Squamish Observations at 32 Lakes Cafe and Bakery

Where to start here. Nevada and I first met and worked together in 2013. That year I stopped working as a bike courier, to pursue being a bike racer. I left a job where I was riding a bicycle all day to earn a wage in an attempt to recover enough from training and racing to chase, well, earning a wage riding a bicycle all day. It seems ironic, it was. 

I applied to work for Nevada because my friend Gary knew I was pretty excited about coffee, he was a regular at the shop she was managing. His warehouse where he had offered me a job (had he not thought I was better suited and more excited about coffee), was around the corner. Little did I know, I'd be interviewing with someone who would become one of my best friends. She sort of took offense when I started calling her 'Boss' at work, but I explained I only call people Boss who are in fact a Boss. She’s still one of a few in my life with that title.

Last week I called her Boss again figuratively and literally, as she once again brought me out of coffee retirement. She'd asked if I wanted to come to the cafe she owns in Powell River and just, literally hang around and be excited. Talk about coffee, steam milk, make latte arts and well–mostly I danced around the espresso machine because it's a thing I do when I drink all the coffee I can handle and I'm having fun behind the bar. Anyways. 

As if being able to plan a tiny working holiday right around Angela's 40th Birthday wasn’t enough of a good thing, Nevada quickly also asked me: 'Do you want to have an art show while you're here?!?' 

Part of me really didn't know how to respond, at first. While I'm so excited about some of the work I've been making lately, a lot of it still really only existed in negative form. I wasn't sure if I had enough to constitute a show, let alone be able to get it printed in under a month's time. I hadn't been to a darkroom in at least ten years and I wanted to show in Silver Prints. Nevada and her partner Ryan couldn't have been more assuring that I would put together something great. And with their encouragement I dove right into trying to print a couple of very tricky 4x5 negs and one cheeky young eagle. Honestly I could have found easier negatives but, apparently I don't like doing things the easy way. 

This is all getting around to saying that for the first time in ten years, I got into a darkroom, and for the first time in even longer I'm showing some work in Powell River. 32 Lakes is a wonderful community space built from the ground up with Nevada and Ryan grinding to make a welcoming, inclusive space for delicious coffee, art and humans. I'm so excited and honoured to be showing prints there. And I'm so grateful that Nevada lit the fire to get printing again. 

So, go out to Powell River for a day trip (or a couple days) to drink some coffees and look at some prints.