Happy New Year from the Times Colonist and from Robert Bateman! And to help you ring in 2018, here is a gift of art from the Salt Spring Island artist.

“When we built our new house on the West Coast, a key consideration was the location of our bedroom so that we could have our morning coffee in bed and look down into the ocean,” Bateman says. “Another key consideration was to keep nature as undisturbed as possible, right up to the house. Our view of the sea is framed by the branches of a large Douglas fir just inches from the bedroom window.

article continues below

“Chestnut-backed chickadees, golden-crowned kinglets and red-breasted nuthatches from time to time decorate the branches like flitting baubles on a Christmas tree.

“But the brightest bauble of them all is the rufous hummingbird. He is like a little gift. Suddenly, he is there … just appearing on a slender twig. He seems as weightless as a sunbeam.

“The ruby-throated hummingbird of the east shimmers with scarlet and emerald. The rufous hummingbird glows orange like an ember. He preens and peers around with a sense of authority.

“He does not think that he is small. He is master of the air with an agility that makes the eagle seem clumsy. Then you blink and he is gone.”

The Robert Bateman Centre, on the Inner Harbour in Victoria since 2013, is a gallery of art and nature with the largest permanent collection of Bateman’s work.

The centre also has rotating exhibits from emerging artists. It is featuring oneTree 2017 until Jan. 31, with more than 60 wood pieces transformed by artists from a single walnut tree into one-of-a-kind décor, furniture and even musical instruments.

The centre’s gift shop features more than 100 Bateman limited-edition prints, puzzles, books and educational games, as well as locally crafted artworks and jewelry by local artisans.

All purchases support the Bateman Foundation’s efforts to reconnect people of all ages to the magic of nature.

The Robert Bateman Centre is in the Steamship Terminal building at 470 Belleville St. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during this holiday season, but will be closed New Year’s Day.