To follow up on my past post (on mark-making, fish carving, and the persistence of style over time)… I thought that I’d use an ‘Inspiration Monday’ post to celebrate one of the great rivers that I’ve had the joy of paddling.

The Berens River drains into Lake Winnepeg in Central Manitoba. It’s a fly-in, Canadian Shield waterway, a network of glacier-scraped granite and tannin-infused, cold water.

With a couple of friends (including the great Matt Schultz, a comrade and best friend for years) we spent nine days cruising this thing downriver until the waters flattened out and the mosquitos took over.

In this summer epoch of fire, heat, dryness, and dread, it seems a timely place to revisit… lending some credit to the way that it haunts my dreams and infuses my art.

Incidentally, I’ve linked each of the photos below to an awesome organization that engages in wild river protection. Check them out.

Check out the Grayling and roiling bubbles on the vessels below (or on some of the vessels for sale in my shop)… they didn’t emanate from a vacuum.

Free-running rivers are holy places. Long may they endure.

(Incidentally, the Magpie River in Quebec recently gained legal status as a rights-bearing entity. This is- in my humble opinion- minimal acknowledgement of a base truth…)