Beaver of Trees Print

Meet the Beaver, a large semi-aquatic rodent widely held as a symbol of Canada, this industrious builder is considered a keystone species ecologically. The European relative of the North American Beaver was hunted nearly to extinction, from Pliny's time on it was sough after for various reasons. In Canada the economic demand for this pelt drove Europeans westward and into contact with Canada's indigenous people. This Beaver is a digital image created from a pen and ink drawing. The silhouette of the beaver is shown in the contrast between different tree and plant textures found in the Beavers natural environment, and created in this drawing with black lines on white paper. This series of animal silhouettes began as an exploration of the forms of animals I see in my day to day life on the west coast, or in my childhood growing up in Ontario. As the series develops further, I'm exploring animals that have been important in Canada's development as a nation, either economically or historically or ecologically. The fur trade was partly responsible for Canada being settled by Europeans, seeking fur (amongst other natural resources) and also how the Beaver (and the Bison) came to be hunted very close to extinction. The beaver has personal significance for me as well; part of my childhood was spent on a farm in eastern Ontario where beaver dammed the waterways, and my Dad used the chewed stumps they left behind in his sculptural glass artwork. As a person of European ancestry born in Canada I acknowledge my settler privilege, and I undertake to show respect for the beautiful land and all it's creatures and beings; I'm grateful to live here upon this landscape, and in this ecosystem.