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Preview Bateman's original works In mid-April artist and printmaker Robert Bateman gave an illustrated lecture at the Centennial Theatre. Its title was Thinking Like a Mountain, which is also the title of his new book. The talk marked the opening of Bateman's World at the Artists for Kids Gallery, his first show of original work in ten years. A former teacher, Bateman has been a strong supporter of Artists for Kids. He has now contributed three limited-edition lithographs to help the organization raise muchneeded funds. A suite of all three is priced at $2,000. Bateman sketched out the path of his career, from youthful nature lover to high-selling and widely-admired artist. He has gone from realism to semi-abstraction, and now he's back to realism. He works in a studio at his home on Saltspring Island. He and his family share the land with some 14 otters, who have ignored the house Bateman has built for them and prefer to live beneath the artist's own house. "Although they are river otters, they make their living by fishing in the salt water," Bateman says. "The downside is that our house smells like crab pate and they have torn out much of the pink insulation under the living room." The upside, he says, is to have the otters in the first place -- always gregarious and playful and affectionate. His love for and wonder at the natural world is as strong as ever. Possibly it's even stronger, since he is outraged by the environmental damage being wreaked by our greedy and shortsighted culture of consumerism. The last part of his talk was an impassioned plea to set aside the idea of "salvation through shopping" which has gripped young people so ferociously. River Otters, one of three of lithographs to Artists funds organization Bateman raise editions has given for Kids to help the much-needed For m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n s e e t h e C a l e n d a r p a g e s . May | June 2 3