All talk?

It has been a very busy two days at the conference in Chemainus. It was my pleasure to do two presentations with my slides and also sit on a round table of industry leaders to answer questions to the audience. I've traditionally been one to avoid committees and meetings, preferring to be a man of action rather than merely talking about the possibilities. In recent years, however, I have mellowed a bit and find myself doing many speaking engagements. Rather than merely presenting dry lectures I instead enjoy challenging old ideas and ways of thinking about tourism and art. I encourage those who listen to take a new approach, to be bold in their art and lives. This conference was a very different audience for my unorthodox ideas. I may have surprised them a little.

For me the trip back to the little town was both a fond look back into the past as well as a glimpse into the future... a somewhat strange experience in many ways. It was a dozen years ago we left Chemainus permanently after living there for eighteen years and being extremely active in helping to form what it became. Chemanus has largely coasted for the last decade and now is planning a revitalization once again. It may just be that in some small way I may again play a role in Chemainus' future. Time will tell.

It was good to rub shoulders and share ideas with those in the art and mural business from around the world. A few I had met previously and others I had only heard of by reputation. It was my pleasure to learn new things and ways of thinking from others in attendance and also to share my ideas with them.

As with every convention or gathering I attend the benefit will be calculated down the road when we see what comes from all the talk. The resulting action will be that measure.

-grampa dan

Official blessing

As I toured Chemainus this evening I was reminded of many happy memories. As I drove by a particular sign it made me laugh out loud.

In those days we didn't always get official permission to do public projects. Sometimes it was easier to get forgiveness later than go through the long and arduous process of doing things strictly according to the rules. This particular job was the parking sign for the center lot in town. Some business friends donated money for supplies. Another with a tractor dug the hole. A third friend with a concrete truck supplied the concrete. My job was to build the sign. This was all done at night - without official blessing or permits. 

As 'luck' would have it the Prime Minister of Canada was visiting our little town the next day. I was offered the chance to meet him and shake his hand - quite the honor. I was told to dress nice (not my normal work clothes) and to be in our art gallery at exactly nine o'clock in the morning. The whole entourage (complete with RCMP escort) came up the street, and poked their head into the gallery. I was nowhere to be seen. Janis appologized to the organizers and they carried on. They came to the corner and stepped off the curb to cross the street...  and as they did I stepped out from behind a planter. I had my work clothes on. I also had a brick in one hand and a trowel in the other. As they approached, my friend, the organizer had little choice but to introduce Prime Minster Mulroney to me. I shook his hand and asked him if he wanted to lay a corner stone on the sign I was building. He readily agreed and with the press documenting the event the ceremonial block was laid. It of course was the headline story in the local papers the next day.

As I recall there was a bit of a curfuffle afterwards with me once again being reminded of protocol and official proceedure. My argument to this day is that I had the highest official in the land give the project his blessing. Was that not good enough?  :)

-grampa dan

Returning to the little town that did.

Way back in 1983 I was invited to Chemainus to paint my first historical mural. It was a life changing event for me and my family. The mural I had no trouble with. In spite of never having done a large historical mural before I knew how to draw and paint. This was just a bigger version of what I had been doing. 

We moved to Chemainus six months later, renovated a commercial building and opened an art gallery. I had done signs previous, but it was in Chemainus I did my first sandblasted signs and ventured into dimensional work. It was the start of everything that has followed since.

In the next decade I designed and had a hand in fourteen major projects, (commercial buildings and civic projects) and hundreds of signs. The work that came off my drawing board back then helped shape the town of Chemainus and helped create the visual image of what it is to this day. In the tiny town of less than 4,000 people it made a big difference. It was there in Chemainus I became aware of just how much signs and buildings could effect a community and how much of a draw they could provide.

Today I return to the little town for three days to speak at a tourism conference. I look forward to seeing many folks I know and remembering many happy memories. I also look forward to sharing my excitement about signs and all things visual.

-grampa dan