Flight Lines: Tashi Draper Brings the Beauty of Birds to the Summer Art Gallery
Tashi Draper’s newest body of work, Flight Lines—The Flowing Movement of Birds, on exhibit at the Denman Island Arts Centre July 24 to August 5, captures the grace, power, and beauty of birds in motion.
For Tashi, this airborne vision began in an unlikely place—flat on her back with a broken leg.
Falling and Flying
In September 2024, a bad fall off a wonky ladder left Tashi confined to her bed, facing a daunting healing process. In response to immobility, Tashi became fascinated with birds, spending hours online looking at images of birds as they moved with the grace and freedom she missed so much.
Tashi knew she couldn’t fly, but she needed to do something. Her partner suggested carving. This could mean many things, but Tashi happened to have a collection of 12”x12” squares of marmoleum, a natural type of linoleum, stashed away in the seemingly random way some artists collect materials.
Bedbound Inspiration
Birds, carving, stillness, flight, linoleum—all converged into an idea. “My imagination soared,” says Tashi. “I imagined 12- by 12-inch squares carved with flying birds with their flight lines swirling around them, printed on fine archival paper, and framed. I knew printmaking would become my favourite new medium.”
Tashi had 20 years of experience working in photography, painting, jewelry, ceramics, textiles, and leather. She’d exhibited in galleries all over coastal British Columbia, and, with her partner, operated a summer gallery on Denman Island. But she’d never tried printmaking. She had to start from scratch.
Tashi knew she wanted her prints to include nuances of texture and detail. To achieve that, she needed the right equipment. She ordered a hand-made small press built in Montreal by Mitch Mitchell, head of Concordia University’s printmaking department.
Nests, Wings, and Art Nouveau
While waiting for her press, stuck in bed with her leg elevated, Tashi started creating images. She took inspiration from photographs, the world around her, and memories of birdwatching expeditions: Purple Martins nesting on columns beside the Denman Island ferry terminal, a Reddish Egret fishing for shrimp with wings spread wide, a Rufus Hummingbird hovering above lily pads, and more.
Another inspiration came from art nouveau, an art movement characterized by flowing lines, nature-inspired motifs, and sumptuously decorative aesthetics. This influence shows up in swirling lines and shapes which create framing and emphasize the birds’ movements.
Arrival of the Press
When the press arrived—in pieces—in January 2025, Tashi had 22 plates ready to print, and she could walk. The next step was assembling the press and learning to use it to get the high quality Tashi wanted. This took weeks of experimentation.
Tashi’s toolkit includes a clothes steamer to soften the paper and open its pores, an extra-hard brayer (roller) to spread the ink thinly, an additional fibreboard pad under the lino plate to increase the pressure, specialized archival ink, fine art archival paper, and a pack of drugstore baby wipes to keep her hands clean.
The Printer’s Ritual
The printing process demands unrelenting focus and precision. For Tashi, it becomes a ritual, accompanied by the burbling and hissing of the steamer and the sticky kiss-kiss sound of the brayer spreading ink, and resulting in a moment of magic.
“I love to watch prints come off the press,” says Tashi. “You start with a blank slate. Then you have to carve everything in reverse, think about what’s going to be black and what’s going to be white, ink up the plate and run it through the press—and then it’s like Christmas morning! You never know exactly what you’ll get.”
Each print is unique, based on how the ink is applied, how the plate takes the ink, how the paper responds, and how the printing unfolds. Tashi rarely prints more than three copies in one session. “People think printing is a standardized process, but that’s not true,” she says.
By the time she finished the set of 22 prints, Tashi had fully recovered from her accident. “This body of work is about both flight and healing,” she says.
Tashi Draper’s exhibit, Flight Lines—The Flowing Movement of Birds, takes place at the Denman Island Summer Art Gallery Thursday, July 24 to Tuesday, August 5.
Hours: Mon – Sat 11:00 am – 4:00 pm / Sunday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
Opening reception: Thursday, July 24, 7:00 pm.
