Visiting British Columbia’s West Coast for the first time in the summer 1942, FitzGerald stayed at his daughter’s cottage on Bowen Island. There, the new environment proved to be a tremendous visual stimulus for the artist.

Back in Winnipeg that September, he summed up his experience: “I was just becoming aware of the possibilities of the material and getting a sense of power that I don’t remember ever being so strong. Two or three of the last things contained a living quality that was tantalizing. . . . I felt them so much of myself.”