#1
"Whaletown Post Office"

If this little building looks precariously perched, that's because it is. I'm looking at it from a big granite rock on the seaward side. One actually enters the building from the opposite side. There is a road, an even smaller library and a couple of waterfront homes that date back a lot of years. Just around the corner to the right is the Whaletown dock. To see this scene from a whimsical perspective, CLICK HERE.

#2
"Easter Bluff, February 2009"

This past February was a really fine month for plein air painting. Sunny and dry for a week or so. Debbie, an art retreat client was game to explore our beaches and this island high point. It's only a short hike, but the south facing bluffs overlook a wide expanse of the northern Salish Sea (also known as the Gulf of Georgia). We're looking down over Cortes Bay, Red Granite Point (one of my favourite painting haunts), Twin Islands, Hernando and in the distance, Savory and even Texada Island.

#3
"Bill's View"

Watercolour pencils are an ideal way to sketch and play with images. Here I've sat myself down on a log looking into the coast mountains and the Toba Inlet area. The near ground is beach below the homestead we call the "Blueberry Place". The right centre is the northern tip of Twin Islands and the centre left is Cortes Island towards Mary Point.I call this Bill's view because it is, actually was, Bill's view. Bill would like to buy one of my paintings that explore this view, as Bill says "because I looked at it everyday for a lot of years."

#4
"Gorge Marina Shore"

I love to sit and sketch. I think if everyone knew how wonderful that experience can be, there'd be a lot more artists, or a lot more quiet in our world. Just to sit and look, that's a special gift.

This is one of those sketching situations where the clouds came in as I worked, and before I packed it up, a few sprinkles landed on my sky. Some folks get anxious about their watercolours when unexpected things happen, but to me, every mark on the paper represents a magic moment for which I was fully present.