We offer local Arts & Crafts in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Sit and enjoy a delicious cup of coffee or tea and nibble on a home-made cookie or locally made pastry
Just letting you all know that Nancy Wells will be running the Gallery Café this coming weekend. After a successful “trial run” last weekend, Nancy is returning with her delicious baked goods, hot fresh coffee, warm smile and inviting personality.
I’m delighted that Mayne Islanders will have another place to go on those Fall/Winter months when I am normally only able to open up once or twice per month. I know how important it is to have warm dry place to go to for a cup of java ☕️and fresh baked goodies🍪🧁. The added bonus, is a room filled with local art, and some sweet tunes on the playlist.🎶
Come on down & say hi to Nancy!😊
Cheers!
George
*photos by Brette Little of Salt Spring Island: brettelittle.ca
Daylight savings is here, lightness has arrived, and our days are getting longer! (and an excessive amount of rain, but what can you do?😆) I think we’ve definitely turned the corner on winter and are on the road to Springtime and all that the blessings that it brings.
My slower season is coming to an end, and I can feel nature and the Gallery Café getting ready to come back to life and bloom throughout the warmer brighter days ahead.🌻🌸
But let’s start with this coming weekend! Shavasana Gallery & Café will be open Sat. Mar. 15, Sun. Mar. 16 and Mon. Mar. 17 – 9am – 4pm (except for Sunday 10:15 – 4)
Typical Monday Afternoon Jam with Stephen Cropper on Vocals and Harmonica, Gail Noonan on Ukulele, Vocals & Bass, Bill Maylone – Vocals & Guitar, David Chase on Djembe, Gary Bradfield on Viola, Liam Bender on Guitar & Vocals, and special guest Ryan Dahle on Bass Acoustic Guitar(and myself, your humble photographer on Guitar & Vocals & Puns)
The holiday is over, time to put Bathgate back to work😆 Just a quick note to let you all know that I’ll be opening Shavasana this coming weekend for three days (as usual) Saturday, Sunday & Monday.
My son is taking me to the Rolling Stones concert in Vancouver on Friday night, so I won’t be over until noon on Saturday. Hope to open up around 1:00pm on Saturday for a shorter day of operations.
OK, I might be a little optimistic to call them “summer hours” when, as I write this on April 30, it’s only 8 degrees outside, overcast and threatening rain…but I’m optimistic!
The Fall/Winter/Spring-ish season was good, managed to keep the hearth fires alive by coming over once or twice each month to open up, stir the embers, throw another log on the flames, and visit with my Mayne Island chums. The slower season also gave me more time to hang out with my partner Cathy, and with my Vancouver family, which includes my new grandson Mateo…he’s a cutie!
Mateo slurping a popsicle on a recent visit to Saltspring Island
May is also the beginning of our new show at Shavasana Gallery…the show is called “Island Eclectic” and features 9 of Mayne Islands most talented & creative artists. I am thrilled to be hosting & exhibiting their assembled brilliance😎…here’s a poster made recently by one of their talented lot – Bill Maylone – which will give you further details:
As mentioned at the outset, I am beginning my summer hours this weekend, so likely won’t be posting as much on this website or social media unless there is a change in my days/hours, or an event to announce (we are expecting to have a “Meet the Artist Night” on June 14…details to come) So, until further notice:
Hours of Operation:
Saturday 9am – 4pm
Sunday 10:15 – 4pm
Monday 9am – 4pm
Please come on by for a coffee or tea and a chance to view the 30+ pieces we have assembled for this show!😄
I’m just making arrangements to open Shavasana Gallery Café for what is, ostensibly, the last weekend of my slower Winter/Fall/Early Spring season. If my previous weekend over on Mayne for the “Made on Mayne” event was any indicator (Mar. 29 – Apr.1) it’s going to be a very busy “Summer Season” which, for me, runs May through October.
The current show, 9 of Mayne Islands most talented artists, in no particular order: Bill Maylone, Linda Church, Ranjeet Dhaliwal, Dell Maxwell, Stephen Cropper, Tina Farmilo, Jodie Waldie, Famous Empty Sky, and Robbin Yager (and I’ve thrown in a few of my pieces in an act of unabashed self-promotion🤣)
Shavasana Gallery has become a little cultural hub (if I may say so myself) with art, crafts, hot coffee, spirited conversations, and Monday afternoon jam sessions. A large part of the joy I receive when I open up my shop is visits by friends & off-island visitors who drop in – (kids and dogs – and yes, sometimes cats – are always welcome, and add their own brand of joy to an already happy mix…there are treats!)
Esnie Shum & Joseph Loh hanging out with the Smith grandkids
Hours of Operation:
Sat. April 20. 9am – 4pm
Sunday Apr. 21, 10:15am – 4pm
Monday Apr. 22, 9am – 4pm
Please drop by for a coffee and a chance to view all the beautiful art!
It’s Sunday, Feb. 25th and I’m sitting in one of my neighbourhood cafés, on Broadway in Vancouver, just penning a few words to let you know that I am planning on opening the Gallery Café this coming weekend. Despite my commitment to my slow season, which allows me to spend more time with my partner Cathy in Kitsilano, I always miss Mayne Island, my little island business, and all the lovely people that I call my friends, and who make up the broader community there.
One thing I absolutely love about running my little gig on Mayne, are the oft-times unique and enriching experiences that I have there. When I was over, earlier in February, my friend Peter brought his friend Adam in for a coffee. Adam saw my little window table – which looks out over Active Pass and where I do
some of my own creative work – and noticed my collection of paintbrushes. “Are those your brushes?” he asked. “Yes,” I replied. “Do you have any paints?” he continued, “and canvases?” “I do, but I haven’t used them in a while so I’m not sure of their condition.” “Well, if you give me a canvas & some paints, I’ll paint you a picture.”
Thrilled by this offer – and curious to see what Adam had in mind – I hauled out my collection of paints and a canvas and let him have at it. He went right to work and within half an hour produced the above image.
Adam is an Ojibway resident of a small reserve on the shores of Lake Nippigon, and produced this image of a “Bondabée” (sp?) which is a being that his mother and her brother saw many years ago, when they were young, crawl out of Lake Nippigon and up onto the stairs of their local church. She described it as part man, part woman, and part mermaid. Anyway, as mentioned, these moments are – for me – pure gold. If you’d like to see the Bondabée, it’s on the wall at Shavasana winking at you as you walk in the front door…come on down!
Art Gallery & Café 