Beacon Hill Park

An acrylic on canvas painting done outdoors at Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. ... more

by Janet Ashworth

Title

Beacon Hill Park

Artist

Janet Ashworth

Medium

Mixed Media - Acrylic On Canvas

Description

An acrylic on canvas painting done outdoors at Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Beacon Hill Park is a 75 ha (200 acre) park located along the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait in Victoria, British Columbia. The park is popular both with tourists and locals, and contains a number of amenities including woodland and shoreline trails, two playgrounds, a waterpark, playing fields, a petting zoo, tennis courts, many ponds, and landscaped gardens.

The land was originally set aside as a protected area by Sir James Douglas, governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1858. In 1882, the land was officially made a municipal park of the City of Victoria, and given its present name. The name is derived from a small hill overlooking the Strait, upon which once stood navigational beacons. The hill is culturally significant, having been a burial site for the First Nations Coast Salish people, who are the original inhabitants of the Greater Victoria region. It provides scenic vistas of the Strait and the Olympic Mountains of Washington.

Although much of the park has been landscaped into gardens and playing fields, and populated with various structures, a great deal of the native flora has been preserved. Garry oak, arbutus, Douglas-fir, western redcedar, camas, trillium, snowberry, Oregon grape, and fawn lily still remain in the park. Raccoons, river otters, squirrels, and many types of birds are frequently to be seen. The ponds in the park are noted for their swans, turtles, ducks, Canada geese, and blue herons.

The park is notable for a few human-made features, as well. Most prominent is the world's fourth-tallest totem pole, a 38.8-metre (127 ft) work carved by Kwakwaka'wakw craftsman Mungo Martin, and erected in 1956 and was when built, the world's tallest. The pebble bridge over the stream between Goodacre and Fountain Lake is a tribute to renowned BC artist Emily Carr, erected by her sister Alice Carr in 1945. In the middle of the park, the Cameron Bandshell is the site of concerts from June through September. "Mile 0" of the Trans-Canada Highway is at the south-west corner of the park.
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A little about me:
My name is Janet but I go by Jann, and I am originally from Ontario, Canada and have lived on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, since 1985.
I love the seacoast and mountains, so many of my photos are from British Columbia, Alberta, Vancouver Island, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island. My main photo themes are sea, coastal,villages, people, portraits, mountains, trees, lakes, waterfalls, flowers, nature,wildlife, birds, animals, landscapes, sunsets, and the great National Parks of Canada such as Jasper,Banff, Waterton, Cape Breton Highlands, Yoho, Glacier, Kootenay,Mt. Robson, Strathcona and others.
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In the art world, I was initially trained as a Commercial Artist and Illustrator and eventually explored many other methods of art/style as well as other mediums. I work in pencil, ink, acrylics, watercolor and oil pastels. I have also enjoyed mosaic design and application, floor murals, wall murals, collapsible screens, floor cloths, graphic design. Explored sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, hand painted furniture, refinishing old frames with gold leaf or faux finishes, interior design and interior decorating.
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With the advent of digital cameras I came to really enjoy photography both as an artistic expression as well as a foundation for capturing interesting and exciting compositions to be painted later.
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My recent creative endeavour was graduating from a certified Cosmetology Program (hairstylist and esthetics) in March 2009.
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I would like to build up an email list so I can let you know when I have posted new work. If you would like to participate, my email is jann.ash@hotmail.com
I would love to hear from you!
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All images (photos and painting) are my own personal works and not in the public domain. Please respect my copyright as I respect yours. Thank You.

Uploaded

May 28th, 2013