Tom Drescher

One day, some years ago, I picked up some coloured pencils and a pad of paper and took them along on a haiku hike. I had some thought of doing a quick sketch to go along with whatever haiku might appear. However, I soon found the sketch had become more engaging than the haiku. I would stand out in any sort of weather, pad and pencil in hand, often with freezing fingers, and find myself lost in the act of sketching — oblivious of time and the anxieties of the day — focused entirely on the expanded moment taking shape in the sketch.

Eventually, the coloured pencils gave way to more studied works of watercolour and gouache before at last yielding to the allure of oil. Now, I try to paint every day here in my studio in Rossland, and the pleasure of doing so remains that of the coloured pencil haiku hikes — that sense of the expanded moment and loss of self in the focus on the work.