Elevated train and other odd scenes

The new elevated commuter train dominates the skyline in and around Point st Charles. In this scene, you see it soaring over Wellington street with the rusty old train bridge in the middle. It was a complicated scene to paint, I started with the light pole and then crossed it with the train bridges. Working up the detail with a small #2 brush, I finished with pops of green and orange, and my initials in graffiti on the rusty bridge. Compared to the last location, it was quite noisy here with all the traffic. 

El over Wellington, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

In the massive train-car depot at the end of Point st Charles, there are some weird structures, I saw them from the train on the way in last week, then found a good spot to stand and paint them today. On the left are yellow and maroon train cars, in the center is some kind of tall processing tower, on the right are massive silos connected by booms and tubing. It was almost an illustration this one, I established the detail with the #2 brush, then worked in the colour layers. The reflection on the silos is actually a simple two-tone wash with a strip of paper showing through. 

Odd structures, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 

Lastly, I found this scene in the shade, it is looking up at the elevated train towards the south. The whole painting was about the sweeping arc, so I started with that by using a 1 inch wide brush loaded with the warm grey. If you start with the brush horizontal, moving to the right and then up, it creates the arc shape in one brush stroke. The rest of the painting was filler, although I should say the sidewalk really turned out well. I must have painted sidewalks thousands of times by now, they appear in many of the location scenes in Montreal! 

Sweeping curve, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Train depot and the real Hipster hangout

Down in Point st Charles, known simply as 'The Point' to locals, there are great views of the train depot. I was reminded of the location upon returning from Toronto on the VIA train, it went right past a lot of these scenes. I often scout out locations from the vantage point of the train when I am on it. If you follow my blog you will remember this train depot on a cold day, in that blog I lamented the difficulty of the conditions due to severe wind chill. Thinking today would be better I headed down there by bike and made this smaller version of the scene on a vertical format. In fact, the wind was so strong that this one was a challenge too, the paper kept blowing up and down despite the elastic holding it down. Once again, the turquoise train was in the foreground and I quite enjoyed making the colour with variations of phthalo green (PG7) and indo blue (PB60).

Train depot summer, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I was painting in and around the hipster brew pub a few weeks ago, but this spot is the real hipster hangout. The building is long and narrow, I painted it before, in this version I was looking at a perpendicular angle from the sidewalk at one of the store fronts and the restored land in the foreground. It used to be a train maintenance building, now it houses community run shops and spaces. Someone was playing jazz music on a clarinet at one of the cafes here. 

 Hipster hangout, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

A little further towards the city and I found this view of the downtown skyline (that is mount Royal in the distance) with a sound barrier next to the train yard. It was remarkably silent here, almost complete silence with a pleasant breeze and warm sun. 

Sound barrier, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Tall tree and shadows near canal

This enormously tall tree is growing right next to the Lachine canal near the bridge where I painted the graffiti. I composed the scene with about 3/4 sky and 1/4 ground on a portrait format. Portrait means tall and narrow (vertical) rather than landscape format which is horizontal. The idea was to create a sense of vastness in the sky, with the canal just snaking along the ground next to the grass and trees. To get the yellow highlights on the top of the tree I daubed on the vanadium yellow (PY184). 

Tall tree canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

My shadow was being cast onto the surface of the canal as the sun got low. The colour was more of a greenish hue, I mixed navy blue (PB60) with umber (PBr7), but then made the mistake of adding a dab of burnt umber (PBr7) which made a charcoal hue. Next time I am down there I will try this one again. 

Shadow in canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

These trucks were parked in the depot, with the sun in the background. The shadows were coming out at interesting angles due to the position of the sun and the perspective. It was a challenge to see if I could make a dramatic painting out of parked truck trailers. As it had rained heavily earlier in the day, there were puddles everywhere in the gravel lot. 

Truck shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Remains of the lake and other scenes

The island of Montreal in the 16th century was covered in lakes and rivers including the 4 km long Otter lake, or Little st Pierre lake. Eventually the Lachine canal brought the end of the lake, which is now occupied by highway 20, the Turcot interchange, and some light industrial zoning. For years, I have rode past this inconspicuous looking drainage ditch near the truck depot beside the canal, the ditch was part of the Turcot project that saw a complete rebuilding of the road and restoration of much of the nature surrounding the highways. Now this ditch is surrounded in lush greenery and trees. In some ways, it represents what remains of the lake. 

Remains of the lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Where the highway off ramp rises up over the canal, there is a tall retaining wall that got covered in massive sections of graffiti. In this case its my initials, and the year spray-painted on the bike path. Unlike graffiti artists, who commit vandalism, I put paint on the paper not the walls! The main subject matter was actually the interesting plants growing in the strip of grass next to the retaining wall, there were a variety of cone flower plants and other types.  

