Iqaluit (May 31/04) - Peter Jacobs was in Iqaluit on May 22 to launch his art show and sale of watercolour and acrylic paintings of Iqaluit scenes.

Jacobs, who lives in Alberta, has been coming up North since 1999 and he always takes photographs when he is here.

He then retreats to his studio and home in Alberta and starts painting from those photos. The results are crisp, stunning images of the land, sky, birds, ships, and one-of-a-kind buildings that characterize Nunavut's capital.

There are oil barrels down by the shoreline, for example, and seen through Jacob's eyes they are extremely colourful and bright.

Loves the beach

The beach is actually Jacob's favourite spot to hang out when he comes to town.

"The little shacks, everything here and there. There is no zone control here," Jacobs said, smiling.

He's painted a big raven sitting on a fence and snow-scapes under a blue sky. The oranges, yellows and pinks that can only be a Northern sky swirl above an inukshuk in another painting.

And then he's got the unmistakable and iconic red dome of the Kamotiq Inn. He smiles when asked about painting the Kamotiq.

"Heritage Canada will be arriving any day now to stick a Heritage plaque on there," said Jacobs. It was going for $750 and getting lots of attention from gallery-goers as sort of the quintessential "Iqaluit" image.

Jacob's son Mark lives in Iqaluit now. He says he is "biased" when it comes to his dad's work, but his favourite piece in the show was the oil barrels.

"They are just barrels, but the way my dad sees them they are so colourful. I never think of them that way," he said.