ROY HENRY VICKERS GALLERY
PORLIER PASS - LAMINATE MOUNT
$50.00

PORLIER PASS - LAMINATE MOUNT

Edition Date: 1996
Artist: Roy Henry Vickers
Medium: Framed Foam Core Art Mount 
Image Size: 9 3/4" x 5"

Porlier Pass is the body of ocean between Galiano and Valdez Islands North of the Saanich Peninsula. The sea runs very strong here during the tide changes and has been a favorite fishing spot for thousands of years. This area is familiar to me as I have traveled through it many times on my way North from Victoria. Several years ago I completed a work entitled “Cowichan” which spoke of my excitement at the sight of the eleven-man racing canoes of the Salish people. Since those early years of my career, I have acquired a number of different canoes, and helped design a 31’ Northern style ocean-going canoe that is in commercial production today. One of my canoes on display in Eagle Aerie Gallery in Tofino, is a southern style canoe similar to the ones that would have been the inspiration for the images I have created and called “Porlier Pass”. For those who know the area, it is evident that the lighthouse that stands here today is not represented in this creation. That is because the romantic in me wanted to show the area as it was before the impact of the white man. That is not to say I wish it did not change, it is only a gentle reminder to me that there were many people who enjoyed the fishing here long before my English ancestors came. I have a few friends who have promised to take me diving in this area to show me the beauty under the sea. I am told a few years back you could swim alongside some of the largest ling cod in the area right here in Porlier Pass. Today there are not as many and there are few large ones to be seen. However, I do look forward to exploring beneath the surface of Porlier Pass before this year is out. This is another work dedicated to the First Nations people of where I call home today. It is also a small homage to the many people who are bringing about a resurgence of the canoe today. Haitchca is one of the Salish words for thank you and it is appropriate for the feeling I have to live in such a beautiful land.

Story

Porlier Pass is the body of ocean between Galiano and Valdez Islands North of the Saanich Peninsula. The sea runs very strong here during the tide changes and has been a favorite fishing spot for thousands of years. This area is familiar to me as I have traveled through it many times on my way North from Victoria. Several years ago I completed a work entitled “Cowichan” which spoke of my excitement at the sight of the eleven-man racing canoes of the Salish people. Since those early years of my career, I have acquired a number of different canoes, and helped design a 31’ Northern style ocean-going canoe that is in commercial production today. One of my canoes on display in Eagle Aerie Gallery in Tofino, is a southern style canoe similar to the ones that would have been the inspiration for the images I have created and called “Porlier Pass”. For those who know the area, it is evident that the lighthouse that stands here today is not represented in this creation. That is because the romantic in me wanted to show the area as it was before the impact of the white man. That is not to say I wish it did not change, it is only a gentle reminder to me that there were many people who enjoyed the fishing here long before my English ancestors came. I have a few friends who have promised to take me diving in this area to show me the beauty under the sea. I am told a few years back you could swim alongside some of the largest ling cod in the area right here in Porlier Pass. Today there are not as many and there are few large ones to be seen. However, I do look forward to exploring beneath the surface of Porlier Pass before this year is out. This is another work dedicated to the First Nations people of where I call home today. It is also a small homage to the many people who are bringing about a resurgence of the canoe today. Haitchca is one of the Salish words for thank you and it is appropriate for the feeling I have to live in such a beautiful land.