OCEAN VILLAGE - Artist Proof #7/15

OCEAN VILLAGE - Artist Proof #7/15Edition Date: March 2002 Artist: Roy Henry Vickers Medium: Artist Proof Image Size: 16 7 8" x 13" Story My childhood is a distant memory of an ancient ocean village near Prince Rupert on the North Coast. The village numbered about five hundred people and our lives revolved around the sea. Fishing, hunting, and harvesting from the land was a way of life. The lifestyle would be something close to what we call survival today. For the children, there was

Story

My childhood is a distant memory of an ancient ocean village near Prince Rupert on the North Coast. The village numbered about five hundred people and our lives revolved around the sea. Fishing, hunting, and harvesting from the land was a way of life. The lifestyle would be something close to what we call survival today. For the children, there was a wonderful playground called the beach. It was full of awe and mystery. Our time reminder was the ebb and flow of running tide. Our music was the cry of Eagle, Raven and gulls; the song of the Whale, and howl of the wolf. I cannot recall the word “boring”. After a half-century of living in British Columbia, it is no surprise that I often can be found in the village of Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. I love to play with my children on the beach, watching a sunset, looking for passing whales at sea, or building castles in the sand. I do believe I will always return to the joy of the sea near some Ocean Village. I can identify with the lines from the John Maysfield poem, Sea Fever:

“I must go down to the sea again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied.”