Sooke in Pictures - Part 1

We went on a farm tour today out in Sooke, which is on the west side of the island from us. It remains a very rural area and still retains much of the charm of days gone by. I will post a few pictures later in the week of the farm areas, I didn't take a lot, I spent more time looking instead of snapping. I did however take a set of pictures that I will spread out over 3 posts of something else.

After going to two of the farms, we decided to take a lunch break and go to Mom's Cafe. I haven't been there since I was about 17 and didn't even know until last week that it's still there. It definitely is not a victim of the recession, busy as busy can be,  just as I remember it. A small place with a huge following. Food that has that wonderful home made taste. I restrained myself and did not indulge myself in lemon meringue pie and good thing. The people across from us had it and the meringue was easily 6" tall. I overheard the waitress say that they use a dozen eggs making the meringue...YIKES !!!! no wonder it's so big.... ;o)))

When we came out I looked across the street and was stopped in my tracks by the most amazing artwork. I had to decide if what I was seeing was posters attached to the walls or were they murals. They are absolutely brilliant. You have to imagine the walls being a normal height of perhaps 12' or so. They tell the story of the history of how Sooke developed and the families that settled in the area, dating back to the 1860's.

I'm sorry the pictures of all the little boxes of information that were painted beside each picture aren't clear enough to read, but I'm sure you can appreciate and follow along in your minds eye how things were. The murals have been created from vintage pictures. The artist, those that assisted him and the source of the photo's are as follows. I've had discussions in the past with others who paint as to whether air brushing is art or not. I am a listener in that debate having no experience with it what so ever, but after seeing these I have to say I would side with those who feel air brushing is as much an art form as any other.

Here are the first images for today including the painting above which is also air brushed and appears on the wall. The way the murals are done are just so creative. It's like looking at an old photo album and I had to actually touch the borders to convince myself it's all painted, and not 3 dimensional.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, I will post another group of photos.