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RAINFOREST GHOSTSPIRIT BEAR, 30" X 24", OIL ON CANVAS, 2000 North Vancouver's Bear Lady: Artist and Activist creative space | by Peggy Stortz Artists g o t o m a n y places for inspiration. Some may travel to faraway lands, w h i l e others simply visit a local cafe. Painter Evelyn Kirkaldy spent 10 days c a m p i n g in a tree house miles u p the British C o l u m b i a coast at Knight Inlet -- a tree house in the m i d d l e of a grizzly bear sanctuary. That's a pretty u n i q u e place t o g o t o find your creative muse. Kirkaldy w a s n ' t necessarily seeking her muse in the fall of 1999 w h e n she set o u t o n her trip w i t h three others. She w a s w e a r i n g her political activist hat -- Kirkaldy devotes m u c h o f her time a n d energy to t h e preservation o f bears o n this planet. D i s m a y e d by t h e killing of bears right here in our b a c k y a r d , she w o r k s w i t h t h e North Shore Black Bear Task Team a n d Peoples A c t i o n for Threatened Habitat (PATH) p r o m o t i n g non-lethal bear m a n a g e m e n t a n d t e a c h i n g bear awareness. " N o matter w h e r e I go, I talk about bears," says Kirkaldy. During her stay at K n i g h t Inlet, she sketched t h e bears she e n c o u n t e r e d . W h e n she returned h o m e , she picked u p her oil paints a n d pastels a n d c o n t i n u e d creating images of t h e bears a n d their forest environment. She tried to capture t h e essence of t h e forest, the feeling of living in nature. " T h e forest is not just trees," K i r k a l d y says. "It's like a m e t r o p olis of w i l d l i f e t e a m i n g w i t h eagles, herons, martens, a n d m o r e . " There w e r e a b o u t 16 grizzlies living in the four square kilometre protected area set aside for p e o p l e to v i e w these majestic beasts. The campers s a w six w i t h i n t h e first hour of their stay, barely m a n a g i n g t o get themselves a n d their gear into t h e tree house before a mother a n d t w o cubs a p p r o a c h e d t h e f o o t o f t h e tree. D u r i n g their stay, they h a d m a n y encounters w i t h t h e grizzlies, including o n e in w h i c h Kirkaldy m a n a g e d to stare d o w n a n a t t a c k i n g s o w w i t h a cub. A graduate of t h e Ontario C o l l e g e o f Art a n d of York University Fine Arts Department, Kirkaldy's deep affinity w i t h nature began w h e n living in Banff. A s she b e c a m e more a w a r e of t h e m a n y threats to the natural e n v i r o n m e n t , she b e g a n t o get politically involved. She paints a n d d r a w s bears because, in her m i n d , they are representatives of the natural w o r l d : " B e a r s are t h e forest." Her collection includes close-up portraits of bears, playful caricatures, a n d sensitive portrayals of mothers a n d cubs, as w e l l as several striking images o f bear habitat: t h e forest, the rocky coastline, the m o u n t a i n m e a d o w s , a n d t h e clear swift rivers. Some of her ursine subjects she m e t during t h e s u m m e r of 2 0 0 0 w h e n she visited the Vince Shute W i l d l i f e Institute in M i n n e s o t a , w h e r e some 6 0 black bears w a n der a b o u t t h e property at w i l l a n d interact comfortably w i t h humans. Here, Kirkaldy w a s a b l e t o get u p close t o t h e bears. She also h a d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o meet w i t h Dr. Lynn Rogers, North A m e r i c a ' s foremost black bear biologist. Kirkaldy doesn't deny that bears c a n be dangerous, but, she explains, that d a n g e r is usually the result of h u m a n carelessness or lack of u n d e r s t a n d i n g . Her work w i t h several different agencies t o stop t h e bear hunt in the w i l d as w e l l as in our o w n n e i g h b o u r h o o d s has e a r n e d her the title " B e a r L a d y " in m a n y circles.Today, her political activism is c o m p l e t e l y intertwined w i t h her art. Through her pictures, Kirkaldy hopes t o foster a better understanding of bears. A p r o u d s u p p o r t e r of the a r t s in y o u r c o m m u n i t y . The First Street Gallery at 252 East First Street will be hosting Kirkaldy's Bear Forests throughout May and June. no 20 May | June Long & McQuade L INSTRUMENTS 1615 Lonsdale Ave. Phone: 986-0911 and 8 other locations in B.C.