Growth near path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

I don't usually paint graffiti very specifically, but in this case it seemed funny that someone put a friendly looking cartoon ice cream cone on the supporting pillar under the bridge. Just past this post is the Lachine canal bike path and the canal itself. To make the concrete colours I use a lot of umber (PBr7), it is a paint with the colour of tea with milk, and the consistency of chunky mud! 

Ice cream graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Cool pool for a fool

 

When I got back from my exciting walk downtown Bolton, where I saw a squirrel, shops, and boarded up houses, I was extremely hot and sweaty due to the record breaking temperatures. Then I walked past one of the neighbor's yard who has a small pool. Several people walked by and I had my joke ready (If I cant swim in it, at least I can paint it), but nobody asked me what I was doing! Psychologically, my body cooled down just staring into the shimmering turquoise water. It was all I could do not to hop the small fence and canon-ball in there. When thinking about this year's extreme heat wave, this is the painting that will come to mind. 

Cool pool, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

Walk downtown, excitement galore

You would be surprised how much excitement there is in downtown Bolton, like this squirrel running across the road near the cemetery. In the previous blog, I mentioned how every painting should have some kind of idea to connect with the viewer. When I saw this scene at first, the trees seemed like interesting with different shades of green, and the road had a cool 'S' shape. But when the squirrel ran across... I was like, I have to paint this scene. Squirrel... running across a road. As interesting as this is, perhaps no painting will ever beat my Harley Truffles, a painting of dog poo next to toilette on the sidewalk. 

Squirrel running across a road, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This fire-station, which is fairly new in Bolton along Highway 50 near Columbia way, was merely an excuse to paint a field of wild flowers. Plenty of cars were going by including the fire people who parked up there and got out. I don't mind being seen, in fact, it can be fun for someone to see an artist painting things in their community. 

Fire-station on hill, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

Sitting near the bridge in a recently renovated patio area, I got this side-view of the Black Bull pub and eatery. As I painted, the proprietor was setting up the umbrellas hopeful for some patrons to arrive and grab a cold one on a hot day. In the background, there is another row of shops and restaurants including the old Main Street station pub that has been closed for some time now. I did a painting of the Main Street station from photograph a long time ago, you can see in this blog. Before I started painting on location, like 1994 and earlier, I took photos and worked on them from home. Since 1995 on-wards, I've been painting almost exclusively on location. 

Black Bull, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

The colours were pretty neat on this ice cream store-front, variations of magenta and red against the old red bricks and brown shingles. In downtown Bolton, many old houses were converted into shopping space. In 1989, they built the courtyards of Caledon which is a dedicated mall on the corner. I did a painting of the interior of the Courtyards years ago. If you are noticing the greens being brighter than before its because I added vanadium yellow (PY184) to my palette for the summer, its extremely light and bright, almost like a cadmium pigment but non-toxic.

Ice cream Queen street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

Okay, these are not boarding houses, but boarded-up houses. The whole block was boarded up and most of it demolished, just these three houses, and one up to the left, remain. I am not sure if the plan is to make condos here, or rather, make it a flood-control basin which would be a lot smarter than condos. Being at the bottom of the valley and adjacent to the Humber river, this part of the village is extremely prone to flooding. In fact, I saw quite a few old houses boarded up around the old downtown core. 

 Boarding houses, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Walk in the Bolton Forest

With the heat wave in full effect, I smartly took a walk in the Bolton forest which offered a bit of reprieve from the strong sun and stifling heat. Most of the path is surrounded by greenery, except for this grove of pine trees. The sloping ground was covered in pine needles and there was practically no foliage other than a leaf here and there. Pine trees have short branches poking out from their trunks, like step ladders. I used so much yellow and green on this day it was neat to do a brownish painting.  

Pine grove, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

To do the first pine grove painting, I had to apply the highlight areas as an under-painting and let it dry before adding the shadows, trees, and textures. In the meantime, I looked down the hill and saw this neat scene of vines criss-crossing some pine trees. I completed this painting in one go. First, I used vanadium yellow (PY184) with green (PG36) and the background, and build up layers of darker green, and the red-brown elements of the ground. Finally, I did the vines and trees with free lines to keep it looking natural. 

Pine trees and vines, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Most of the path through Bolton forest looks a lot like this... the path itself is about 2 meters wide and the city has manicured it to prevent overgrowth. Its a gentle path and far enough from the foliage. I was the only one out there on this day, Partly because it was a weekday afternoon, partly because it was stinking hot. 

