Twisty groove overgrown, butterflies and cart

 

When I first painted this location, located in the north west part of st Henri next to the adult education center parking lot, I called it the Twisty Groove, although the idea was to call it 'Twisty Grove' but groove sounded way cooler. Today I found my back to the location, its just off st Ambrose street along the path behind the baseball diamond and behind the education center into the parking lot. Standing in the shade I got a good view of the old tree, still hanging in there, and parts of the ventilation ducts that are twisted around the old fallen tree trunk. There was a wide variety of wild flowers, and some kind of dried-out red/brown plant strewn about. Little butterflies were flitting about but I could not quite get them into this painting. 

Twisty groove overgrown, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

This painting had a mind of its own... I established all the outlining, added a wash, then the whole thing turned into a puddle of slop. Going with the flow, I continued to work up the colours and textures making sure to keep the shapes of the three butterflies in tact. I notices some butterflies were a creamy white, others a, orange-yellow, and occasionally they were blue. The plants in the foreground and middle ground are milkweed. Looming in the background is part of the Turcot highway exchange. 

Twisty groove butterflies, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025

 

These concrete dividers were separating the parking lot from the twisty groove. Someone had spray painted their tag (stylized initials) with a light blue paint which contrasted nicely against the sweaty old concrete in shadow. To make the colour I used phthalo blue sapphire (PB15) with a touch of magenta (PR122) then appropriate amounts of water. Importantly, the surrounding concrete had to be slightly darker and warmer, on the orange side, in order to make the letters appear to glow. Its amazing how many things this PJD25 person is tagging these days. 

Baby blue letters, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025 

I couldn't resist doing one last painting of this red-orange shopping cart which I painted using a mix of pyrol orange (PO73) and orange (PO62). I used the pyrol orange in the asphalt mixture (with indo blue PB60), and in some of the warm brick in the background. I probably spent most of the time here on the trees and foliage in the background. Standing under the shade of another large tree, it was a quiet and pleasant place to paint. I poured some instant coffee into a small espresso cup and sipped it, enjoying the twisty groove

Red-orange shopping cart, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, July 2025