Kristin Texeira - Newfoundland, Canada

“I chose Newfoundland because I've always been drawn to the sea and I was looking forward to that misty, island light. I love the sounds and colors associated with fisherman villages - the old houses, textures of wood and rusted metal. On my trip I was lucky to have conversations with people everywhere I went. I sat for lunch at the old Mallard Cottage next to a 73 year old man named Jesse Julius Junior and listened to his life story. I followed old wooden signs to the edge of a cliff where a woman named Angie keeps a trinket shop open year round - seemingly to lure strangers in for a hearty conversation. I felt a part of the family that runs the Round Da Bay Inn on the way north to Bonavista. Everyone on the island was amazingly friendly. I filled a whole book with stories collected from strangers-turned-friends at each pit stop.

I created something that I like to call a memory-map, highlighting one of my favorite days on the island. It shows my travel north towards Bonavista - the top of one of the eastern peninsulas. My first stop was by an old church on the cliffs - I walked down to the water, sat on rocks and played with pieces of an iceberg that had washed ashore. I continued north to the town of Bonavista where I sat in a cafe called Neil's Yard for hours listening to the local ladies gossip, watching couples come and go. The windows were fogged. It was raining. From there I went to the lighthouse at the very tip of town. There three huge rocks in the sea that you can see at the top-center of the print. Looped around town to a place on a hill called the Bonavista Social Club - sat in a window seat and watched the grey waves move and the sheep seek shelter at the bottom of the hill.”