Path through forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This tree had a surprising shape, almost grotesque, there was even one branch that had kind of grown through another branch over the decades. Maybe I exaggerated a little here, the shape, but the idea was to covey a sense of surprise and discovery. When deciding to do a painting or not, I generally think about what the idea is supposed to be, nowadays I even think about what I will write in the blog before I start a painting! 

Gnarly Tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

 Painting this creek through the forest, looking down a steep embankment, turns out to be one of the hardest paintings you can do. Its about the fourth or fifty time I've tried it. This time, I started with the river in the bright reddish highlight colour, then surrounded it in earthy tones and built up the green. Once the washes were mostly dry I daubed in the trees and leaf texturing, and detailed the rocks and water flow in the creek. I think it worked out okay this time. I would have gone down to get a better view but I was wearing shorts, and it was a very steep embankment here. Perhaps there is a creek somewhere in Montreal I can go paint, although I am not aware of one on the entire island. 

Creek through forest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Toronto stopover summer

With more short trips to Bolton these days I have had the occasion to make some Toronto paintings on stopovers. It was kind of mixed fortune here, the train was a little too late to make the early GO connection which gave me an extra few hours in the smouldering hot city on Monday. The heat wave was in full force, something like 35℃ with over 40 on the humidex, but I stayed in the shade and had very light clothing on with the trusty old bucket hat. No doubt I looked like a tourist but nobody seemed to care, a few people took pictures of me painting. This scene shows the west side of the Union train station (on the left of the painting) with an overpass and two enormous 100 story skyscrapers in the background. The street going under the overpass is York street. 

York street underpass, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

The sun had gone behind a skyscraper leaving the CN tower illuminated strongly from the right side. Its always a tough subject matter to paint correctly especially when looking up at the tower, but I think the perspective is okay this time around. I made a neat one of the CN tower in winter in 2023, although the conditions could have not been more opposite, heat wave versus snow blast. 

CN tower heat, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

An enormous 'shard' shaped glass skyscraper now dominates the skyline looking east towards the Union station. In the foreground, a swerving driveway descends into the underground parking lot. The iconic Fairmount Royal York hotel is seen in the upper left quadrant of the painting. If I had more time I could have made this one a bit bigger, there was a lot going on in the scene. 

Toronto swerves, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Curio Folio: Disconnected Cacti

Since I started the Curio Folio, a collection of things you have never seen or heard of before, people are saying, oh its fake, he made it up, what a fraud. And he calls himself a scientist? To convince the skeptics, here I provide evidence of the Disconnected Cacti, its scientific name is Cactus Disconnectus,  or the walking cacti as they call it in Texas. The reason the walking cacti is rarely seen is that it walks, like away from people. Often times its just their foot prints in the sand, like little divots that go back and forth. It walks by rocking its body side to side. Fossil records go back for millions of years, there seemed to have been giant four legged-walking cacti the size of dinosaurs. So how did I get to making this painting? The new professor in our department is American, and she said her grandparent talked to a person from Texas and got an accurate description of what it looked like. The painting is thus a realistic depiction of an adult cactus walking with an adolescent cactus holding hands. They might be going to get some pop tarts. 

Curio Folio: Disconnected Cacti, watercolour 5.5 x 10.5" hot press, June 2025

Encore, painting of purple flowers near path

Its like a band that plays their songs, leaves the stage, then everyone yells 'Encore!' and they come out and play one more. So here is one more from the river trip... it shows these purple flowers near the bike path and two of the fancy bathroom structures they built here. Yes, those are bathrooms, there is an opening leading to a door and there you go. Bathrooms are one of those things I am not into painting, although I have done my share of port-o-potty paintings in the past. Painting a portable toilette is for beginner painters, once you graduate you can paint dumpsters like me, or these architecturally significant bathrooms that are very stylish. 

Purple flowers near path, watercolour 8 x 10" hot press, June 2025

Five easy (river) pieces

Of course there is a famous Jack Nicholas movie called Five Easy Pieces about piano music and other things, since I made five paintings today and they were relatively easy it was a fitting title. There was a time that painting the st Lawrence river was a mysterious challenge and I tried all kinds of tings, now I understand the colour transitions better and know how to paint them. At a distance, its a bluish-violet with white highlights, then a blue or turquoise in the middle, then a brownish caramel colour near the shore. Where there are waves, they tend to look brown or yellowish, maybe reddish. 

Far shore, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

In this view you see the breakwater in the foreground, its the shoreline of Lachine park where the sculptures are. The far shore would be the reserve. In this version I amped up the green and turquoise that you see when the sun is out. With clouds, its more greyish. 

