Artists paint for various reasons, but nearly every painting has a story.  It may be that travel to a new environment and an new sight inspired the painting.   Or maybe there is a special relationship with a person, pet, or even object being portrayed in the art.  Or perhaps the art is “accidental” started off as one thing and progressed into something totally different.  “Every Painting has a Story” will be a recurring monthly blog that tells you about some of the interesting stories surrounding a featured painting on the website.   Today’s painting is ……

Adam’s River Salmon Run by Betty Schriver

My Adam’s River Salmon Run paintings are inspired by the natural wonder of a sockeye salmon run that happens annually right here in the Shuswap area in contributory streams and primarily the Adam’s River. My husband and I first saw the beautiful red sockeye Salmon when we used to cross the Scotch Creek bridge going to our vacation rental in Celista every year. Every four years is a peak Salmon Run year where significantly more salmon come to spawn in the Adams River, next peak season being Oct 2018. Travellers from around the world come to see the rivers run red and capture the beauty of nature in all it’s glory.

Personally I find the moments watching these fish intimate. These fish fight to get to their spawning grounds, often battered from the leaps they need to make to overcome rockbeds and strong currents. After the spawn has occurred, they die.  I wonder what goes through the fish’s thoughts during this process.  Do they understand they are doing this “for their children”?   Do they understand what is happening, or is it all instinctual?  Do they know they are going to die at the end?   It’s both a glorious and tragic story at the same time.

For more information about the sockeye salmon run, you can go to this website. http://www.salmonsociety.com   You can find salmon run paintings in Betty’s Art.

• art
• paintings
• Salmon Run
• Shuswap