Trees and pylons

This tree is growing up in the forest by the house. Its bark is peeling off in great ribbons, leaving a bare surface towards the top. The tree is at least 30 meters high. I used a lot of earth paints for this one like burnt sienna, yellow ochre and raw umber. Topless trees.

Tree peeling bark, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

 

We walked up to another park but the main bridge was under construction making it impossible to get in. So we sat in the shade, and I made a painting of  these pylons instead. Using my 'Montreal orange' mix here came in handy...pyrol orange (PO73) with benzi orange (PO62). 

Pylons path, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

Trees sunset highway

Across the highway there is a row of old growth trees, maybe 10 or 20 stories tall. Its part of the religious convent that was apparently sold to developers. I hope these trees are still here next time we visit. The sun was going down which created some interesting light effects. 

Tall trees sunset, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

 

Here is the view from the overpass looking northeast, the highway was clogged with noisy smelly traffic which made me feel right at home like back in Montreal. I am quite used to painting rows of cars and highways. In this case, there was a wonderful pastel sunset with tall trees in the background. 

Pastel sunset traffic tall trees, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

 

I started this one earlier but it rained, so I quickly moved on. The idea was to capture the variety of tree colours and textures in the park across from the house. 

Tree textures study, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

Scenes from memory on app

Being on this kind trip which is part vacation, part visiting, part working (for Concordia University) has been interesting. The grad student application deadline is soon, with a number of last minute students I interviewed over whats app, several collaborative grants, managing the students in my lab, researching and planning the sabbatical project, and making some paintings when time allows. On the recent excursion we drove by quite a few fantastic scenes that would have been great paintings. So I downloaded an app called sketchbook and scribbled in the scenes from memory. The first one shows a colourful gas truck. 

 

This scene, also from Indaiatuba, which I just learned is the number one ranked city in Brazil for living, shows a colourful cop car with lights, and a pink magenta flowering tree in the background. 

 For this scene, I liked the triangular piece of grass, and the imagery of a palm tree getting visually squeezed out by two massive condo towers in the background. The sketch app has a large array of pens and brushes, and I could use my colour knowledge to find the right hue, saturation and values. All the same I would have rather painted the scenes on location. I also saw stray dogs chasing cars, and enormous cactus plants growing infront of colourful plaster houses.

River falls, insect mound, Indaiatuba

Through Indaiatuba runs a long park next to a river, its more of a water control canal than a river but the city has tried to spruce it up with walking paths, footbridges and landscaped trees. Looking down the slope, I got this view of a small waterfalls and could hear the water splashing. The embankments were heavily eroded, revealing a rusty red-orange earth from below.

River small falls, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

 

We had seen these large mounds in fields and parks around town, about a meter high, they are probably termite or maybe ant colonies. I wanted to paint one but we were stuck in a car and there wasn't a whole of free time, so I was glad to find one of them in this park. Down the slope is the river, it was at a low point. Later, a massive rain storm arrived and on the way out of Indaiatuba we saw the river really full and flowing.

Insect mound river embankment, 6 x 7.5 watercolour, January 2026 

Scenery from Cardeal and Indaiatuba

There is a vast area of sugar plantations with a well-to-do city called Indaiatuba, about an hour and a half bus ride north of São Paulo, Brazil. Nearby, there is a quaint village called Cardeal, which not a car dealership but the Portuguese word for Cardinal. In the painting you get a good vista view of rolling hills of sugar cane dotted with dense trees.

Sugarcane fields Cardeal, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026.  

 

This is the side view of an old train station in Cardeal, its long defunct but still maintained for heritage. A number of stray dogs were running about. The photo is crooked... when I get back to Canada I will scan the collection and update the images. 

 

Old train station Cardeal, 6 x 7.5", watercolour, January 2026

 

 

Back in Indaiatuba, Cilei and I were staying with a friend who lives in a gated community. Surrounded by a high wall with barbed wire, electrical wire, and a face-recognition gate, it was rather like staying in a medium security prison, with nicer furniture. The houses were a stark contrast to other homes I had seen in São Paulo, these were designed by architects, fully plastered and painted, with expensive landscaping and fancy cars parked on the open driveways. Kids played on the streets. It was like being in Canada, but a lot hotter. 

Gated housing, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

 

Standing in the blazing heat, trying to soak in as much as I could, I did a last scene from inside the gated community. Strangely enough I felt more anxiety standing here painting, everyone was glancing suspiciously at me. