Turning Maps into Art

Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by BCAA in Fresh Trax

Gifts to Grab: Stocking Stuffers to Soothe Any Travel Itch

by Rob Howatson

Port Hardy painter Eileen Field’s maps-as-art are a unique find for both mariners and landlubbers alike. The multimedia artist starts with the driest of canvasses — a Johnstone Strait nautical chart borrowed from the wheelhouse of her husband’s powerboat — and then layers on whimsical touches in the form of sea-mist acrylics, bits of poetry, feathers, copper sea stars, anything that helps her “tell a story.” Repetitive soundings and boring fathom curves become lyrical, three-dimensional seascapes that capture the imagination. >> Field applies her sea-story technique to both gift cards and small paintings and will custom create a vignette for any body of water, provided there is a map to build upon.

WRAP IT UP FOR CHRISTMAS Gift cards, $18, Port Hardy’s West Cost Community Craft Shop (250-949-2650); custom map paintings direct from artist, $50 (250-949-7659).