Sun Shining Coffee Park

Half of Coffee Park is fenced off now, and the shed structure is completely encased in orange tarp sealed with duct tape which is usually a sign of asbestos removal. Even the large construction waste container is sealed off with a tarp, so it seems sure that they are renovating the structure or tearing it down. I found place to sit on a picnic table closer to the train crossing and sat there feeling unwell for some time thinking about what I could paint from this position. I felt like painting something with colour, other than orange tarps. Over my shoulder to my right I got a view of the sun behind some clouds, next to the giant apartment block. In the foreground there were yellow and lilac wild flowers, and the iconic black fence that surrounds the park, similar to the type of fence used in Trenholme park. Initially I thought about a horizontal format to feature the flowers and fence, but settled on a vertical format to give you the full impact of the scene. The sun-shine effect worked out superbly, to do that I waited for the cloudy blue sky to dry about 50%, then applied pure water around the halo of the sun. If you're lucky it generates a backwash and dries with a feathered effect to signify the kind of sun rays you would see by squinting at the sun. I had polarized sunglasses and tried not to look into it directly. Feeling a bit better after doing the painting, I shuffled off towards home.

Sun Shining Coffee Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2023 (No. 3545b)