Artist couple Guillermo MacLean and Sandra Lopez found their way to Powell River by doing a favour for one of MacLean’s oldest friends. Since the couple was living in Vancouver at the time, a fellow Argentinian asked MacLean if he visit his son in Powell River.
The friend did not know where Powell River was, other than north of Vancouver, said MacLean.
“My friend told me, ‘You have to take, I don’t know how many ferries. Can you do me a favour and go there to see what he is doing?’” said MacLean.
The couple agreed and travelled to Powell River to visit Ioni Wais, the son in question. “So Sandra and I come to see Ioni and we see this place,” said MacLean. “This is exactly what I was looking for: a peaceful place to write my fifth novel, to paint, to do small pieces, to have a better quality of life where people care about the earth, compromise with ecology, and I love that.”
Wais made a permanent move to Powell River two years ago and has carved a niche for himself as a botanist and educator. He is thrilled to have the couple here because they are like family, particularly MacLean whom he has know since childhood. Internationally recognized artists, the couple’s home is full of spectacular pieces, said Wais.
“The artwork they have in their home, I grew up with that same sort of artwork in our home from a very young age,” he said. “It’s surreal, but comforting at the same time, to see their art here.”
MacLean and Lopez have quickly discovered a lifestyle right for them and the pursuit of their art.
MacLean is an award-winning author, painter and metalworker of organic, architecturally inspired works and functional pieces, and has collaborated with the great glass artist Dale Chihuly. He lived for a time in Mexico City, moved to Toronto then returned to Mexico City.
Lopez, a native of Colombia, is a sculptor and painter. “After I finished university, I moved to a small town close to Bogota, very similar to Powell River in a lot of aspects,” said Lopez. “I really like this kind of life. In the cities it’s more complicated.”
The couple met in Cuba seven years ago. MacLean’s third book had received an international award for Spanish literature, which he learned on the same day he met Lopez. According to MacLean, he sent an email announcement to 460 people.
“He sent me an email by mistake,” said Lopez, adding that out of the hundreds of emails, she was the only one who answered.
“We started to talk by online chat for a few days then he invited me to meet in Cuba and I did it,” she said.
That spontaneity is also how they came to arrive in Powell River and made the decision to stay. MacLean said the feeling they have is of a community whose people are on the leading edge of change.
“I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s my perception that people who live here are at the top of the wave for change,” said MacLean. “There is something about the relationship between man, the earth and environment that we want to be part of.”
As a sculptor who has worked with mediums such as marble and lava rock, Lopez is particularly interested in the area’s stone and shoreline rocks.
MacLean and Lopez are anxious to get crates unpacked, set up their studio and begin creating art. Both are excited about what they can do using wood as an expression.
How they arrived and why they decided to stay in Powell River is not a surprise to Wais.
“It’s a matter of getting people to visit,” said Wais. “Once they visit, it’s almost unlikely they won’t move here unless there’s something really strongly tying them to someplace else.”
