PRESS: TOFINO ARTIST GETS MINTED
(Tofino Time Magazine, June 2019)
Claire Watson is a Tofino artist and freelance Illustrator who’s work you may see around town in the form of poster art, bin coverings, local business’s graphics and logos, signs, and of course the colouring pages in Tofino Time magazine. Her work has a very distinctive west coast feel, and her client list has been steadily growing to include such companies as Patagonia, HSBC, BC Ferries, Canadian Surf Nationals, and as of last month - the Royal Canadian Mint.
The special edition coin, titled “60 Years of Prominence: The St. Lawrence Seaway,” was created to commemorate the anniversary of the St. Lawrence Seaway. It is 2oz of 99.99% pure silver and features a head-on view of a ship moving through the St. Lambert lock with the Montréal skyline visible in the distance. The combination maple leaf and star on the bow of the ship represents a binational partnership between Canada and the USA. The anchor chain enveloping the coin represents strength and longevity, and gives the coin its unique shape. With a mintage of only 2,000 coins, it is already over 70% sold out at mint.ca.
“I can’t tell you how proud I feel to have designed my first coin for the Royal Canadian Mint. ,” said Claire. “Not in a million years (as a small town west coast island girl) did I ever think this would ever happen. The final product may be small in physical size, but it is definitely one of the BIGGEST highlights of my career thus far.”
If you are familiar with Claire’s art, you will know her subject matter is usually much more nature oriented, so the minted coin project posed an interesting challenge. The design had to be vetted for accuracy by experts during the process, but having not spent time around the St. Lawrence Claire needed to work closely with an art director from the Mint to provide as much reference as he could.
“It was a really cool learning process and I am certainly happy with the result,” Claire continued. “I do have a long history around boats and ships, so that definitely helped a lot. I grew up around or on the water most of my life and my family has a long seafaring history. My parents worked for the Merchant Navy and on Cruise Ships, and my great-great Uncle worked on (and survived) the sinking of the Titanic! I grew up hearing many maritime stories, and was surrounded by shipping paraphernalia, so I certainly felt a familiarity with the subject matter.”
Freelance work keeps Claire pretty busy, but she’s working to create more time for her own art. You'll find her every Saturday (weather permitting) at the Tofino Market throughout the summer, and you can learn more about her work at www.clairewatson.com and @clairewatsonart on all social media channels.
“I’d like to thank the community of Tofino for supporting my work, and an extra shout out to Tofino Time. The colouring pages have not only given me a monthly challenge, but they have also been building my portfolio resulting in new projects such as this one!”