Category: Dungeness

Somethin’ fishy

Flying fish 2

Salmon are running again in the local rivers and Tuesday we headed to the Dungeness River to take a look. Because water levels are low there’s been concern that the runs may be affected but a couple of small storms lately have helped some.

I caught this critter mid-leap. The focus isn’t ideal but I love the reflection.

Fish splash

I also liked the splash it left behind.

Swimmers

Salmon are anadromous fish. They begin their lives in fresh water rivers, migrate into the ocean, and then return to their birth waters to spawn and die. Here you see migrating salmon swimming past the carcass of one which has finished its journey. Click here for more information about salmon life cycles.

Another outdoor vision

Clement Kwan 1

Clement Kwan was the second plein air artist I met at the Dungeness Recreation Area on Tuesday, a participant in the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s Paint the Peninsula competition. Clement received early art training in China and emigrated to Canada 35 years ago. He is a resident of Victoria, B.C. and shows his art there. Like all the artists I met, Clement was warm, friendly, and engaging.

Clement Kwan 2

Here’s is what Clement was working on when I met him. He had started, like the other painters I met, when the day was sunny. While other painters focused on the expansive landscape of the area, Clement found beauty in the branches of a nearby tree.

Clement Kwan view

Here’s what my camera saw. I definitely prefer his version!

Painting the Peninsula

Jane Wallis 1

The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is hosting a “Paint the Peninsula” competition this week. Twenty six plein air artists (literally, “in the open air”) have come to town to paint and compete as they create artistic expressions of the great outdoors of the Olympic Peninsula. They came to the Dungeness Recreation Area yesterday and I visited with five of them as they worked. I’ll introduce you to the five I met, along with their work, in the coming days.

I met Jane Wallis, above, first. She has come to the competition from Poulsbo which is about an hour from Sequim. She works in oils, pastels, and watercolor.

Jane Wallis 2

Jane did a pen and ink sketch of her intended work before she pulled out the paint.

Jane Wallis 3

Here’s a closer look at her canvas. All the artists I met worked on a small scale. They bring paint and canvases for nearly a week’s work so size matters. The artists’ works are hung after they’re produced each day and are on sale at the Fine Arts Center.

Jane Wallis view

Here is my camera’s perspective of Jane’s view. I arrived mid-afternoon and missed the sun all the artists enjoyed earlier in the day.