Fabulous artwork, busy night markets and glorious sunshine!
I am thrilled to have been one the seven local poets from Sooke Writers’ Collective who took part in a live spoken-word performance as one of the featured acts on the opening day of this well-known art show and sale. We were so honoured to be participants in the live return of this Show after two years of pandemic closure.
Here I am in best ballet pose, dancing beside Isadora Arabesque by Sheena McCorquodale, a graceful installation in the entrance marquee to the Show, surrounded by a delightful display of flowers and plants from Sooke’s Artisan Garden.
I was lucky enough to have been given a ticket to the prestigious private view and sale which took place on the evening of Thursday, 21st July. After a hectic but successful turn at the Sooke Collective stall in the Sooke Region Museum’s Summer Night Market, selling copies of “Bits of String & Thread” as well as copies of the just-published Collective anthology number nine, “Sooke Roots” ( in which I have a brand new short story called “On the Way Home”) I popped on some glamorous high heels and made my way to the Show. I spent over two hours, absorbed in the wide range, diversity and quality of the works on display. There were fabulous juried examples of artwork, photography, glass work, ceramics, wood work and cabinetry, textiles and jewellery with precious metals and stones.
On Friday, before reading “The Wave Watcher”, one of three original poems appearing for the first time in “Where We Reside”, I shared with the audience that the two watercolours by artist Dan Zak, “Cox Bay” and “Cox Beach” achieve spectacularly in paint, what I attempt to do in that particular poem with my words: namely to transport the reader to the peace and tranquility of Ella Beach and its mountain ranges, using the names of water colour pigments and of the different weights and textures of watercolour papers.
Both “Where We Reside” and “All the Elements” were on sale in the Sooke Fine Arts Show Gift Shop and by the last day (Monday 1st August) had almost sold out!
Both “Where We Reside” and “Sooke Roots” are available for purchase from the Sooke Writers’ Collective as well as from Artisan’s Garden and Sooke Region Museum Gift Shop.
Hair by Danielle at Kat’s Hair Studio, dress Tana Liberty Lawn, Liberty London, UK
In My Own Words 
You must be logged in to post a comment.