During a routine patrol of the town of Gibsons (when I'm not an artist I'm a police officer) I happened to drive onto "the Bluff". The Bluff is a residential area that overlooks the harbour and the actual downtown area of the coastal town.

As I drove and perused the area I happened to look between two houses out over the harbour and there was my painting. A lone cedar snag stood on the slope of the Bluff and an eagle circled the harbour beyond.

I finished my patrols and duties that day but once I was off duty I returned to the Bluff. I knocked on a door and got permission to use their deck and the sketch that became the painting took shape. The bald eagles that are on the coast are there for no other reason than to fish and the title was as obvious as the painting had been to me.

Gone Fishing has been one of my most popular images. It combines the image of the eagle and a tree that all who lived in Gibsons knew, the "Eagle Tree". During a particularly heavy storm the next winter the Eagle Tree blew down. That landmark of countless years is no more.

I consider myself fortunate to have seen it in the proper light that day. I am grateful to have been able to preserve its memory for all time in my painting Gone Fishing.