On Saturday, November 20th, at the Big Yellow Merville hall, from 10:00 to 4:00, there will be a combined art show and book publishing event to celebrate the work of several local geniuses. Anchoring the show, internationally acclaimed watercolourist Ron Morrison will be holding a large sale of works that he has completed over a thirty-year period. A member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, this prolific, local artist has exhibited countless times and has sold paintings around the world.
Accompanying Ron will be local author, and bon vivant, Harold Macy, as well as seafaring sailor and author, Don “Have You Ever Been to Sea, Billy” Hardy and adventurer Kim Letson. Harold will have on hand copies of his recent novel, San Josef, a fictional tale of life and death centered around a pioneering northern Vancouver Island community that struggled to survive near San Josef bay. He will be doing a reading of various passages from the book at 10:30 or so with a Question & Answer session to follow later in the morning. He will also have copies of his previous book, The Four Storey Forest, which gives an account of sustainable logging practises on his Vancouver Island 360 hectare woodlot.
Don Hardy has been living aboard his various boats since the 1970s and during that time he has amassed a plethora of anecdotes surrounding his seafaring experiences up and down the BC coast. In this book, Raven’s Apprentice, he has reeled in the most unusual stories to illustrate his rather unconventional lifestyle. Don will also be doing a reading from his book around 11:30 and later in the afternoon.
Kim Letson, a Comox Valley author, is releasing her latest travel book, In the Footsteps of a Roman Legion – Walking the Via Egnatia, this week:
On a blistering September morning in 2016, intrepid friends in their sixties – Kim and Pat – set off on foot from Durrës, Albania, towards Istanbul, Turkey, tracing the route of a Roman road, the Via Egnatia. Needless to say, the trek became more challenging than expected. Kim will also be reading from her book around 12:30pm.
Ron, the eccentric, exhibiting artist, will speak about his art and the different techniques used during a bit of a walk and talk around the hall, where he will stop at various paintings to discuss colour and framing details.
The Merville hall is a large, well lit and comfortable space and shows art works well. This show is the perfect place to purchase local art and literary works for your intimate pleasure and generous gift giving. And, with Christmas just around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better.
So, on Saturday, November 20th, plan to make a beeline for the Big Yellow Merville hall to bask in the radiance of these four luminaries. The event runs from 10:00 to 4:00 and, of course, will follow all of the current Covid protocols.
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