Summit Park barrier, Westmount, Montreal

The pandemic blues series are a group of paintings I did during the COVID-19 lock-down of 2020, which is still going on in Quebec and Ontario mostly. Painting was the one thing I could do outside of the apartment that did not involve going into a grocery store, or getting near other people. I found this famous view of St. Lawrence river and down town Montreal from the vantage point of Summit Park Westmount. The viewing platform was surrounded by a tall fence, and the stairways were blocked off by construction barriers to prevent people from gathering. I was sitting at the edge of the park which overhangs the road. Other than the odd cyclist whizzing by I was completely alone. If I ever make a collection of these paintings this one will be on the cover.

Making this painting was like walking a tight-rope, one slip up and disaster. There were two key elements, one was the 'z' shape of the stone fence, and the second was the orange stripes on the construction barrier. The outline of the foreground scene was completed first using light grey paint for an outline. I slowly worked from top to bottom shifting the colours from cool to coral. As the layers dried I built up stronger volume washes and details on the building, fence, and garbage can. With the strong sun, the painting looked washed out and dull, in fact it was a disaster. Then I added the orange stripes on the barrier and magic happened. The strong orange brought everything to life- the distance seemed farther away, the stone-work glowed, and the whole concept of pandemic lock-down became prominent. Ironically, I spent by far the most amount of time on the garbage can, it has about 10 layers and techniques!

5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, May 2020