The Shortest Day

When the land is beaten down by wind and rain and the first snowflakes start to fall, the sky is turbulent and the sun low, the shortest day draws to a close. This painting comes from a sketch I made while visiting Panama Flats, a large expanse of wetland on the Saanich peninsula where the geese and wildfowl descend in the winter months to feed. Many are resident here in the winter since it is the mildest place in Canada and often do not migrate south to the warmer climates.

The whole scene is dynamic and full of energy, yet still. The slightest movement of man or machine and the whole landscape is alight with flapping wings as a thousand birds emerge from the standing water and take to the air, calling and circling low in the sky before descending quietly to rest once more.