“Water is the driving force of all nature”
— Leonardo da Vinci
Down by Swift Creek, BC, Canada//Brushpen, watercolour
Last spread
This spread with a sketch, and words, was one of the last of the journey, and the sketch was made after finishing the Western Wildlands Route, somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. As I was sketching this, a few metres down from my camp, I kept on thinking that I would, could, and should, never hear a grizzly approaching. That was a bit freaky. I had my bear spray and a large knife laying next to my art materials. I’m not sure it would have helped.
“Wherever I camped on the Western Wildlands route, was always dictated by the availability of a water source. Sometimes I would fill water at a cattle trough, or in a small town, then ride out with all my water containers filled until I found a camp. And often I would camp close to a water source. The water out of ‘Russell Tank Lake’ tasted as bad as its colour. But after filtering, it would have to do”/Arizona//Pen & ink, watercolour
Looking down into Strawberry Lake/Utah//Fineliner, watercolour
“But when I rode in the North, water wasn’t an issue anymore. It was everywhere. Magnificent lakes, fast streaming creeks, and rivers and melting snow run-offs in the high mountains in Utah made me a lot more relaxed”
“This sketch was made under a wooden bridge with occasional cars driving over it. I camped for a few days at ‘Hidden Creek in the Idaho forests and produced a lot of work”//Brushpen, watercolour
My Sawyer water filtering system//Digital