OYSTERCATCHERGIRL: Struggling to keep pace with worldwide demand for oystercatcher art since 2007

Apr 5, 2010

Mar 25, 2010

Oystercatchers #169

12" x 48"

The frilly seaweed is winged kelp, otherwise known as alaria marginata, which offers abundant artistic inspiration.

Feb 28, 2010

Feb 26, 2010

Feb 24, 2010

Oystercatchers #159

Oystercatchers #159
18" x 36"

I love the close-up tideline art possibilities, with kelp twisting all over itself.

Feb 19, 2010

Feb 17, 2010

Feb 9, 2010

Jan 31, 2010

Jan 11, 2010

48" x 30"

Margaret Atwood on art:
"Unlike the discipline of economics, and indeed unlike money -- a lately-come tool we invented to facilitate trading at a distance -- art is very old. The anthropologists and neurologists are now telling us how old -- it's as old as humanity. It isn't a frill. Art isn't only what we do, it's who we are." (January 2010)

Oystercatchers #145

48" x 30"

"Truly I say to you, there are only two sets of tools with which the rich soil of life can be worked: the religious and the artistic. Everything else is illusion that crumbles before the onslaught of time. If you die having prayed to no god, any god, one expressed above an altar or one painted with a brush, then you risk wasting the soul you were given." -- Yann Martel, Canadian author

Jan 9, 2010

Before & After

BEFORE
The little 8" x 8" painting that launched me on this unplanned trajectory,
December 2007

AFTER
Working on "Oystercatchers #145,146 & 147", each 48" x 30",
January 2010

Dec 19, 2009

Oystercatchers #141
48" x 30"

The rocky knoll paintings with columbine spilling down are inspired by visits to Sombrio Beach and Haida Gwaii.

Oystercatchers #143

48" x 30"

Oystercatchers #142

48" x 30"

I rarely paint without music. This time the oystercatchers are flying to G.F. Handel on the Tafelmusik: Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir, 30th anniversary album.

Dec 7, 2009

Oystercatchers #144
48" x 30"

Nov 29, 2009

Oystercatchers #137
48" x 36"
Oysteratchers #137 & 138 fit together as a diptych (not shown).

"Those columbines look like squid/starfish or gunshots (the other Columbine, since you said the word.) But oystercatchers always look themselves." -- American Pacific northwest poet visiting Anne's studio, Dec 2009

Nov 24, 2009

Oystercatchers #138

48" x 36"

Nov 19, 2009

Oystercatchers #135

36" x 48"

Oct 5, 2009

Hanging out with oystercatchers and whales in one's own studio!

Oct 3, 2009

Oystercatchers #131, 132 & 133

These three paintings (each 48" x 30") recently enjoyed hanging in the Artist's Corner of the Greater Victoria Public Library, downtown Victoria.

Finally! Oystercatchers #123, 124, 125 & 126 photographed as a panorama

Four 48" x 36" canvases = 4 feet by 12 feet

Oystercatchers #128, 129 & 130

Three 48" x 30" canvases = 48" x 90" panorama

Oystercatchers #127

48" x 48"

Sep 5, 2009

Oystercatchers #107

24" x 48"

On the James Bay Art Walk studio tour, several people asked which Oystercatchers are presently on display at the Oak Bay Library. Oystercatchers #107, for example, has recently returned from the Library. It is available, and I welcome your queries.

Sep 2, 2009

Oystercatchers #103, 104, 105, 106

These four canvases form a 4-foot by 12-foot panorama.

Sep 1, 2009

Oystercatchers #128

48" x 30"

Oystercatchers 128, 129, and 130 form a 3-part panorama, currently on display at Victoria International Airport.

Oystercatchers #129

48" x 30"

Oystercatchers #130

48" x 30"

Aug 31, 2009

Oystercatchergirl in natural habitat

My best painting happens when I'm immersed in music. The latest creations have been made under the influence of Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" album.

Aug 28, 2009

Oystercatchers #124

This is part of a 4-piece artwork (with Oystercatchers #123, 124, 125, and 126).

