About this Painting

Title - “Commencement”

This school of baby salmon are ready to leave their forest stream bottom and venture to the ocean, before they return in a few years to spawn.  In the background, ancient cedars watch over them, with only remnants of their own nurse logs under their strong roots. Read the story behind the other 7 paintings in the series here.

This is a listing for the original. Original painting is acrylic on canvas, 20x24" with 0.75” canvas depth.

This painting is signed in paint at the bottom right corner by the artist, and on the back with the artist’s custom aspen leaf stamp. The edges are painted black to match, so you can hang it without a frame.

Hanging hardware will be attached for shipping. This painting is unframed, but you can contact us after purchase for framing options.

You can also shop prints of this image. Choose from canvas prints or paper prints.

About Shipping and Currency

This item ships from British Columbia, and may take several weeks to arrive. Prices are in US dollars.

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About this Species

Much artistic license was taken with the Forest Floor series, and composition often won out over biological correctness, However, here are a few of the species Kathryn chose to honour in this painting:

Salmon

Salmon are adapted to live in both freshwater and saltwater at different phases of their life cycle.  After hatching in a stream, they journey to the ocean and spend several years as ocean fish before returning to their natal stream to spawn.  Salmon are incredibly important to the health of both ocean and forest ecosystems, and provide food for orcas and other marine mammals.  Nutrients from salmon at the end of their life cycle are transferred back to coastal forests with the help of large predators such as bears and eagles.  

Western Redcedar

This large evergreen tree has huge cultural and ecological importance in the Pacific Northwest.  It has distinctive overlapping scale-like needles and soft bark in vertical strips.  These trees grow in moist, shaded areas and can live for thousands of years.  

All images remain copyright © Kathryn Beals.