An Evening with Gwen Curry & Wendy Picken

Curry and Picken have written books grounded in a deep love of the West Coast and specifically Vancouver Island.

Gwen Curry’s book “Converging Waters, the Beauty and Challenges of the Broughton Archipelago,” takes us to this region off the north coast of Vancouver Island. Dan Hillert’s exquisite photographs are paired with Curry’s writing which delves into the darker side of this mystical land and seascape.

Wendy Picken’s book “Rainbees and Honeybows” is set locally in Sidney, Victoria and Fairy Lake. Picken is the author as well as the illustrator for this book. It is written for the child in all of us.

Although the two books appear to come from different perspectives, (fantasy and non-fiction) they and the authors share a lot in common. Gwen and Wendy met at the University of Victoria in the Visual Arts Department where Curry was a professor and Picken a student. Both have been artists for many decades and both have become authors later in life. Picken’s intimate and whimsical artworks on paper are reflected in her book, “Rainbees and Honeybows,” and Curry’s large scale mixed media artwork, which is environmentally based, is reflected in the text of “Converging Waters.” Picken also wrote, “Grandma’s Pearl Soup and Grandpa’s Mango Smile” (2007). Curry is the author and photographer of “Tod Inlet, A Healing Place” (2015) which was a finalist for the Roderick Haig-Brown Prize for BC Books.