Island Journal (1976)

After the turbulent 60s Patton embraced the back-to-the-land movement. As presaged in his earlier film, Blue Mountain, he was drawn to a simpler rural life, close to nature. In 1969 he threw in with a group of people to form the Jones Farm on Quadra Island in British Columbia. He lived in a small cabin with no electricity or running water for 3 years. He supported himself as a welder and carpenter. These were good times. During this period basically gave up filmmaking, yet he still managed to shoot bits and pieces of the landscape and characters around him. This footage sat in a box for several years. He moved to Vancouver in 1974 to resume his filmmaking career, In 1976 he returned to Quadra Island with better gear and enough film stock to shoot additional footage. The result is a quirky personal journal in documentary form.