The Roberts Creek mandala — now in the 26th year of a community tradition sustained by designer Robert Marion — held a final painting day on July 29. This year, volunteer facilitator Khyah Singh joined Robert and Yohanna Marion to coordinate unique paintings in 739 individual panels.
“The mandala design reflects the way that the mycelium network connects fungi to the forest,” said Marion. “In preparing the design for this year’s mandala, I looked in detail at spores, which have complex and diverse shapes. And of course the interconnectedness of mycelium is a kind of metaphor as well.”
Lacquer was applied to the mandala on July 30, marking the official completion of a design that this year evokes the entangled life of forest-nurturing fungi.
Members of the public can admire the finished artwork at the Roberts Creek jetty.
Shamrockers put petals to the metal
This Saturday, the Shamrockers race between two different communities, appearing as part of the Sechelt Summer Music Series and Music in the Landing on the Gibsons waterfront.
The Shamrockers are fixtures of the Roberts Creek Legion, where they play each month on Irish pub night and during St. Patrick’s Day events. They’re renowned for their lively mix of jigs and Celtic songs with Sheila on fiddle, Heidi on flute, penny whistle and Celtic harp, Boyd on bass, guitar and vocals, Graham on percussion and Kevin on vocals and guitar.
Music in the Landing — the Gibsons summer music series — will feature a variety of acts this weekend. On Friday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m., Joe Stanton and Randy Sheppard perform at the harbour gazebo. On Saturday, Aug. 5 at 3:30 p.m., the Lowry Olafson Trio plays at Winegarden Park. Later that evening, at 6:30 p.m., the Shamrockers appear on the outdoor amphitheatre stage.
In Sechelt, as part of its Summer Music Series on Saturday, Aug. 5, Jennifer Mauel will be featured at noon, followed by the Shamrockers. Mauel is equally skilled as an instrumental guitarist and songwriter. Her melodies and lyrics draw on themes of natural beauty and personal stories, with writing that aims to capture the depth and complexity of human experiences through folk, jazz, pop and contemporary styles.
In Roberts Creek, Slow Sundays in the Creek on Sunday, Aug. 6 will present an irrepressibly energetic lineup starting at 11:45 a.m. These concerts take place behind the Roberts Creek Community Library. Acts will include the Beachcombers Ukulele Group; the Peter, Pam & Gary Trio; and Tub Radio with Ian Maclatchie, Boyd Norman, Gary McGuire, Al Burns and Ken Dalgleish.
Artist trio revels in nature
The Gibsons Public Art Gallery is opening three simultaneous exhibitions this weekend, with an artist reception on Saturday, Aug. 5 at noon (free of charge). Leonard Brett’s Short Bear Tales captures and celebrates the multi-faceted ways we see and think about bears. In New Life from Old Wood, David Evanson rescues old growth trees abandoned on our local beaches and reveals their unique inner beauty. Tatjana Mirkov-Popovicki’s paintings in Coastal Sentinels transport the viewer to different powerful locations on the ancestral Coast Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth lands along the B.C. coastline.
New book to launch at Landing Artists show
Coast artist Ruth Rodgers will release her fifth book, Always Your Peggy, a fictionalized history of her English mother’s World War Two experiences, at The Landing Artists’ summer art show at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Gardens on August 5, 6, and 7 (from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day).
In the book, Rodgers explores the impact of war, with its tragedies and unexpected joys, on those who kept the home fires burning.
Rodgers writes her historical fiction novels from her home in Halfmoon Bay, and is currently working on a novel exposing the trials and triumphs of Canada’s first female press correspondents.
Pithy fiddle showman plucks heartstrings
Sechelt fiddler Joshua Paolozza hypnotized an audience at Mission House in Davis Bay last weekend as he opened for a visiting illusionist.
In the span of 20 minutes, the teenage Paolozza sampled Celtic and Canadian solo fiddle repertoire, accompanied by illuminating commentary, before concluding with an original composition rooted in his passion for the genre.
Paolozza regularly appears with two ensembles: the Coast String Fiddlers and the North Shore Celtic Ensemble.
