Battlepoint Goose

Sometime near the turn the turn of the 20th century the Suquamish successfully fended off an invading tribe from the north. Various online sources surmise that the motivation behind the invasion was to steal women. The part of Bainbridge Island where this occurred is known as Battlepoint. I saw and photographed this Canadian Goose when it was with its large flock enjoying the small pond at Battlepoint Park.

I’d meant to go all soft and dreamy in a much more classical style of painting…but, you know, I had that 80’s music on and started dancing, everything felt right, and one thing led to another. The Goose was hatched. Life.

I’m not displeased. I can see a little of Klimt, Schiele, and Hundertwasser in there, belying my European roots. The composition has a distinctly Sino-Japanese feel to it, which is very hard for me to break from, as those roots go even further back than my European ones. I would say, for once, that this “feels like me”.

My mother passed on December 8th, 2024. I know she would have liked this one very much, both before and after her dementia. I can’t say that about most of my work.

Geese are spiritually symbolic of family, of the importance of being with one’s own kith and kin. Alternatively, they represent migrations and the beginnings of new paths and journeys.

I’ve included here a picture of this painting in my office just after completion last Friday. I’ve never had an office, nor a studio …except for the tent studio that was destroyed in a windstorm, effectively putting an end to any output from me for quite some time. A certain family member noted that my current workspace looked somewhat like a candy shop with the teal bookshelf, but to me that color is lively, energizing, and life-giving. It has been years in the making, and I couldn’t ask for more.

Before the completion of my home I visited the Suquamish Museum in Suquamish, just off the Agate Pass Bridge before you reach Poulsbo. I was on a field trip with third and fourth graders, but just before we left I pulled aside the guide to ask a personal question: was it a problem for them that people built homes on Battlepoint ground? Was there anything I should do?

She just smiled gently at me, and said that their people were “very clean” after battles, and that all remains had been well taken care of. There are so many homes here now, she said, that it would just be too complicated to ask anyone for anything.

I’m grateful that the deceased are at peace.

I’m grateful my mother is at peace, finally.

I’m grateful to be able to live here, for however long I can.