All of my polar bear photos were taken with my iPhone. (Even this one.) That's sad and a little bit awesome at the same time. Because the film crew was there - they asked that I not be carting around a camera with a big lens. Which was easy because I don't really have one. But it was also one of the first times I have vacationed without a camera attached to my hand.
It made me hyper sensitive to every little thing. The wholeness of it.
Not having great photos to pour over has left me swimming in my imagination. And it's kind of exciting. And surprising because I learned so much in a short time that it is as if a polar bear has taken residence in my brain. Like maybe the whole thing was a dream? SO MUCH DIFFERENT than a single image haunting me. The mechanics and the textures, the environment and weather, the sounds and the movements... I feel like I could paint pictures now. With my eyes closed.
I hate to sound like a broken record. And I honestly don't really know how express the feelings I got from my trip to Churchill. I want to. I notice that when people who have been there before ask me how I liked it - they get the same little magical smile when I start gushing.
I've got a lot to do in November that doesn't have to do with polar bears... I feel torn and distracted. But my Christmas gift to myself will be spending December painting them. I am so excited - it's hard to stay focused!
PS. The polar bear in the photo was my favourite bear of the bunch. She was a curious and playful young female. She tried to eat one of the cameras that was mounted outside and while the crew was FREAKING out - i was cheering her on. She seemed to have a certain joie de vivre. She has strange marks on her fur because she kept crawling into the under carriage of the tundra buggies to inspect. She stole my heart...
Today: I'm off on a short adventure this morning and the hunkering down to paint for Masquerade. It's on November 16... Do you have tickets? (Available at LOKA locations.)
GO!
