Aug 10, 2018 5 min read

A Brush with Life - Issue #6 Over She Goes!

Building, cresting and over she goes! Yes, more than ripples but it needn’t be much more, though often it is. The pounding surf of the sea causes me to breathe deep and exhale with a howl of glee just from the power in it all. A quiet ebbing tide can bring on the most profound sense of melancholy while the west coast summer blues are pure bliss. No matter the sea, I am filled to past-the-edges-of-my-wholeness in its presence. I am always right where I want to be in these moments. This is the secret underlying my paintings of the sea... the painter must be the sea, letting go of self and allowing vulnerability to overtake judgement - building, cresting and over she goes...

Northeasterly Morning Strait of Georgia Mayne Island | Artwork Archive

The cool winter light of early morning splashes with the waves in the high winds along the Strait of Georgia. Chilled to shivering, I stand transfixed. What ...

A Conversation with the Sea by Terrill Welch | Artwork Archive

I can watch the waves where they meet the shore for hours and sometimes I do. It is the fluidity of the conversation that keeps me listening and somehow part...

Northern California Surf Connecting by Terrill Welch | Artwork Archive

A vibration followed by the hard pressure of full impact. We know that the sea will wear at the stone repeatedly until it gives but in this moment of connect...

These paintings are currently showing in the gallery for our viewing pleasure or online at the links provided.

Happy 1st Anniversary! ❤️🎨💐

The August long weekend brings us to one year since the opening of the Terrill Welch Gallery. I must admit to being really pleased with how this past year has gone. I had sold my 100th painting in 8 years the day before the gallery opened and I have just never looked back! The gallery can easily qualify as one of the best moves I could have made for my art career. In general, galleries tend to be a risky business. But I found the perfect space, in the perfect location, on a perfect island and decided on the perfect number of days to be open and still maintain my painting practice and teaching. So here is to the year ahead and many more after that!

New Release

Into the Sun Reef Bay study by Terrill Welch | Artwork Archive

Looking into the morning sun as it swallows most of the colour expect the darkest dark and the lightest light. The pungent sea with just a hint of a breeze f...

Opinion Piece...

Endings. Beautiful and painful endings.

Do we question, bear witness or both?

Do we drop to our knees,

dig our hands into the soft earth...

and howl?

Do we remain outwardly calm,

offering comfort to others?

Do we give thanks for all that has been,

and then accept what is to come?

Do we pray, if we are the praying kind,

and if so for what?

A short journey to deaths door?

A painless last breath?

One more shared sunset?

Do we give thanks that the ending is still to come -

that the person wasn’t taken from us suddenly,

with no chance to say all the things we might have wanted to say?

The answer to all these questions is - yes, sometimes.

I am holding space ever-so-lightly and with great care to invite universal energy as my life-long friend (“friend” seems too small a word to hold our varied and sometimes complex relationship but it will have to do) faces what we all must at some point - an end of a life as we know it on this earth. It may take weeks, or months or even a year but as he told me shortly after the diagnosis - I am going to die and it is no longer an abstract thought but rather an imminent reality.

This painting seems to sum up my today and this moment. I am sharing it with us as a way of acknowledging the hard stuff, the things that cannot easily be resolved, immediately.

“Point No Point Mid-Storm” by Terrill Welch

walnut oil on canvas 16 x 20 inch oil on canvas is sold.

What I am reading...

This recent read is short, painful and somehow, for me, necessary to facilitate understanding and awareness without pulling on the blaming bell. The noise that blame can make has the effect of keeping us from possible solutions and breaks down communication with those who need to pool their understanding to find what, in complex situations, is usually a series of implementation plans from diverse directions to get the desired results. It is in this context that I share this article from the Tyee by Casey Brant who started working as first a naturalist then captain in Victoria 14 years ago. She holds a doctorate from the University of Victoria’s School of Earth and Ocean Science. So, please, stay with me and read the article even if we both know it will likely make you feel sad.

Watching Whales Die | The Tyee

‘First they enthralled me. Now they haunt me.’ Notes from a whale watching boat.

Since the above is such a difficult and sad read, I am going to include a “who done it” art theft mystery that was partially solved with the discovery of the missing painting 30 years later. This true story has more twists than a fictional novel and the strangeness of it all still hasn’t been completely unravelled. Enjoy!

Who stole the de Kooning? Clues emerge in theft of $100M 'Woman-Ochre'

The painting "Woman-Ochre" by Willem de Kooning was stolen in 1985 from the University of Arizona and recovered at an estate sale in August 2017.

Insider Bonus - start to finish

The methods of painting are often a series of decisions made with paint on a canvas around a subject that has grabbed my attention. Be one of the first to see a short work-in-progress video of the flower arrangement for the 1st anniversary that became a still life painting....

The Painting of the Sunshine bouquet by Terrill Welch - YouTube

“Shanti’s Sunshine Bouquet” 24 x 18 in oil on canvas by Terrill Welch "There are people we all know that shine just a little brighter in their ordinary every...