Exterior Temperature

Exterior temperature was an experimental work based on a doodle, which was itself an experimental doodle. The name of the painting appears in abstract letters across the top, down the middle, and completing along the bottom mound. Spend some time interpreting it and you may see all the letters. I also wrote it on the side for good measure. When painting this one, I did not think at all about the surrounding elements, and when I was finished I realized that the painting actually had an interior, and an exterior. The interior which covers the left/bottom is a very warm red-orange that gives the impression of a fire in a cave. The exterior is the cloudy sky and cold looking landscape in the bottom/right, with the electric flower thing dominating the skyline on the right. So there is an exterior temperature represented here, mainly through sheer luck or instinct, or gut feeling.

This is the time of the year when a professor (like me) needs to do a lot of planning, organizing, and managing. It is funny because as life imitates art, so does my life, which often imitates my art, which is unfortunately a little bit unplanned and disorganized. Basically I'm trying to say that at work I'm an artist at heart sometimes feeling stuck in a "type A" career surrounded by type A people. The good news is that over the years as I grew as a professional at work, I think it spilled over to my art hobby. My approach to paining is much more refined, and somewhat more organized, although I still procrastinate like heck if I have a deadline!

8 x 11" cold press, watercolour, Sept. 2016

Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec

From the Eastern Townships comes a scene painted near lake Memphremagog at the St. Benoit Monastery. This was not the main building of the abbey, rather it is a small chapel nearby that had a small area inside to pray. I was sitting in the picnic area fighting off the strong wind was blowing left to right causing the paper to flop around a lot. I liked how the building foundation was embedded in the rocky outcrop and how the trees and flowers framed the structure.

Painting different shades of green is vital for outdoor painting. I used several combinations here, the grass in the front is a type of sap green with lemon yellow, while the pale blue pine tree to the left of the picture is cerulean blue with just a touch of yellow, and a purple-green for the shadows. The bush that dominates the center of the picture is a yellow/green colour-fade into purple tones, then finished with a turquoise. Colour-fade is where you let two bodies of colour mix together when they are still wet to allow blending. The red molding and trim was the perfect foil for all the green.

11 x 8 " cold press, watercolour, August 2016

Mount Saint-Hilaire

Great views can be had in Quebec, this one was from atop Mount Saint-Hilaire a nature reserve and conference Center owned and operated by McGill University popular for hiking in the summer. The direction of this painting is roughly looking northeast, towards Sherbrooke and Quebec City, although neither are actually visible. Looking to the left slightly one could see Mount Royale and Montreal however there were too many bushes and tourists to get a clear view.

Painting on location is extra challenging one needs to find a place to sit and a nice view, not to mention some peace and quiet to reflect on the energy of the scene. In this case the mountain top was very crowded, so when I was painting this scene the entire view except for the rocks was obscured by about 30 or so tourists. Afterwards they cleared out and I could see that the river actually had a much more 'ess' shape to it, while in the painting it is more of a series of arcs, but it still gets the feeling across. Several people looked at this while I was doing it, they though I was famous!

11.5 x 8 " (28 x20 cm) cold press, Watercolour, September 2016