Welcome 2023... And A Free Colouring Page Finally!

Hey All… thanks for your patience as it’s been a while since I have updated my blog OR done a new colouring page. 2022 was a pretty epic year for the most part. It started really strong and I had lots of work… mostly commission illustration work including 2 more coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, amongst other fun creative projects for some really cool clients. The TD Art Gallery Paint-In was a great ‘wake up’ to getting myself back out there and connecting with people again (haven’t done a market since summer 2019 in Tofino) and I got super inspired to get rolling again after a relatively complacent couple of years between Covid and my transition to Victoria following my divorce. When I did have client breaks, my personal projects took a little bit of a back seat at times during the summer as I was really enjoying life and finding myself again…my bike, my hiking boots, traveling and mini adventures all filled my physical and creative well. It had been the first time I’d flown out of the country in AGES… let alone into the Alps for an epic 10 day hiking trip with my sweetie. However, all ‘fun’ aside, I was still quietly plugging away at things albeit at a slower pace. I am in the process of a brand update… switching my professional name from Claire Watson to Claire Victoria (using my middle name), so you will start to see that switching around on all my print and digital presences. I was struggling with coming up with a business ‘name’ as Watson just doesn’t resonate with me anymore, but when it all boils down to it my middle name has been with me all my life and will continue that way (it also helps that’s where I live… bonus SEO)!

Well everything was cruising along all tiddly boo until last fall when everything came to a screeching halt. My mum got sick with an agressive Cancer and that put work and life pretty much on hold for us all. She passed away just before Christmas and although it was a really a hard thing to watch someone you care about go through that (especially so fast), I am grateful that my brother came out from Ontario so we were both with her through the tough stuff. Needless to say there were no new colouring pages through the autumn months, terrible email communications, crap social media upkeep (although I’ve never been amazing at that)… all creativity was gone of course and it was challenging enough keeping up with client work. But… now that things are settling, by mum (who was a determined workhorse) would want me to get my act together. Watching her go through that made me really see that life is short, and you never know when your number is up. She was healthy, fit (a super long distance walker at 78) and and an active community member and yet Cancer still found a way. I want to make the most of the time I have on this planet… I am inspired and motivated to get out there, make mistakes, learn some lessons and just try. Try everything. Why the F not?

I have applied for a couple of festivals this year, cross my fingers I get in. I’d love to attend the Sooke Fine Art show (never really done a big show like that) to between all that I will have a lot of work cut out for me in preparation (needed to give myself some deadlines). Oh, and I signed up for a bike race… a 6 day stage race in Sardegna Italy in April (because why not make your first bike race a 6 day stage race in Italy? lol). We also plan to hit up Barcelona and the Amalfi coast. The West Coast Trail is on my list… some bike packing too, as well as some local cycling events. We’ll see how it goes! Yes yes… my playing cards are too… and a few other ideas that have been stewing over the past while. Time to get moving and get ‘er done! If you have ideas of things you’d like to see then let me know!

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For those who are new to my site, each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download as a high resolution PDF here (scroll down to the button below). If you would like them to come straight to your inbox when I occasionally send out a newsletter, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month (more like once every 4 haha)! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school, organization or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please. Enjoy!

Spooky Season - Free Colouring Page

There is Halloween candy in the grocery stores, the leaves are shedding, the days are getting shorter and shorter, I have pulled out my wool socks, and am contemplating the commitment to putting the dang fenders on my road bike. I love October… its the month of my first born, and I love the feeling of prepping to hunker down a little for the darker months. I am so grateful I am not going to spend the winter relentlessly checking the ‘Windy’ App and dreading the gusty pink bar and heavy rains that would make the boat toss, turn and drip for weeks. Those were the challenges of living aboard on the west coast in the winter months, and I am perfectly okay to let them go. Here in Vic, the weather is milder so camping, biking and hiking all year is doable… with a hot shower to come home to (I must be getting soft 🤣)!

October is also the month of Inktober, the daily Instagram drawing challenge that has been going on for a number of years. I have never quite made it to 31 as its a pretty hefty time commitment, but I may try this year (although I am busier with work so not sure if I can pull it off). I will post when I do, but don’t give me hard time if I find I have more fun things to do outside when I am not working because that just may happen.

Speaking of drawing, this months colouring page is something a little different. I do admit I like to geek out on the holiday stuff sometimes, and Halloween is no exception so a west coast version of Scooby Doo seemed fun. I could have easily made it more freaky, but for the sake of the kiddos out there I kept it light. Have fun!

