Musqueam artist Susan Point shares her favourite place in B.C.

Animals and nature are such a strong aspect of artist Susan Point's ubiquitous work, it's no surprise that her favourite place in B.C. features both prominently.

Point's well-known public art includes piecesat the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, UBC and the Victoria Conference Centre.

In 2004, she also designed the storm drain covers throughout Vancouver.

Her latest work is Spindle Whorl,an exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery that openedSaturday and runs untilMay 28.

She is the first Musqueam artist to have a solo exhibit at the gallery.

But in the rare moments when Point isn'tbusy creating the contemporary Coast Salishart she's so well known for, she escapes with her family to a 22-acre property in Quesnel, B.C.

"It's very lush, beautiful. It's like you're in thewilderness,but if you go five minutes down the hill, you're in the town ofQuesnel," Point said while busily preparing for the opening of her exhibit at the gallery.

"It's gorgeous there's a lot of animal life there and I get a lot ofinspirationfromjustgoing there everysummerwith my family."

For the past six years, Point has been travelling to her son's property with various configurations of her four children, their spousesand her 13 grandchildren.

The property overlooks the Fraser River, and Point says that on many mornings she wakes up to the mist rising off the water.

"It's very relaxing just being in thewilderness," she said. "It takes me a couple of days to wind down, leaving the City ofVancouverand then going to a place that's so serene."

Point's career spans more than three decades since she first began making art in 1981 when she took a jewelry-making course at Vancouver Community College while she was on maternity leave with her third child.

"At that point, I didn't really know that we had our own unique art form as theSalishpeople," she said.

When Point began to research, she found little information to work with.

Spindle whorls, which were traditionally used by women when they spun wool, quickly becamea longstanding motif in her work.

She says her goal for her work is to educate herself and the public about the breadth and beauty of Coast Salish art.

"I want people to understand that we do have a beautiful, unique art form," she said.

With files from Margaret Gallagher

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