakery nestled in the woods where we got delicious treats and drinks. Then the drizzle had ceased, so we got a bit of biking after all. The only just slightly disappointing part of the whole mini-vacation is that the so called Suncoaster bike trail is not at all what it is written up to be. After approximately 6 kilometres, one section was completely closed, and going back on another section was so rough, and steep, we had to walk a lot of it. Trying the start of the trail the next day, the first few hundred metres were great, and then back to extremely rough, and steep. Nope, not a bike trail unless you perhaps are into extreme mountain biking.

Challenge of Photographing Glass

Double Freestanding Wind Chime
Beach Stone Base
at Coast Chimes

Taking pictures of my work is a constant and frustrating challenge. Often I think I have an okay picture, post it to my website and Etsy, and then weeks or months later revisit and can not believe how bad the picture is! I take an awful lot of pictures, and retake even more.

The issues are that my works are quite thin, so it is a challenge to get the focus right. Even more so because my background is not all that attractive, or at least it is a bit chaotic, and so I wish to use a very narrow focal plane, which makes getting the target in focus even tougher. Then there is the light. My glass changes appearance greatly depending on the light conditions. I wish to capture it looking really good, but the light seldom cooperates.

Enough complaining, right? I make beautiful works, and even if I seldom achieve great pictures, maybe it is better to let people be pleasantly surprised that what they receive is much nicer than the pictures (I get a lot of comments about that).

Anyway, these past days have been devoted to packing and shipping, making copper chimes, and re-taking pictures that are really not good enough. Always plenty to do around here!

My Type of Summer Holiday: Sunshine Coast, BC

Not Exactly Crowded
Beach Sunday, Sunshine Coast, BC

Being Fortunate enough to live in a very beautiful area, the summer attracts a lot of tourists. Going to downtown Gibsons or Sechelt any day of the summer, but especially on weekends, you would think it would be impossible to get away from the crowd. Not so!

Yes, if you just park your vehicle and expect seclusion, you will likely be a little disappointed. But pretty much take a five minute walk along the shoreline in any direction, and more than likely you will be away from it all. The entire shoreline is public property, so don't fret that you may be trespassing, because you are not.

Yesterday, Sunday, possibly the warmest, most beautiful afternoon yet of the summer, I zipped down to the closest bike rack near the beach, locked up, walked past the dozen or so people who did not want to walk for five minutes (or who don't mind a bit of a crowd) and around the corner found this lovely stretch of sand and pebble beach with not a soul in sight. I spent two hours reading, dreaming, swimming, sunning, and no one even walked past. So peaceful, so enjoyable.

This is my primary way of taking my summer vacation. No driving for hours, no hotels, no tents, just a relaxing few hours each sunny afternoon. I get up very early and work for around six hours, take my break, and then perhaps work for another hour or two. Rinse and repeat. As I said, most enjoyable.

Beautiful and Unique Additions to Your Landscape

Warm Earth Colours
Kaleidoscope Wind Chime
$87 with Free Shipping at Coast Chimes

After a fair period of warm, somewhat sunny, days, today is a cool, wet day here on the Sunshine Coast. That got me looking at this warming earth coloured kaleidoscope wind chime. There is something comforting and warming about the golden yellows, rich ambers, chocolate browns, and grass greens. Perfect for any yard or garden.

Find the perfect addition to your landscape or the best gift for a loved one at Coast Chimes.

Time Off, Fireweed Jelly

Fireweed Blossom Picking
Sunshine Coast BC

My job is a pleasure. But I do enjoy some time off. All year long, I make a point of going for a walk or hike during the day, just an hour or so, which is refreshing, especially in the winter rains! But really I am waiting for summer, with blue skies, warm ocean. My holiday time is a couple of hours each nice afternoon, walking or biking down to one of my favourite beaches, sprawling out with a good book in the shade, taking dips. Lovely.

Some good, long hikes are also always a preferred summer time-out. Lately we made several trips up to a large fireweed patch we had our eyes on. The first couple of trips, the flowers were not quite open. The last time was perfect for picking, and we got our ten cups for fireweed jelly (see below).

I first stumbled across fireweed jelly somewhere on the internet-- perhaps Instagram or Pinterest, and it immediately caught my eye. This was several years ago, and it has been on the to-do list ever since. I am so pleased to have finally accomplished the making of this treat, as it is absolutely gorgeous. The color is so intense, it almost looks artificial. However, nothing could be more natural.

While trying to steel a couple of hours a day for my 'break,' I feel the pressure of attempting to keep my stock of wind chimes and suncatchers up, and, indeed, increasing stock for the fast approaching Sunshine Coast Art Crawl. That's all going okay, but I need to keep working really hard to get to where I wish to be. It will happen. Even with my daily mini-vacations.

Fireweed Jelly

Kaleidoscope Wind Chime
at Coast Chimes

Coast Chimes, Running Out of Stock

Kaleidoscope Wind Chime
at Coast Chimes

I am not naturally organized and businesslike: not in the least. I'm a messy artist who enjoys a certain degree of chaos. But to run a successful business... well, you have to be businesslike.

