Sunday Sketchbook: Canada

Listening to Latino musicians performing in a cafe while I'm on a quick trip to Montreal for an infusion of ethnic food (a commodity that's in short supply in Vermont).

Clouds and Fields, PEI

The view behind my cottage here on the island on a Sunday morning: bright red fields, dark hedgerows, quickly moving clouds, and a distant farm.

Sunday Sketchbook: Canada

Prince Edward Island is a perfect place to practice drawing pine trees, shingled houses with pointed roofs, and plates of mussels.

Fields and Inlet, PEI

The water here in coastal Canada can look almost tropical on a sunny October morning.

Blue Boat, PEI

Driving around at the end of a grey day looking for something to paint while I still had some light, I found this cobalt boat and cerulean dumpster parked at a quiet little harbor in Annandale.

Cliffs and Inlet

Standing on the dunes behind our cottage, looking across the the inlet to the bright cliffs and fields so characteristic of Prince Edward Island.

Boat in Harbor, PEI

It was Thanksgiving Day in Canada yesterday, and by late afternoon the harbor at North Lake was deserted by all but a stiff wind and strong sun.

And Roscoe and me...

Maritimes Meadow (detail)

I'm on my way to the coast of Prince Edward Island for a week of painting, and the car is just about full with oils, watercolors, a pochade box, a french easel, boots and sweatshirts, and a bag of tennis balls for ocean-side games of fetch with Roscoe the black lab.

Click here to see the entire painting.

Maritimes Meadow

Here's my last painting from a past Nova Scotia summer before I get back to the here and now in Vermont, where loosestrife and goldenrod are also blooming in fields along back roads.

Memory: Cape Breton

When Colin was a little kid learning the bagpipes we used to head up in the summer to Mabou, Cape Breton for an immersion in both the ocean and all things Gaelic.