Mile End, Montreal

Going back to when I lived in mile end, here are a few old paintings. The first one was undated but I think it was done around the same time I did the painting of Fairmount Street with a car. Looking north on Clarke street, you see one of the old industrial factories with a rusty water tower on top. With a limited palette I captured a whole range of earth colours and that dusty pink a triplex. The houses in that area have tons of character, many of them are duplex or triplex with the balconies and staircase on the outside. The posts in the foreground are the bike path markers, in yellow and green. 5 x 7" cold press, watercolour, 2008 - 2010?

The second was dated, in fact, it may have been the last painting I did in Mile End before moving to NDG. I seem to remember being in the midst of packing. It is interesting that I was trying to paint the cars in these scenes, and even some hints of people. At the moment I am in the middle of doing the green line metro series (next up, Peel), and contemplating whether I should try to fit more people and cars in the scenes. I think the paper size has to be bigger to fit in the details, and clearly I need to practice drawing a bit more! 5.5 x 7.5" cold press, watercolour, 2014