Plein Air Workshops Coming Soon!
Plein Air Workshops will begin..........as soon as the snow melts!
Hoping to begin in April!
Fleet Street
trudging through the deep snow
I reach my destination
I sit
back now against the stone escarpment
I unpack my pochade box
my backpack is my studio
You can see
the Fleet Street plant
150 years old
through the arches of the stone bridge
recently restored
Mauve sky
sap green and ochre in the water
punctuated by deep hues of Prussian Blue
It is a time to sit
meditate
sip my tea
take it all in
brush full of paint
the first stroke
we are in the deep of winter
but soon the kayaks will arrive
Today's Sketch - "Sure it's cold....."
We are certainly having a cold winter, but there is nothing better than getting out and enjoying it. After all, isn't that what being Canadian is all about?
"Punch Me in The Face"!
On my walk to work one day, I saw these two guys busking their way across Canada. Of course had to stop to talk to them as they were playing banjos, an instrument close to my heart! I saw them again last week, and one of the two was sporting a nasty shiner. I thought the sign he was holding was hilarious so I had to get the low down. Seems he was sucker punched in a local Ottawa park the night before. A little worse for wear but his banjo and sense of humour were intact!
This is one of those quirky life interactions that most of us would not even consider, and likely ignore or avoid. I decided to do a quick mini-sketch to capture the moment. Street life is infinitely interesting and sometimes quite amusing. You just have to open your eyes to see it.
"Gobi Desert Day 14"
The Wrestlers
The i2P team timed their expedition perfectly, hitting two separate Erlin Gurvaan Naadam festivals in the Gobi Desert. Erlin Gurvaan Naadam quite literally means "the three games of men", comprising of horse racing, wrestling and archery. These festivals are held midsummer all across Mongolia. This small painting screamed for abstraction. I decided to capture the shear mass of the wrestlers in blocks of colour foregoing fine detail to capture the essence of the wrestling match.
"Gobi Desert Day 13
Ray has now moved out of the grasslands and into the desert portion of his run. He has commented by video that the temperatures are getting brutally hot, much like the Atacama Desert Expedition a couple years back. Ray is also running solo now as Kevin has had to drop out of the expedition due to his injury. We are all cheering you on on Ray! Keep it up - you are an inspiration to us all!
"Gobi Desert Day 12"
It was with sadness that Kevin Lin had to withdraw from the Gobi Expedition due to the nagging injury that started a few days in. Several hundred kilometres with an injury proved to be too much. Ray continues the run across Gobi solo. Ray did however say by video, that Kevin may rejoin him later in the expedition. It is hard to fathom the toll running close to 2 full marathons a day for 35 days has on the body. You go Ray! We are all behind you back home!
