Snapping Turtle and Lily Pads 12"x24" acrylic, SOLD

When I was asked to paint something as a retirement gift for COSEWIC's Ron Brooks, the choice of subject matter was obvious. Ron is herpetologist, and an expert on the Snapping Turtle. I started this project in May, soon after the spring COSEWIC meeting.  I looked at thousands of photos of snapping turtle and as many video clips of snapping turtles as I could find.

I quickly decided that the painting was going to be of a turtle underwater, since that was where the species spends the vast majority of its time - despite the fact that the vast majority of reference photos were of turtles on dry land.

The biggest challenge was the placement of the waterlily leaves, the original sketch for the painting had the surface of the water nearly covered in leaves but as I worked on the painting I decided that I didn't want to do that, since it would reduce the light hitting the turtle and obscure the gradation in the water between the greens of the depths and the blues of the shallows.

To work out the placement I photographed the painting and then colour printed multiple copies of the image to do trial placements of the water lily leaves.  I've never used this technique before, but loved the ability to play with options before committing to them on the final painting.

Ron's contributions to COSEWIC have been very large and he's going to be missed a lot on the committee.  I hope Ron and Pauline enjoy this painting in their new home in Nova Scotia.

Old Veteran, Salt Spring Island Douglas-fir.

It is Remembrance Day, and we just got home from a visit to the Goldstream salmon run, where we watched a group of First Nations remember their family members lost to war. It was a moving ceremony, with a drummer that was singing in coast Saalish, and four cedar fronds put into the water of the river one by one by a young man. The cedar branches moved down the river evenly separated, catching and swirling from time to time on an exposed cobble, or the back of a salmon holding in position above her redd.

 This painting is of another type of veteran, the last remaining old growth tree in a vineyard on Salt Spring Island; one of the sites we painted at this September as part of the Federation of Canadian Artists workshop.
 I was surprized that I was the only one that chose to paint this tree, it was huge and gnarly and a challenge to paint. It seemed the right sort of subject matter to contribute the the Habitat Acquisition Trust as part of the Gala Evening Fundraiser this November, since this organization does good work in helping steward, protect and acquire significant habitat in the Capital Region.

For more information about HAT's Gala go to
http://www.hat.bc.ca/index.php/hat-about/donate/gala-fundraiser










Old Veteran, Salt Spring Island Douglas-fir. 12X24" acrylic. Donated to H.A.T.'s Gala Fundraiser dinner (250-995-2428 / hatmail@hat.bc.ca ) SOLD

Weekend Painting in Kananaskis, Alberta

Last Snow, First Nest, Kananaskis Beaver Pond. 12x24" acrylic.  In April 2012, the spring COSEWIC meeting was held in Kananaskis, we decided to stay on for the weekend after the meeting, to have a chance to paint plein air in the Rockies and visit with Leah's brother and his artist wife,  Jackie. It was a great weekend, and spring time Rockies weather being what it is, we had everything from snow to shirt-sleeve sunshine.  The first Saturday we woke to snow squalls, so took a walk and did got some photographs for reference and then took a drive to scout out painting locations if weather improved for us later in the weekend.  This is when we found this roadside beaver pond. Sunday morning was beautiful and we spent the day here. I painted the pond for nearly an hour before I noticed that the island that was in front of me had an incubating Canada Goose nesting on it!

  Pine Marten, Kananaskis 12x24" acrylic. During the week of the COSEWIC meeting I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, some critter moving rapidly by the window of the meeting room. At first I thought it was some of the Red Squirrels that were nearby, but finally I got a good; albeit brief, look at the animal in question and realized it was a Pine Marten. Over the course of the week I saw it a dozen or more times, and part of the committee had some quality time with him or her as it entered the pub on one of the evenings. This scene was painted on the snow squall Saturday morning.

"Where's the Sun?"

October Sun through Big-leaf Maple leaves, Durrance Lake.  Acrylic Painting SOLD

One of the fun parts of painting out of doors in a park is you often have people stop by and watch. Last weekend while painting at Durrance Lake Regional Park on the Saanich Peninsula several people came by and stopped to watch for a time before resuming their dog walking, Sunday stroll or heading out to a fishing spot. One such group was a family with 3 kids, all under the age of 12. All the kids asked questions, but the youngest girl was most curious and asked the most questions. The first one was "Where's the sun" and since I was clearly staring directly into the sunlight to do this painting, it was a perfectly legitimate question. I crouched down to her height and I asked her to count the number of big branches on the side of the tree that you could see before you hit the sun. "Four" was her answer and I asked her to count the number of branches she could see in the painting..only two. If I had a bigger painting I explained, and put all the branches in, then I would be up to the point where I would need to paint the sun.

I hope however, you get the feeling of the strong sunshine in this painting with the maple leaves lit up by the October sun, standing out from the near black of Mt. Work and its reflection on Durrance Lake.

Finding Patterns in Unexpected Places.

Harlequin Duck and Sandstone, Drumbeg Provincial Park

I'm always looking for strong patterns to use as subjects for paintings. Last month,while on Gabriola I was just finishing a painting and noticed that the light had shifted to highlight the sloping shelves of sandstone and incoming tide. The effect, with reflection of the sandstone on the waveless water was a strong chevron pattern. I worked quickly to put down some of the information on my canvas before the light changed and we had to head out for dinner. I put a Glaucous-winged Gull in the lower left hand corner, but later painted it out in favour of the more strongly patterned male Harlequin Duck.

Nature of Island Artists Show at the Goldstream Nature House

Incoming Tide, Goldstream Estuary Acrylic Painting 12x24 (SOLD).


I spent Saturday at Goldstream Provincial Park where the Nature of Island Artists show is underway. Once again the naturalists there have done a great job at converting the Nature House to a art gallery, and once again, it has transformed beautifully. Leah and I know how much work it is to do that, and my hat is off to the naturalist and the rest of the RLC staff that did it this time. I spent a way-too-short hour looking at the art and then I set up to paint the estuary of the Goldstream River.


Incoming Tide,Goldstream Estuary was the result. I was very tempted to call the painting "Carol's Mud" after the late Carol Berryman, naturalist and story-teller extrodinaire, friend and mentor. Carol loved the estuary and revelled in getting school kids barefoot and tromping around in the muck of the estuary, explaining things like why the mire smelled of rotten eggs, or the intricacies of the life history of the parasitic Dodder that grows on the asters that grow there. Carol represented the best type of park interpreter, she had a love of the park system that never ended, an enthusiasm for every living thing in it, and a gift for sharing that enthusiasm. Carol was a big fan of the art show at Goldstream and first developed her program where she took on the part of Emily Carr during one of the early shows.

I highly recommend visiting Goldstream Nature House (http://www.naturehouse.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=164&Itemid=270).
The show is on until October 12..while your there admire the mud, and say hi to Carol for me.

Plein Air Painting on Gabriola Island

Week long plein air workshop earlier this month, learned a lot and had a great time with Jackie Ramsay, my-oh-so talented sister-in-law. Jackie and I both returned home

with work we were happy with..

Beach Boulders on Gabriola Island. SOLD

Descanso Bay, Gabriola Island September 2011