About Canada

This week we have been rearranging displays to fit in new stock (more about that later).

One of the new pieces that we have taken on is the Sitka trees, from Canadian Metal artist Jack Willoughby.

The Sitka spruce is an iconic west coast tree and one of the tallest conifers, it can attain heights of more than 80 metres and can live for about 8 centuries.

In the display we made a bit of a woodland scene using west coast carvings and sculptures. I really like it, let me know if you do to.

          

The golf course opened last Friday, much to the relief of a great number of p[eople who have been itching to get out.

Here in Banff though you have to be careful. The natural hazards can chase you!.

I have shown it before. However, on the subject of golf, I thought you might like Octavian Florescu’s version of a natural hazard – in the form of golfing bears.

From now on how can you ever hear of golfers seeing a bear on the golf course without coming up with this image.

Let me know if you like it.

          

I mentioned it was Food and Wine weekend in Banff.

We have just taken on a new original piece from Chris Derubis. It’s called I Love Wine.

I love it, let me know if you do.

          

This weekend is the Food and Wine Festival in Banff. It’s a really good weekend.

This week we have made the store window along a theme of food and drink and I thought I would share with you a lovely new line that we picked up this year.

It is hand built pottery from Nancy Hilborn.

I particularly like the pistachio bowl, in the rich cinnamon colours. (You fill one side with nuts and the other with the resulting empty shells).

As one side fills and the other empties it leads to the question – are you a half full or half empty kind of person?

Let me know if you like it.

          

I like reading the various wildlife pages. One of my favourites is the Highway Wildlife blog. A recent post of theirs got national media coverage for the photograph of a lynx on an overpass on the highway.

However another photo on the same blog, that I really liked was the mystery of the lynx walking through fences!

On the subject of the lynx I thought you might like an image from Nathalie Parenteau. It is a limited edition called Northern Birch Forest.

Let me know if you like it.

          

In the Fall there is the Festival Of Eagles when Town of Canmore celebrates the migration of the Golden Eagle through the Canadian Rockies.

In the spring there is no celebration but there is the reverse migration. This week there have been loads of eagles about. In fact on Wednesday this week, despite poor visibility, Eagle watch counted, among many other birds, 8 Bald Eagles and 17 Golden Eagles!.

I thought that, on this subject, you might like the print Flight by First Nation Artist Andy Everson.

Tell me if you like it?.

          

Earlier in the winter we took on a couple of giclee prints of marketing ski posters from the Canadian Pacific Railway archives.

These are high quality prints on photographic paper and look really sharp framed up!. In fact they proved so popular that we extended the range.

With all the snow we have had this year (30 feet+ at Sunshine) the one that speaks to me is called “When Ski Trails Call“.

The other, because it could be anyone, is “Ski in the Canadian Rockies“.

Let me know if you like these.

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Tomorrow is the 46th Bruno Engler Memorial race at Norquay. (Its the longest consecutively running annual ski race in Canada.)

The age categories are 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–74 | 75–79 | 80-84 | 85-89 | 90+ and, believe it or not, there will probably be at least one entry in the 90+ group.

Its a great day and, though there are some great racers, most people are just there for fun. I have been entering for six years and have met families from Europe that plan their vacation to coincide with the race.

The group to try and beat, for me, is those 70+ year olds (I don’t stand a chance against the rest), wish me luck.

For your info

Bruno Engler is a recipient of the Alberta Achievement Award for Excellence, the Premier Cup for Photography and Mountaineering, the 1987 Rose Award and the 1986 Summit of Excellence Award, which is the highest honor that the mountain community can bestow upon its peers for contributions to mountain culture.