I have a philosophy of committing to saying YES more than I say no. I think I always have but once I started really travelling it became more formal and I consciously made a commitment to it. This, for the most part has reaped me amazing rewards, small and large. Rarely does it ever bite me on the ass. I want to share a small but ever so precious reward with you.

Sunday I was doing my morning journal when I was gripped with an overwhelming desire for a Black Bean Cafe cinnamon bun. Now it is not easy to get one of those, they never make enough and it was Sunday and ½ of the Lower Mainland would be over to Gibsons. The competition would be cut throat. So I called and “booked” a cinnamon bun. Yeah, it’s a thing. LOL

Finnegan!

Now it wouldn’t be quite as much fun alone so I called my lovely neighbor, Gayle, mother of Finnegan, my latest little buddy. She is kind enough to lend him to me. So off we went, over Gospel Rock, through the woods and down the other side. It was busy and as predicted there was no buns left… except for mine! And no, I did not share with Finn. After scarfing it back, chased with a iced coffee I was refuelled enough to get home. Finn doesn’t need any fuel, he naturally generates his own high test!

I dropped him off and was about to drop onto my couch to do some serious surfing when I realized I hadn’t checked my email yet. And wouldn’t you know it, there was one from my friend Sandy going on and on about how I HAVE to go to this artist’s studio to see this mural. It was only open until 4 and it was about 2:30. sigh. Since I don’t use Winnie for this kind of thing it was going to be up to Sunshine Coast transit whether it was even possible. Miracles do happen, I had ten minutes to make it to the bus stop or it would be a no go. I gave my couch a lingering wistful look and then booted for the bus. I actually ran. And I made it.

Looking down Henry Rd

The driver dropped me off at Harvey Road and as I crossed the street my heart dropped. It was straight up. It was hot and I had already done a 8 kilometre stroll. Determined, I crawled up the beastly thing (stopping to snack on some cherries) and about thirty minutes later I found myself at the studio of Marleen Vermeulen.

Well it took me a good 15 minutes of gawking at her studio before even going in. It was spectacular, in fact, it was the studio of my dreams. She has a garage door!!!!! I’m trying to figure out how to get one on Winnie, my bus. But I digress. She designed it. I was soon to learn that there is no limit to the talent of this woman.

But then I went inside and saw the mural. Seven panels, six feet by thirty-five feet. In places the oil paint is an inch thick. It’s a commission for a client on the coast. It is for their exercise room. It will fill the whole back wall, facing a wall of windows looking out over the ocean. It is the quintessential West Coast scene. It is trees. Wonderful and wondrous trees. It is everything I love about the rain forest.

She took tons of photos of all the trees that caught her fancy, spliced them and putting them on panels to create a rhythm. This that is what she used to show the client what she wanted to do. They didn’t miss a beat and said yes! She gave herself three months but ended up obsessing and finished it in two.

It took my breath away. She captured what it feels like to be in the rain forest. It draws you in and you can feel the moist air as you breathe, even on that hot day. It was so hard to drag myself away. In fact I tried to leave a few times and found myself being pulled back for one more look.

As I trudged down the road these delightful ladies pulled up who had been at the studio too and insisted on driving me home! Perfect!

So enough words, I’ll just show you but please know that the videos and photos pales to the real thing. It was ever so kind of Marleen to open her studio to the public for the weekend so we could experience it.

click on photo to open gallery