Vancouver Island scuba diver turns discarded buoys into oceanic art
Although Tiare grew up on a commercial fishing boat, she was more interested in joining the animals under the sea than catching them.
"For me it was like travelling to another world," she smiles.
Tiare started scuba diving at 12, before becoming a professional guide from Alaska to Mexico.
Now, she captures photos and video of the creatures she meets, including the giant Pacific octopus.
"Some will come right out and put their arms on your face and taste you," she says, before showing me footage of one of the many octopuses she’s spent time with.
"It’s always an incredible experience to meet such a fascinating, intelligent, beautiful creature."
But Tiare says her favourite moments are simply experiencing the serenity of the Pacific’s bull kelp forests. Although, that’s become increasingly jarring.
"Sometimes you find marine life tangled in plastic bags or bits of line," she says of the litter she’s found in the ocean. "It’s distressing."
Although Tiare earned a Masters in marine management, and was always focused on science, one day she felt compelled to cope with her concerns through art.
"I can’t paint on straws, I can’t paint on microplastics, I can’t paint on plastic bags,” she begins explaining.
But Tiare found she could turn discarded buoys into unconventional canvases, and started transforming waste into wonder.
"You go with your brush strokes," she says, painting flowing bull kelp on a turquoise buoy. "It feels like going with the current and floating through this liquid environment."
Tiare says the final product, which she showcases on Instagram @tiarebouys and on her website tiarebouys.com, is a celebration of a beauty that surrounds us, yet so few actually see.
"I’ve been surprised that I can capture the things I see underwater," she smiles.
And using the markings on the buoys, Taire’s also discovered how to track their origins around the world. She includes the information with her artwork as a reminder that what we do in one place affects others elsewhere.
"I might not be changing the world on a large scale," Tiare says. "But this is my way of turning my small corner of the world into a better place."
A step towards a better place for those towering bull kelp neighbourhoods inhabited by Tiare’s giant octopus friends.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.