Aug 18, 2009

Oystercatchers #125

48" x 36"

The red guy is a Pacific blood star.

Aug 12, 2009

Snippet of Oystercatchers #122

60" x 36"

Aug 9, 2009

"Art, being quite useless, except to the soul, is the highest of all human endeavours." - Bruce M. Rogers

"If nations can wage war, they can also wage art. Art is the opposite of thuggery and destruction." -- artist Mendelson Joe (see link, above)

Jul 22, 2009

Oystercatchers #77

48" x 48"
SOLD
(from Sooke Harbour House Gallery)

Jul 19, 2009

Oystercatchers #112

A view from the seashore last December

12" x 24"
Not for sale

May 19, 2009

Oystercatchers #103

48" x 36"

When this painting is put together with three of its companions (not shown), they form a 12-foot wide coastal mural.

May 12, 2009

Oystercatchers #109

16" x 20"

May 7, 2009

Oystercatchers #108

16" x 20"

OYSTERCATCHERGIRL VAN GOGH

"So enjoyed meeting you yesterday and viewing your fabulous art. Makes a piece extra special when you have met the artist in person. Hung the (print of) Red Sky In The Morning in the kitchen so I can enjoy it every day." -- arts patron, Parksville, BC (April 2016)

"Congratulations on your recent sales! You astound me with your productivity. You paint more in a month than I do in a year." -- Vancouver nature artist (November 2014)

"Thanks for the amazing experience that your art brings to us and our patrons." -- Librarian, Esquimalt Library (January 2014)

"That is totally strange. Your art is so much more interesting than some of the stuff I saw there." -- L.C., Victoria BC (July 2013), commenting on the 2013 Moss Street Paint-In

"I just want to thank you for the article that has been published this week. It is great and I have had many positive comments from viewers. You can certainly write!" -- James Bay Art Walk artist (June 2013)

"You are blessed with many gifts including time management, a great ear as well as a good eye. I'm sure all appreciate your quiet leadership and intellect. Thanks from all of us." -- James Bay Art Walk artist (April 2013)

"I absolutely adore the one with the two jays, the salmon and their associated habitat." -- PA (March 2013)

"I have always loved your work and have great respect for what you are doing here." -- DR (January 2013)

"I was impressed with your demo at Opus, that you were completely poised, relaxed and able to both paint and communicate with the audience." -- KS (March 2013)

"I still adore your Bruce Peninsula painting! I just had to let you know again." -- Oystercatchergirl art patron in Ontario (March 2013)

" ... Between your work and the other visiting artist at Victoria in March (Brian Buckrell), our customers are in for a real treat. Beautiful work! I wish I was in Victoria to attend." (Crissy of Opus Art Supplies, in planning for Anne's in-store demonstration on March 9, 2014).

"Your hooded mergansers are just as remarkable as your oystercatchers." -- JS, Victoria, BC (January 2013)

"Great work thinking up this action! You're the only painter who also knows how to write great activist press releases, too." -- KW, Victoria, BC (January 2013)

"I'd pay $400 for a bald eagle, but not for an oystercatcher." -- Oystercatcher arts patron

"Are those seagulls? Birds are fun. I have a cockatiel." -- art event visitor (September 2012)

"Are you still doing those ducks?" "I thought they were twisted cormorants." "Are they gulls?" "I thought you were making them up." -- a choice selection of keen observations (August 2012)

"You are freaking awesome! Your bio/statement is beyond words. Love it! And I'm shocked by the large number of exhibitions you're having." -- Angela, Toronto (August 2012)

"Oystercatchers #59, with a touch of yellow sky, is a masterpiece. It illustrates the grandeur of the Strait of Juan de Fuca as Oystercatcher Central, the way I see it." -- Stud Puffin, Victoria, BC (August 2012)

"You look to be a very successful artist, and that is probably a tribute to your vision, style, and perseverence." -- MR, Pender Island, BC (April 2012)

"Your paintings capture both the sublime nature of the BC coast and the 'oystercatcherness' of oystercatchers." -- Cynthia, patron of the Oystercatcher arts (April 2012)

