Harvest of Light: An Artist's Journey

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

This is, quite simply, a beautifully rendered account of Steel’s
explorations on the northern coast of Vancouver Island. With her ocean
kayak, Raven Moon, Steel sets off on expeditions and camping trips,
alone or in the company of friends, to discover subjects to paint and
draw. What she finds, in addition, is a reawakened appreciation of the
beauty and history of the land and its aboriginal inhabitants.

The book is remarkable for Steel’s ability to render scenes, events,
and people with an artist’s eye for detail and image, as, for example,
in her account of a dangerous episode: “I braced at just the right
moment on the rising wave and turned Raven Moon around the edge of the
island to give the whole scene at the corner of Waower Island a wide and
shuddering berth, all the crashing, swilling sea . . . was a salad of
weeds and boulders with a chilled and watery dressing. There was no need
for a crouton, I called out—no need. . . .” When a fine writer
possesses a painterly eye, the results can be memorable. Steel’s
obvious love of the B.C. coast heightens her involvement and adds to the
reader’s pleasure. Her numerous black-and-white drawings impart a
quiet beauty to the text on nearly every page. Highly recommended.