Tamar Griggs
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am an author, photographer, and naturalist living on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. When I reflect on my life, and the way that I’ve chosen to direct my energy, I hold a few projects most dear.
Photographing wildlife and the moon
Photography is one of the ways I celebrate the beauty and power of the ocean, sky, forest, and wildlife around me. Through my lens, I feel a sense of connection to something much larger than myself, and it comes with a humbling awareness of how precious our earth is.
I have long had a profound fascination with the Moon. She calls me, and I answer. In every phase; waxing, waning or full, I often and eagerly wait for her with my camera.
Every moment you watch the moon, she presents a different face. As she sails around earth, pulling on the ocean tides, the majestic beauty of the moon fills me with awe and a sense of peace.
My favorite moon portraits are available as art prints.
For the love of whales
In the 1970’s, shortly after returning to New York from a year at sea, I became concerned about the endangered large whales of the world. A remarkable sequence of events led to an epic, exuberant project that I gave my all to.
Combining science with the language-arts, I created educational Whale Workshops for school children. It was inspiring to witness the children’s love for whales grow.
In 1975 a collection of the children’s paintings and poems, There’s a Sound in the Sea…A Child’s- Eye View of the Whale, was published by Scrimshaw Press, San Francisco. The Smithsonian Institution made the original paintings and poems into a two-year traveling exhibition in the US, Canada, and even Norway, for the United Nations Marine Mammal Conference in 1976!
The center of my world
In the 1980s, I became a mother to a beautiful daughter, and this has brought much delight and satisfaction into my life. Her name is Maya. When she was twelve years old, we moved to our family’s log house, perched on the edge of a small mudflat cove. It was a stunning property that my parents bought in 1965 with two other families. There was no road to our home: we travelled by boat! For five years, I took her to school by boat. Always close, we celebrated when it was too foggy or stormy to make the trip to school.
Motherhood has been both grounding and magical. My daughter was born an old soul, with far more wisdom than I had. I have learned from her, and have delighted in witnessing her unique journey.
A very fun time: Bold Bluff Retreat
For fifteen years, I ran a boat access oasis called Bold Bluff Retreat. It was a place where people could forget their cell phones and TV, and bask in nature; reading, kayaking, relaxing and hiking.
During that time, I contributed stories to the local newspaper, The Gulf Islands Driftwood. Tales from Bold Bluff was a series of articles I wrote to describe fascinating and sometimes zany adventures I had with weather, wildlife, and humans while living in the boonies.
The beauty and importance of community
Faces of Salt Spring was an exhibition featuring selections from twenty years of photographing people in my island community. Living isolated, I missed social connection. Whenever I went to town, I enthusiastically engaged with folks I ran across. I wore my Nikon film camera around my neck, and spontaneously snapped photos of my friends and acquaintances. Over the years I documented kids growing up and adults getting white hair.
On the encouragement of friends, I dove into the massive project of creating the Faces of Salt Spring exhibition, which took place in 2015. A large display on the wall, welcoming viewers, said “Have you found yourself yet?” There were over five hundred faces in the show. It was an especially fun event because, in such a small community, most of the people depicted, along with exhibit visitors, recognized many of the faces.
Today
I am grateful for the abundant life I’ve had and enjoy today. Yet, there are still many projects that call me.
Sometimes, when my curiosity and enthusiasm gets ahold of me, I wonder if I’m too old to dive into another demanding, time consuming project. Then, I ask “When is it too old?” None of us knows what is in store for us. We could be gone in an instant or stick around and be quite able in body and mind till we’re past one hundred years old. So, I say to myself “Why not Tamar? do it!”
Never stop being engaged in life, until you are stopped.
What is your legacy in this world?
What is important to you in this wild gift of life?
