Curio Folio: Grant Press

If you are new to the blog, I've been posting paintings of things you have never seen before, its called the Curio Folio, which began with the interesting case of a petrified pop-tart. In this installment, I made a painting of a 19^th century device used by scientists to assist them in writing research grant proposals. You might think that artificial intelligence was only a modern invention, but print makers had figured out a way to put words on hand-held rollers which could be covered in ink and applied to sheets of paper. The contents of the roller was based on words that appear most commonly in successful research grants, with special attention to contemporary topics most likely to be funded. Famous scientist Dr. Thinkfast used this device to get a grant to invent the world's first fork-knife, and luckily the grant was successfully funded. The grant press was in a Plexiglas display cabinet at the downtown MARMALADE museum where photography is not allowed, but they allow paintings for personal study. Since I am a scientist, I asked them if I could visit after hours and test out the device, but they said I would have to write a research grant proposal first, before gaining access to the grant press. Ironic. 

Curio Folio: Grant Press, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Couple more paintings, slushy day

Where Decarie boulevard, which runs parallel with the highway, meets Maisonneuve, there is a five-way intersection. It used to be one of the most dangerous intersections in Montreal, but about 10 years ago they redeveloped it to be much safer for bikes, cars and pedestrians to co-exist. This barber shop is located near this corner, it had pictures of hipster dudes on the outside, I guess if you have a long beard in need of a trim its the place to go. 

Zanzibar Barber, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

There was not much light left so I painted a scene of the Vendome metro main entrance, at least the top part of it. The idea was to get in some details like the reflections, textures, and concrete tones. The concrete was done with a mix of raw sienna (PBr7), green umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60) tinted with orange (PO62) and magenta (PV55) here and there. When dry, I dragged a dry-brush with carbon black over top, and added some dots to make the concrete look sweaty. After painting all 68 Stations of the Montreal Metro, I taught myself how to get these colours down. By the way, in the last blog I was wondering if the graffiti person KONG was still active.... some time this weekend, he and the notorious SLUK defaced the MOLSON sign on the brewery that I painted late last year. Here is the CBC news story. When I say that I painted it... thats with watercolours by the way, I am not the graffiti person!

Vendome front door, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026  

Downtown, Lachine canal, Peel basin

Three of my favorite places to paint in Montreal: Downtown, Lachine canal, and the Peel basin! In the scene above, there was a protest in Phillips Square across from the old Bay mall, on st Catherine street. People were waving Iranian flags with the lion and crown in the center and chanting things in Farsi and English. A flock of pigeons flew overhead, a flying group of pigeons is called a 'flight of pigeons' by the way, while a police cruiser was parked by the curb. 

Flight of pigeons downtown, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026

An old factory warehouse on the Lachine canal has been 'decorated' extensively by the graffiti writers including KONG, one of the original writers from the 1990's who may still be active. As usual I placed my initials and year in place of the graffiti... that is called 'biting' by the way, when you copy a graffiti artist's style. To paint something like that, the writer has to hang from the edge of the building with some kind of harness, and probably used a roller instead of a spray paint can for most of the work. The canal was starting to melt.

Lachine canal Kong, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026

Its unusual for the ice to thaw in the middle of winter like this. With mild temperatures ahead it may start showing water again. The central element is where they hold the summer festivals like the Reggae festival, it used to be a shipping and receiving pier, while the background shows part of the Farine Five Roses building, actually the new Canada Maltage factory. To make that pale blue-green ice colour I use perylene green (PBk31) diluted and tinted with various cool paints like blue (PB15), green (PG7) and magenta (PR122, PV55). I  picked up more paper, a few tubes and brushes, at Avenue des Arts today in Westmount, Pierre was there, he runs the shop and also organizes a network of independent art companies around Canada. 

Peel Basin winter thaw, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Slushy day for a ride

With soaring temperatures the heavy snow turned into slush. That didn't stop the city from removing the piles of slush, as you can see in the painting, which was done along Maisonneuve avenue. Across the street you see me, riding my bike east along the path while the snow blower throws snow into a large dump truck. How did I paint myself? You may wonder. I had to study the trucks as they passed by, then set up on and angle, and paint an empty street essentially. I started by outlining the illustration components with a #2 paintbrush, then filled in with gritty colours and textures. 

Slush removal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Where I lock my bike up outside of PERFORM Centre, there is a view of the sports dome, and in the foreground, large puddles accumulating. The asphalt is in bad shape here, but it contrasted neatly with the crisp white snow and dome. A red bike rack in the middle part provides just about the only saturated colour. 

Dome puddles, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Dusk J&R Autoshop

The sky was a shade darker, with a rich violet tint. I mixed the sky colours with indo blue (PB60) and pyrrol orange (PO73) along with dabs of blue (PB15) and raw sienna (PBr7). It takes some practice to get used to those colour combinations, which produce a wide range of purplish or yellowish greys. The red-white and green in the gas pump area made for a good pop against the drab background. Small details like tree branches and the gas pump patterns were painted after it all dried. 

Dusk autoshop side, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

 

With heavy overcast clouds, the sunset was not visible but it was getting dark fast. This is a partial front view of Joe and Ralph Autoshop, the most painted business in NDG. It started snowing heavily so I retreated to the condo entrance way which is covered, and then finished the paintings inside. When painting such a scene, the value (relative darkness) between the sky and the lights has to be correct in order to convey the atmosphere. In this case, the sky was a pale grey-violet while the lamps were just white paper outlined in yellow or green-yellow. 

Dusk autoshop front, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Winter scenes along Decarie highway

The Decarie expressway is a below-ground highway connecting the north and south parts of Montreal. In the painting, you see one of the off ramps in the foreground connecting to Maisonneuve avenue, and another in the background connecting to Sherbrooke street. There was still a lot of snow hanging around, but the weather will warm up soon and it will all melt. It was bitterly cold today and I still had to use salt water to paint. 

Decarie ramps, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

A Swedish-car auto shop is located along the Decarie near the bike store. Its bright white walls contrasted against all the grey and beige surroundings. The reason its so bright white is that graffiti people mark up these walls, and the business paints over. If they paint over enough, the graffiti people might stop trying. I had to touch up this painting at home, the billboard had blurred into the background and a few other details were lost. I look forward to painting with fresh water again. There is a point in the winter where you start thinking about warmer temperatures. 

Swedish auto billboard, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026  

Nearly full moon, depanneur

Last night I went out after the clouds cleared and got a good view of the nearly full moon, it was at 97% according to the time and date web page. Interesting, twisty trees looked they were reaching up to the moon. I was standing near the skating rink in William Hurst park, using the strong flood-lamps to illuminate the painting. Considering how moist the painting was, I had to finish the trees and detailing at home when it had a chance to dry. 

Nearly full moon trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Its always a bit risky painting a car when its in front of a shop because you know its going to drive away soon. I got the outline and basic colour blocks in time, then of course the owners came out and drove off. Like in the last painting, I had to finish the details at home including the black lines and lettering on the sign, and brick texturing. Its nearly impossible to over-paint on location in the winter unless you return to the same location. One painting that worked out really well this way was brave Montreal, where I painted the background, went off and painted other paintings, then on the way back finished adding the bridge elements. Last night was too cold to mess around, although with the amount of winter clothing I had on it was almost too hot. And by the way, the sign on this store has no accent on the first E... not my mistake!

Depanneur car, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026