For years now I have been tracking the growth of this tree in front of the old Royal Bank branch that closed. It started off as a small sprout in the gap between the foundation and the sidewalk, and now it is about four meters tall with a 20 cm wide trunk. If they ever rent out the building again the tree will have to go, but suffice to say that each summer it spreads large amounts of seeds around town and I see small sprouts in every nook and cranny. Its an interesting motif to paint because of what it represents. This land used to be indigenous territory and it was a dense forest up until around the 17th century when it was cleared by French settlers for farmland. Fast forward to the post world war II building boom and the farms were quickly plowed over for an extensive housing development. With plenty of concrete sidewalks, asphalt roads, condos and manicured lawns it does not leave a lot of room for nature to thrive. So I appreciate the fact that this tree is reclaiming a couple of square meters even if just temporarily. The shadow by the way, shows the billboard from across the street. For the illuminated bricks I mixed red ochre (PBr7/PR101) with orange (PO62), for the shadow brick I added red ochre and dark red (PR179) and a touch of violet magenta (PV55).
Insistent tree at sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2024
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