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For those who are new to my site, each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download as a high resolution PDF here (scroll down to the button below). If you would like them to come straight to your inbox when I occasionally send out a newsletter, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month (more like once every 4 haha)! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please.

Spring Break - Colouring Page

I am going to shake it up a little with regards to my monthly colouring pages. After having done these for the past 5 YEARS (yes… thats nuts I know), I have decided that rather than hosting them all on my website, I will be sending them STRAIGHT to the inboxes of those who want them! So as of NEXT month (June), I will be sending out my free printable colouring pages (hi res) via email and sharing the low resolution versions only here.

A couple of reasons for this! One (and the most important), is that you will get them hand delivered to your inbox… like Uber Eats… for colouring pages and other cool news. Two is they certainly take up some space on my website leaving them here, and I want to keep room available for new awesome things. And three (also important) is I am now back to being a self employed, full time ARTISTE (said with a French accent while twisting a handlebar moustache), it is important to diversify one’s marketing. It is too much of a gamble these days to rely solely on social media platforms for ‘getting yourself out there’ as you never know if one day they will just be gone! So rather than keeping all my eggs in one basket, I would like to be able to CONNECT more monthly with those who really want to know whats happening in my art world. I believe I said something at the beginning of the year about making this my goal, but for some reasons newsletters are SO HARD TO COMMIT TO! This will make me do it. Hah!

And yes… did you catch what I said in point #3 above? When I moved/transitioned to Victoria I was working full time but not on my business (Covid slowed things down for sure too), and these left me a little spread thin and playing catch up. BUT, I am now back on my own again and feeling pretty PUMPED about it, so you should hear more from me in all my channels and definitely more art projects on the horizon for sure!

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For those who are new to my site, each month I offer free west coast inspired colouring pages that are published and distributed in Tofino Time Magazine. They are also available for download as a high resolution PDF here (scroll down to the button below). If you would like them to come straight to your inbox each month as I am planning to start doing sometime this year, please sign up for my mailing list (yeah, that annoying pop up). Personally I hate getting a bunch of spamming emails, so I promise to keep it to a maximum of once a month! Please feel free to download them for personal use. If you are a restaurant, school or business that wants to print them for your clients, customers (or to keep their kids happy) or students then I am totally fine with that too. All I ask is you leave my contact info at the bottom of the page please.

Bin Bandits - Colouring Page

The wild west coast often brings on the thought of bears, wolves and cougars as the ‘local’ wildlife, but these critters are the ones who come out at night to cause trouble. Racoons may be super cute, but they can be nasty if cornered (my old husky/malamute lost part of her ear to a young one once). They also will take any opportunity to raid any left out trash. Tofino is full of ‘animal proof’ trash/recycle bins around town so they can’t get in, but they seriously will come all the way down the dock to the boat if we accidentally forget to take our garbage up! You will also notice that most of the bins in town are artfully wrapped (there are three with my art on them). I was going to draw in this one, but I decided to let you try instead. If you want to share it with me, just hashtag #tofinocolour on your post!

This page is also in November’s Tofino Time magazine and up on the Tourism Tofino’s website.

**Please remember, these are free for download, but if you are printing them off to use in businesses or schools, please leave my contact/website information at the bottom of the page. Thank you!**

Deep Sea Drift - Colouring Page

It is September already… what the heck!? Fall routines are around the corner… back to school shopping, fall sweaters, mushroom picking, and earlier sunsets. Tofitian’s are excited to be able to catch a breath after a busy tourist season once again. Even though I don’t work in the tourism industry per se, I still feel the pressure of everyone who does. Between keeping up with stock for the market and the shops that carry my work, and trying to remain creative while holding down the fort at home while Adam (who IS in the thick of the industry) is out on the water 10-12 hours per day can be a challenge. Not to mention clients needing work done, art shows, and holiday season preparation etc. Short stolen moments to enjoy the summer season in the form of a quick swim, beach walk, or ice cream cone is about all I got in this year… and now it is September.

Even though I love the temperatures in the summertime, fall IS my absolute favourite time of year. Cooler temperatures, wool sweaters and cozy socks. I get caught up on all my admin work, client projects and get to spend more time in the studio. I look forward to holiday preparation and if all goes well, may get an opportunity to enjoy the hot sunshine a couple of borders down. We’ll see…

So with school starting around the corner, here are some jelly fish (Moon Jellies, and Lion’s Mane jellyfish to be more specific) to colour. You’ll find it in the latest Tofino Time magazine too! Enjoy!