"Your jays are stellar and the quail quivering with life. Good for you for branching out." -- Kate, Victoria, BC (December 2011)

"California Quails #1" is a masterpiece if one is to dare painting a painting 18" wide by ten kilometres in length." -- Mendelson Joe, artist (December 2011)

"What did you paint when you lived in Ontario -- smokestacks?" James Bay Art Walk visitor (Sept 2011)

"I first learned about the glorious oystercatchers through your work! Now I look for them all the time -- even in the Oak Bay Library." -- Maria, attending the Oak Bay Spring Studio Tour (April 2011)

"You are the most beautiful oystercatcher painter who I have ever met." -- Anne's boyfriend (July 2010)

"Anne Hansen is an ornithological Emily Carr on mescaline." -- Mendelson Joe, artist

"Your blog has evolved into a colourful, poignant and entertaining place to visit for a refreshing drink of inspiration." -- JC, Victoria, BC

"These are fabulous! You have totally captured the black oystercatcher's, ummm, oystercatcheriness! It is lovely that you have focused on an underrrated west coast bird (i.e., not an eagle) and shown how beautiful it, and its environment, are. The colors and the lines are great. I like how you do vertical panels when an oystercatcher's world is so horizontal, or so it seems to me. I love your kelp, too. How often does one admire kelp? ... And if you are truly addicted to oystercatchers, I hope you never seek treatment." -- Chris Earley, Interpretive Biologist, Arboretum, University of Guelph, and author of "Waterfowl of Eastern North America" and other field guides

"I remain very impressed with you. No other local artist paints our fantastic coast fantastically like you." -- biologist Jacques, Victoria, BC

"Oystercatchers? I've never heard that expression before." -- James Bay Art Walk walker (Sept 2010)

"Those are rooks that you paint." -- Victoria resident

(The rook is a member of the crow family, inhabiting Britain and Ireland, and eats earthworms, insect larvae, fruit, and cereal grains.)

"We have reviewed all submissions, and unfortunately we are declining the opportunity to offer you a placement in this year's event." -- Moss Street Paint-In, Victoria, BC (second year in a row)

Great show, Anne. I always sense a subtle theme in your work, but can never quite put my finger on it." -- Gallery visitor (June 2010)

"Being here is like visiting Vincent Van Gogh!" -- artist Jane Gray, patron of the oystercatcher-arts, speaking from Anne's studio (January 2009)

"I'm sitting at the Moka House in James Bay right now and I couldn't help but notice how terrible your paintings are." -- J. Raath, Victoria, BC. (September 2008)

"I love how your work has evolved and in fact has galloped along with abandon since the first inspiration!" -- Judith Rackman, BC artist (April 2010)

"What is it about crows that you like so much?" -- ornithologically-challenged gallery visitor, September 2009

"You are never one to be idle, but holy oystercatcher! They are fantastic. They have just been waiting for you all their little lives. I'm so glad they found you!" -- Clover Woods, Guelph, ON (March 2010)

"Love your bold colors and oystercatchers as a west coast icon." -- James Bay Art Walk visitor

"Oh, Anne, I love your penguins!" -- discerning art lover

"I was thrilled to see a decided lack of bears, eagles, and whales in your work, and that you chose an overlooked and underappreciated bird such as the oystercatcher to focus on." -- Victoria sculptor (Oct 2009)

"Thanks for showing us Oystercatcher Central. I think they're really going to take off." -- Gail McCormack, civic activist extraordinaire, Guelph, Ontario (January 2009)

"Your website is absolutely fantastic. It makes me supremely happy just to look at your paintings, and the oystercatcher photos are amazing." -- Gail Littlejohn, editor/publisher, "Green Teacher" magazine

"Your art is beautiful, and radiant! -- Sue Z, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (June 2009)

"I notice you have black birds in all your paintings. Is there some significance to that?" -- viewer at James Bay Art Walk

"Dear Anne: I am afraid that the members of Collective Works didn't feel that your work is the right fit for the direction of the Gallery ... you have a nice personality ... " -- gallery spokesperson

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