Thin Air won second prize at the 2010 American Art Awards and will also be gracing the cover of a new book by
author / poet Lynn Stronin

 THAT GLORIOUS CHILD, FYNN is set for release in 2010.
Ms. Stronin has been recently nominated for  both the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and a Puschart award, for her new works.
Congratulations Lynn!

Oak Bay, golden hour, October 2008.
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This is Tamzen, the 10-year-old friend of my youngest daughter, Sarah, also then age 10. I’ve driven Sarah down to the park,
next to the Oak Bay Marina in Victoria, BC, to visit with her friends. I’m suddenly drawn by the quality of the failing sunlight and
manage to coerce the girls to come down to the beach and play there for a little while. I hope to capture images of them in this
golden hour light. The beach is the place for getting the kids back connected with nature.
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With city living, it seems, the environment affects us for only moments each day, perhaps only between the house and the car.
I work from a studio that’s part of our house. The only environment I’m exposed to, on a regular basis, is our back yard.
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In the 1980s, I spent a winter painting a show while living in a cabin on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino, BC.
I would go to the beach each morning with my coffee, sit on a log, and survey. I recall my father doing the same thing, when I
was young. Over time, I began to recognized in myself a growing familiarity with the environment. The changing tides offer a
very tangible and recognizable difference, from day to day. At that time, my activities centred around the beach, and therefore,
the tides. A must – lest ye be fond of wet feet. I felt much more in harmony then, with the rhythms of the world. 
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I’m hoping that taking the kids to the beach is nurturing some of that same awareness and sensitivity in them.   Mark Heine