Lou A. McKEE

This is western Canada's rain coast!.. where we finally claimed a home beach after years of kayaking and camping in Washington and British Columbia, exploring new areas each trip out. We named this beach Klee Wyck, Laughing One, the name that the young artist Emily Carr earned from the coastal native people. Many days were pristine fresh and sunny...but, when that coastal rain came, we were captured under drooping tarps and breathing smoky fires, sometimes for a week. "Let's build a better shelter in the woods!" So the story begins...

As the days, months and years go by, I keep an illustrated journal of all the flora that grows around us, and all the life in tide pools, seaweeds and shelled critters. When the cabin begins to 'mature' I add drawings of our cozy interior hangout. These pages, completed on the beach, forest or in the cabin, are the inspiration for the book story KLEE WYCK JOURNAL and the original color pencil and ink drawings decorate its pages.

When walking the beach we can not help but pick up the smooth surf polished stones. The varieties of type, patterns and colors are remarkable. At one point, as I held one in my hand, I realized that I could paint these images...much larger on to bigger canvases. Enlarged they became images of the universe or layers of the earth's makeup. These paintings have been received very successfully in group and solo shows.

AND FROM WILLIAM BLAKE

                                          "To see a world in a grain of sand

                                           And a heaven in a wild flower,

                                           Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

                                           And eternity in an hour."

Click on the link above for more samples of original JOURNAL PAGES and KLEE WYCK STONE IMAGES.

BUY YOUR BOOK at AMAZON www.amazon.com
BUY YOUR BOOK at BARNES and NOBLE www.barnesandnoble.com
BUY YOUR BOOK at INDIEBOUND www.indiebound.org
BUY YOUR BOOK at CHAPTERS/INDIGO www.chapters.indigo.ca
BUY YOUR BOOK at your local INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE:

     32 Books and Gallery, Edgemont, North Van www.32 books.com

     Village Books, Fairhaven WA                     www.villagebooks.com

     Village Books, Lynden WA                         www.villagevooks.com

     Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle WA    www.elliottbaybook.com

     Talewind Books, Sechelt, BC                   www.talewindbooks.com

Local bookstores are my favorite place to buy books. There is something about hanging out amongst the books full of thousands of words and ideas. Support your neighborhood book store. Lou