Today officially marks two weeks since my first illustrated essay for Longreads, “Home is a Cup of Tea,” was published, and what a two weeks it has been, friends! I couldn’t be more grateful for the feedback I’ve since received; to hear from people all across the world — especially from readers in India, as masala chai plays such a key role in the piece — that my story resonated with their own, has affirmed for me more than ever that no matter our cultural upbringing or background, we’re all looking for home.
I’m equally grateful for a few different opportunities that have arisen because of the story’s publication — and one such opportunity was the chance to do my first live radio interview this past Friday, with Roundhouse Radio in Vancouver, Canada. I once spent a couple of nights in Vancouver in 2014, before catching a ferry to nearby Salt Spring Island and spending three months in a yurt (that experience made it into the story, too!), so the interview was a fun and unexpected chance for me to return to the city, if only virtually for now. I shared the interview’s link on Instagram and Facebook on Friday, but just in case you missed it, I wanted to be sure to share it with you here as well.
The interview on Friday would have been exciting enough for me, but it just so happened that my dear younger sister Brooke was also landing in Vancouver that very same afternoon, on her first visit to the city. In the days leading up to her departure, I loved chatting with her about her plans and sharing about my own time in Vancouver. I told her I’d even done a sketch while I was there, of the beautiful, bustling public market on Granville Island, though I’d never shared the sketch here on the blog.
And so in honor of connections to Vancouver, both past and present, I thought it would be fun to share my sketch from Granville Island here today — and wish you all a wonderful week ahead!
Love this sketch. Markets are soooo colourful. Just wondering, what type and size of sketchbook do you use?
Thank you, Lynn! I couldn’t agree more with you about markets…the beautiful colors and shapes of produce are always what draw me in and provide such perfect sketching inspiration 🙂 And in terms of sketchbooks, the types and sizes have varied for me over the years! The sketch I shared here was created in a 9″x12″ sketchbook from Canson’s Montval watercolor paper line, but I’ve since transitioned to using Moleskine’s pocket-sized watercolor notebook (I believe each page size is about 3.5″x5″). I hope that helps!
The colours, the shapes of the small fruit and the large building are fantastic Candace. Thanks for sharing. I hope your sister has a lovely time in Canada.
Thank you so much, Amanda! The colors of the fruit here were absolutely what captivated my attention in the market 🙂 And thank you as well for your kind words about my sister–she’s currently sailing up the coast of Canada to Alaska with her husband’s family, and seems to be having a wonderful time–the landscapes in her photos look especially gorgeous. Hope you’re having a great week! <3
Good on her! Sounds like an amazing adventure. Fantastic places to see.
Candace this is beautiful, just so much colour and detail. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, Treava! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this sketch 🙂 <3
Wonderful sketch, Candace! I made my first visit ever to Vancouver a few weeks ago during the jazz festival. Its such a beautiful city. The public market on Granville Island is AMAZING. I couldn’t believe how big it is, and how great all the produce looked. Kudos to you for managing a live sketch while there! Its such a bustling place. Thanks for sharing it on your blog!
Thank you so much, Linda! And how exciting to hear you just had a chance to visit Vancouver a few weeks ago–and I can only imagine what fun the jazz festival must have been 🙂 I’m especially glad you enjoyed your time exploring Granville Island and visiting the public market…it was definitely a highlight of my time in the city as well! <3
I love your sketch of Granville Island – it is one of my very favorite spots in Vancouver, and your sketch takes me there. 🙂 Your interview with Roundhouse Radio really expands on ‘Home is a Cup of Tea’, I loved it!
Thank you, Judy! It’s so lovely to hear my sketch could take you back to one of your favorite corners of Vancouver 🙂 And it’s wonderful to hear as well that you enjoyed my interview from last week…I truly had a blast chatting with the station, and couldn’t wait to share it with you all. Hope you’re having a wonderful week!
So vibrant, Candace, I love it! I can only imagine the market bustling with people and the sounds and smells. I’ll bet that all came back to you when you decided to share your sketch here.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Colleen! And you know what? All those market sights and sounds and smells sure did come right back to me 🙂 I can vividly remember where I was standing while I drew this sketch — with my back to another stall, trying to take up as little space as possible as the crowds of other people bustled and hustled around me. Isn’t that the wonderful thing about drawing and sketching? It just cements those little details permanently into your memory! I loved reading in another comment that you’ve started taking drawing classes, and I can’t wait to see any glimpses of your sketches when you’d like to share them 🙂
You sketched one of our favourite areas of Vancouver! We lived in Vancouver for years (moving to Victoria a year ago). Such a great city — mountains, ocean, forests, seaside walks — it’s very outdoorsy. And the Granville Island market is popular with locals and visitors alike (we’d pick up bread, sometimes fancy meats, fresh strawberries or whatever was in season…).
That all sounds delicious! And you’ve evoked Vancouver so wonderfully, too — I sadly only spent a couple of nights there before heading on to Salt Spring Island, but it was one of those cities that I’d still love to return to and spend more time in one day. I’m so glad you enjoyed your time there, and hope you’re enjoying life in Victoria just as much! I loved heading over there for a day once from Salt Spring 🙂
One day I will get to Canada Candace! I dream of going on the Rocky Mountaineer and also to travel around that amazing looking country. It appears reminiscent of NZ. I love everyone’s sketches in our group and particularly when they have people in them doing something. I don’t find it easy drawing people and tend to rub out so much until I manage to get it working, by that time the paper is starting to get rough.
Also thoroughly enjoyed your fabulous article, ‘Home Is A Cup Of Tea.’ I laughed when I read about Bell Tea in NZ, and yes, us Kiwis love our tea and that saying, ‘Jug’s boiled’ would send us scurrying inside or on the verandah for a sit down and long chats.
Thanks again for gorgeous home grown memories Candace.
Thank you so much for reading and saying hello, Victoria! I couldn’t agree more with your dream to ride the Rocky Mountaineer — how fun would it be to ride the trains through Canada with our sketchbooks in tow? 🙂 I am also right there with you on the challenge of drawing people…as you have no doubt already observed in my sketches, it’s a challenge I don’t often take on, as people are definitely my nemesis to draw. Finally, thank you as well for taking the time to read my tea story…I’m so glad you enjoyed the little details about tea in New Zealand! xoxo
Love the colours and the depth of field! Congratulations on the Roundhouse Radio interview, they do consciousness-raising, fantastic work.
Thanks so much for your kind words! And thank you as well for listening to my interview with Roundhouse Radio — that was such an inspiring conversation for me 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it, too!