Thanksgiving

It occurred to me the other day that I have a lot to give thanks for. Where do you begin? Firstly to my Creator of course, my parents for having that thought that they should have a baby, my siblings, my friends, my work, my Art, the birds in the air, the leaves on the trees and the list goes on and on and on. When one puts themselves in this frame of mind it opens up so many avenues for the creative self. So thanks to everyone out there who has taken the time to visit my blog site and my website. I am appreciative of that! This oil painting represents the same place as the previous post, Mistik Creek in winter. I have included it on this post because we have had snow in these parts recently and one is reminded that winter is on its way, a bit to early for me.

Rocks and things

This oil painting was done in August. The place is Mistik Creek, Manitoba, and as some of you may know is one of my favorite places to paint. I suppose it is a power spot for me, the geography is a magnetic draw and I never tire of exploring and painting the place. My thanks to Karen Clark for purchasing it, I know it is going to a good home

Late Summer Storm

The other day we had a fast weather system go through, a very dramatic storm with lightning and thunder right overhead. I reminded me of a similar storm back in early August, which I was so impressed with that I decided to paint a landscape to remember it. I called the painting, "Wisdom, be Attentive", because I felt it was important to pay attention to events happening around us, every waking moment of our lives. The storm portrayed here was over Manitou Lake, SK. I keep telling my friends that this is the view from our guest bedroom when they come to visit us.

Late Summer

For a little over a week now we have been experiencing the summer that never happened when it normally does. In celebration of that I am posting a painting I created a few weeks ago. It is an attempt to portray fields of flax on a bright summer morning. Hope you enjoy it!

Shellmouth Artists Retreat

Well, another Shellmouth Artists Retreat has come and gone and I am, like all the other participants, suffering withdrawal. It happens every year, you spend a glorious 6 days painting and communing with the other artists and before you know it the fun is done. I completed a half a dozen paintings and worked out of doors quite a bit, something I enjoy very much. The painting above was the first one I completed. Hope you all enjoy it!

Home Sickness

I was browsing through some images of paintings I have done in the past and I came across this one, which is a view of Rocky Lake, MB. My family had a cottage for many years here and we spent many wonderful days here swimming, boating, fishing and all the other things people do at the lake. My family has all moved from northern Manitoba now, we just moved my Mother down to a little retirement village south of Winnipeg last weekend and she is the last to leave. Its a kind of funny feeling you get when you drive out of town, will I ever be back?

Painting from memory

Quite often I paint from memory. I find that painting in this manner is much more playful and spontaneous. The painting above is an example of that process, it is what I call a remembered landscape. Eastend, SK has many wonderful viewpoints and the pastel painting recalls one of those vistas. I plan on doing some larger canvases at our Shellmouth retreat, which is coming up very soon now. One of the canvases is 5 feet x 4 feet, one of largest I have personally worked on. Should be fun!

Spirit of Manitou Studio Trails

A little while back our Art community here in Watrous and area hosted the Spirit of Manitou Studio trail tour. I have to say that it was a resounding success. We had a very good turn out with people coming from distant places to view the variety of art on display. One reason for this is the healing waters of Manitou, which attracts people from all over the world. I had visitors from Spain, California, Texas, Toronto and all over Canada. This is the second year for the tour and we are already planning for next years event. The painting above is another one I did at the Eastend retreat back on the July long weekend. It is a casien painting on paper and was painted on site. I am now gearing up for the Shellmouth Retreat.

Saskatchewan

This is a small pastel I painted on my last day at the Eastend retreat. I wanted to do something quick, while the sun was just right, and I also wanted to have a reminder of the wonderful sage that grows all about down there. I have been slowly collecting Unison pastels and building up a set of pastels that I can take with me to paint out of doors and I must say that I am very pleased with them. Now I have to figure out how to carry them with me on my excursions! As an aside, I had the good fortune today to see an exhibit of the Saskatchewan artist Dorothy Knowles shown at the Mendel Gallery in Saskatoon. What a painter she is, I was enthralled and could have spent hours just sitting there and soaking them in. You must go and visit them if you are in the area.

Plein Air Painting

After a bit of a break from posting on the Blog I am back with new material and thoughts. Firstly, my Dad has suffered a major health setback and the family is preparing for the worst possible outcome, that he may pass on. I believe that he is prepared for this as he has been talking a lot lately of seeing his mother again. Its just hard to let go, you know?
I had a wonderful time at our annual Art Retreat down at Eastend, SK on the July long weekend. My wife Crystal came as well as my brother Richards wife, Arlene. We had many interesting people down this year, Bruce Rice the poet, Dennis Evans the retired Fine Art professor from the university of Regina, Barb the lady who makes things from found objects and the regulars. We painted, cooked great meals and had readings in the evenings, as well as some great hikes. I spent the majority of my time painting out of doors and came back with some great little paintings, which I will post on this blog from time to time. This painting was done in the morning at Whites Ranch and what a lovely spot it was to paint. We were surrounded by Wolf Willow that was in flower and these flowers emitted that most amazing fragnance, it was like being in heavan.

Eastend Art Retreat

Hello again, its been a few days since I last posted. I have been quite busy building my new home and unfortunately haven't had much time to paint, let alone even think of it. But, that is about to change because in a few days my wife and I are off to Eastend, Saskatchewan for our annual July long weekend Art Retreat! I will be meeting some family and dear friends for 4 days of painting and celebrating great relationships. We stay at a lovely ranch situated in the hills above the community of Eastend with breath taking views of the the south west. I plan to do alot of plein air work while I am down there, there are countless places to paint wonderful views. This painting I have posted is done from a place called Jones Peak, maybe the highest view point around. It is a watercolour I painted at last years event. Happy painting everyone.

Stormy Afternoon

I was driving from Saskatoon the other day and came across this scene just a bit south of Young. In the distance you can just make out the west end of Manitou Lake, where I will soon be living. I am always in awe of the aura of blue light that is emitted by the lake at this location, it is really something to behold. Of course there was this awesome storm front we watched all the way home, so typical of the Saskatchewan landscape.

The Forest Deep

I have been quite busy building my new home at Manitou Beach, SK of late. (I am a carpenter in my other life) As I work I think back to some great times I had while living in The Pas, MB. One of those times was a canoe/camping trip with a number of friends up around Cranberry Portage, Mb. We had some wonderful times and saw some amazing scenery. This painting has its roots in that trip, I came across the scene while portaging around some rapids. You know, even in the Forest Deep you can come across signs of humans disrespect for the environment, ie: coke cans and plastic bags.