Two shores, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Here is the sculpture at the end of the park, I've never painted it because, well, it looks kind of subject to interpretation. Maybe it fell over at some point. I usually avoid painting other people's art but every now and then I make a version of a mural or a sculpture if the rest of the landscape calls for it. 

Park thing, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

A bunch of small single person or double person boats were zipping around the shore near the lighthouse at Stony point Lachine. It was very windy, so they were going fast and lilting significantly. I used to sail and quite enjoyed it, maybe its something I can get back into. 

Small boats, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

Next to the bike path in Lasalle I caught an interesting view east just before the rapids begin.... the blue mountain in the background is probably mount st Hilaire, I painted it larger than it was in real life for artistic effect. The thing in the middle is a small island. Mount st Hilaire has a sharp face and is located due south of Montreal. We hiked there once but you get a lot of city people hiking there and they like to talk, play music, walk slow, its kind of annoying for outdoorsy people.  

View east, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025  

Trees around old bike trail

Before they re-did the intersection near Vendome, the bike path just sort of ended here in a loop. I remember because you then had to take your life in your hands trying to ride across that 5-way intersection. Now its much safer with well marked paths and lights to help guide traffic, bikes, busses and pedestrians. These trees are doing okay, partly because I help them by adding fertilizer every few years, and pulling off the creeper-vines when they grow. All they have to do in return is pose for a few paintings.

Trees around old bike trail, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This birch tree is struggling along, if I can figure out what kind of fertilizer it needs I will bring it there and do some more vigilante tree care. I've painted it a few times before, today its bark was dry and peeling and the branches looked partially dead. In the background you see the colourful mural they painted along the new bike path. 

Birch near old path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This billboard had a nice teal colour which played against the blue sky and yellow-green shrubs. I also pulled creeper vines off of these shrubs a few weeks ago so they can grow again. The billboard was sponsored by the Holocaust memorial, but instead of trying to copy it I put in my usual chicken scrawls and initials. It was 12 painting today, not a record by any means but a great day of painting. 

Billboard shrubs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Container ship

Its probably tiny compared the biggest container ships in the world, but this one looked like a massive floating building up close. It was moored just next to the Canada Malt factory where there is also a modern port facility. Train tracks in the foreground suggested some kind of connection, although I think the tall gantry cranes were off loading onto trucks on the opposite side. In the distance, on the left middle, you can see a sliver of the Cartier Bridge which gives a sense of space and direction. There were several fences between me and the scene, but I used artistic license to remove them. Like I wrote earlier, there are endless scenes here in the Malt Factory/Port area around the Peel basin, its surprising more artists don't come here to sketch or paint. As usual, I replaced the name of the shipping company with my initials and year. 

Container ship, watercolour 8 x 10" hot press, June 2025

Luzia and Émilie-Gamelin Place

It was a desolate scene, the inviting circus tent advertising the Cirque du Soleil show called Luzia. We saw that one when it first came out about a decade ago... they tend to recycle the shows that are popular every so often for a new generation. This was my favorite of the different shows we saw, it has a Mexican 'day of the dead' kind of theme with bright colours, great music and sparkling costumes. The stunts were spectacular too.  

Luzia tent, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

On the way back I stopped at Émilie-Gamelin Place, a park and community area just next to the Berri UQAM station downtown. They have large structures pouring water down into a shallow collecting area for people to cool off or have a shower, there are a lot of homeless people that hang out here. Two ladies were going around handing out sandwiches to them. This scene is looking back down to Berri through the shady trees. People are allowed to sleep and rest out here in the cool, you have to remember too that not everyone in Montreal, including us, has air conditioning, so getting the cool shade of trees is kind of nice. We did finally cave in and get an air cooling unit, not quite an air conditioner though it just blows cold misty air. 

 Berri trees shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

Bridges and factories still hanging around

With summer officially here as of yesterday, the heat is turning up! In fact, it will be a blistering 35 Celsius on Monday and Tuesday with humidity. Today was on the warm side, with a cool breeze and partly cloudy to keep it manageable. This painting shows the Lachine canal with three bridges, old, new, and newer. The old bridge, you see just the end of it on the left of the painting, it used to rotate in order to allow a train to cross or a boat to cross. The iron bridge going off to the middle right is the current train bridge which carries the VIA trains and commuter trains going to and fro Montreal downtown. The angled bridge up in the sky is the commuter light rail that goes Montreal to off-island. 

