Arrival At Port Guichon (Delta, BC, Canada)

24” x 36” | Oil on board

This painting was inspired by an old photograph dated 1903. Taken from the land it shows some of the elements recorded in the painting. Referencing old fire marshals maps and visiting the site, my view in the painting is taken from mid channel and features the ferry “Victorian” arriving at the Port Guichon wharf. The Victoria Terminal Railway train awaits its passengers. The Guichon family home can just be seen between the hotel, church and ticket office.

A stern sternwheeler puffs her way downstream while a local farmer rows a cargo of potatoes to the ferry which ran a circular route from Sidney on Vancouver Island to Port Guichon and then returned to Victoria. In the background a sailing ship loads salmon from the cannery before sailing for Europe via Cape Horn. This moonlight scene is completed with logs being towed to the large sawmill that sat at the river edge. Port Guichon played a very important role in the development of Ladner.