So although it does go against my grain, I do strive to have things run smoothly, to answer emails quickly, to ship fast and professionally, to keep track of supplies and stock. I do make my share of mistakes. The latest mistake was not keeping an eye on my stock, and running completely out of the very popular smaller kaleidoscope wind chimes, as pictured above.

No problem. I had supplies (yeah!): cedar, artist-made sea glass, plate glass, copper, brass, nylon coated stainless steel, sterling silver crimps, reactive, finishing oil... see, there is a lot that goes into one of these! Missing any one of those supplies would have meant delay. As it stood, all I needed was time, and I usually have a bit of that.

So I got right to work, and now a week later, after making them, and waiting for the sun to shine to take pictures, updating the websites, they are live and ready to be purchased and shipped.

Best of all, as  usual I considered the design when making a new batch, and decided the top the kaleidoscope section, could stand being a little larger, so I make them 8 X 8 inches diagonally instead of the previous 6 3/4 X 6 3/4 inches. It's the eye-catcher part, so why not make it stand out even more? Good choice.

I just put 10 of these, each unique, on my website, Coast Chimes, and on Etsy. Have a look. As always, free shipping to the USA and Canada, reasonable postage to other countries.

Beautiful Natural Beach Stones: the Zen of Wind Chimes

Beautiful Freshly Collected Pacific Beach Stones

 Above, gorgeous natural beach stone. Below, Zen chime made from such stones: simple elegance.

During the summer, any day with even a remotely bright sky has me heading either by foot or by bike down to the beach. My new favourite destination is about a 10 minutes bike ride down steep hills from my home. It's a good loafing beach, a good swimming beach, and a great beach stone collecting beach. I always come home with at least a few prize stones.

I am very fussy when it comes to stones for my work. They need to be smooth and rounded, and they are not as easy to find as you might think. But easier on some beaches than others. It's just a question of finding the right beach for the right stone. A rather pleasant part of my work!

Find all my beach stone creations at Coast Chimes. And don't worry: although most of these are very heavy, especially those large ones with five copper chimes, you never have to pay a dime in postage when you order from the USA or Canada. I pay the postage.

Zen Beach Stone Chime
$75 Free Shipping at Coast Chimes

Coast Chimes Gallery: Almost Always Open

Coast Chimes Gallery
Gibsons, BC, Canada

Since moving to our new home six years ago, I have been fortunate to have a nice space to use as a gallery. Coast Chimes is open whenever I am home, which is most of the time. A fair number of people drop by, which is great: I love showing off my work, and talking with people about my inspiration and methods. Sometimes they just want a quick look, or they already know Coast Chimes and grab a gift for someone's birthday. Other times, they are visiting for the first time, sometimes from far, far away, and are very curious about all aspects of my work. I enjoy all this a lot. I always have plenty of time to talk with visitors.

I am usually home, because I work long hours to make all these things, to photograph them, to do the website work, to communicate with online customers, to do social media, to pack and ship. Already, I am preparing for the annual Sunshine Coast Art Crawl, which seems to be approaching very fast! If at all possible for you to visit the Coast for the Art Crawl, you will enjoy it immensely. It is huge, and extremely well organized. But book accommodation early, as I believe it gets sold out. Ferry reservations would be a good idea, too. It is always possible to come across from Vancouver as a foot passenger. The Art Crawl itself is a free event.

If you can't visit in person, everything in the gallery is on my website: Coast Chimes

Now it's time to pack some orders, cut some brass.

One-of-a-kind Handmade Quality Wind Chimes and Suncatchers

Simplicity is Beautiful
$55 with free shipping at Coast Chimes

At Coast Chimes, unique, fully handcrafted, wind chimes start at $55 with free shipping to the USA and Canada. The least expensive works are made with the same care to detail, high-quality materials, and assurance of long term enjoyment as the more expensive designs.

The chime featured above consist of artist-made sea glass, a most glorious cobalt blue, copper wire, handmade copper hook, 3 hand cut brass chimes antiqued with a reactive (not paint or powder coating, this finish will not flake or wear off). The chimes are attached to a handmade copper hanger with 21 strand nylon coated stainless steel wire, secured with sterling silver crimps (no rust!).

Simplicity is beautiful, and quality is a pleasure.

Why not give yourself, or someone you love, a very special little gift? Find what you need at Coast Chimes.

Outdoor Art for an Outdoor Time of Year

Glass and Copper Art Wind Chime
by Coast Chimes

It's been busier than usual this spring and early summer, with many orders going out the door each week. The good news is that while a lot of time is used packing and shipping, even more time is being devoted to creating new, exciting works. So every week great large and small wind chimes, and suncatchers, are added to my website: Coast Chimes.

As per my usual summer schedule, I am sure to reserve an hour (or several!) for biking and hiking, sprawling on the local beaches, swimming, beach combing. Most days I find something on the beach to take home and incorporate into a new design. That keeps things fresh!

This is a great time of year to add something remarkable to your outdoor living space.