Old, new and newer bridges, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

The Canada Maltage factory is still very active, trucks were going in and out of the backlot today, and on occasion you can smell malting barley. The tall passageway up in the sky travels from large silos to the long malting building. The idea is to sprout the barley slightly then boil the sugar out of it to make malt, which then goes on to make beer. 

Malt trailer, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

The tunnel up in the sky probably has a conveyor belt inside, it seems likely to bring grain from the silos into the malting area. I need a guided tour of this place to understand how it works. From an artistic standpoint, there is a never-ending supply of painting material in and around this factory, which has the iconic Farine Five Roses sign on top. 

Tunnel in sky, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

 

 

 

watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Lachine canal, great day for some painting

Other than that white fuzz from the poplar trees blowing around, today was all but the perfect day for some bike riding and painting. It certainly took awhile, and tomorrow calls for more thunderstorms, but hey, lets take a look at the paintings! The first one shows the canal, just after one of the locks... you can see the water ripples from just below the falls. 

Canal below falls, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

The falls in question are the same ones I painted to great effect last year, so I decided to take a few different views, such as here where the water goes down a short step, with some yellow buoys to stop paddle boats from getting too close. On an angle the canal is blue, but when you look down on it, there are dark brown, blue and caramel tones. 

Yellow buoys lock falls, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

A bit further downstream and there are rows and rows of boxy condos with green tinted glass. A lot of people were lounging about on the grass and riding their bikes or walking around. Its a cool place to live, with plenty to do in the summer. Lots of bikers wearing spandex were out today. 

Condos and canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Hipster Haven and scenes around Peel Basin

I called this brew-pub restaurant the Hipster Haven in a 2023 blog, but its actually called Messorem, I like my name better! The other day, I painted the iconic water tower which is situated over top of the restaurant's patio. In that blog I mentioned that you could find your way to the tower in order to find beer. I am not drinking much nowadays, but I got up close to the restaurant and explored some of the interesting shapes and textures. I got a few whiffs of hops and enjoyed the music too. 

Messorem patio lights, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Surprisingly, the central pole of the water tower is clad in wood wrapped in green metal bands, like an elongated barrel. It speaks to the age of the structure which must have been made a long time ago. On the right is the big metal chimney with its pleasant rust colour I re-created with burnt umber (PBr7) and some indo blue in the shadow area (PB60). To make the rust appear to glow, I added streaks of pyrrol red (PR254) and yellow ochre (PY43). My initials were stuck into some graffiti. 

Water tower base, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

This old structure is barely standing, it would have been the control tower for the old rotating train bridge that used to be active here. The rotating train bridge is still here, but welded off and just sitting in the middle of the canal (unseen, off to the right). The commuter train rumbled by a few times and I got the colours correct... dark green on top, lime green on the ends, black in the middle with bluish-tinted windows, and cream white on the bottom. Off in the distance on the bottom right you see one of the old factories in Old Port Montreal, and my initials under the bridge.  

Structure near train, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Here is my latest futile attempt to paint the Farine Five Roses sign, at least I got all the letters in this time! An ominous blue-grey sky was brewing up, and I turned around after this one and headed home just in time to avoid the evening shower. This scene is big, and one day when I am ready I will bring down a bigger piece of paper for the job. 

Farine Five Roses Stormy sky, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025 

Sunset on canal, ready or not

As an artist, you are either ready or not to paint a scene like this. The effect barely lasts 10 minutes, and a photograph would never capture the subtle hues and warm grey tones in the shadowed elements. To start, all the painting gear is set up in the saddle pack of my bike, which I can set up with the kickstand anywhere in a matter of a minute and be painting. Today the paint was goopy from the humidity making it even more of a challenge, so I adapted my technique and let the colours flow as they wished. 

Pink house sunset with clouds, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Another iconic scene on the Lachine canal, this old rusty water tower that defines the old industrial skyline. If you were to cross the canal and find your way underneath this tower, you would be in a hipster micro-brew restaurant where the cyclists go for a beer. Luckily I got the sky down quickly and with as little moisture as possible to facilitate the over-painting of the water tower and building elements. At this time of day, green becomes near black, so I added shadow green (PBk31) and carbon black (PBk6 ). The letters and numbers in parenthesis are the colour pigment codes.  

Sundown water tower, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025

 

Across the canal, there is a festival set-up with tents, booths, and an old jet stream camper trailer reflecting the sky. In the back left of the painting, there is a tower structure from Verdun water works, although in real life it was much further to the east, I brought the element in using my artistic license. The humid and muggy weather looks to be sticking around for awhile, it will make for some challenging location conditions, but still a lot easier and more pleasant than painting outside in the winter! 

Canal festival setup, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2025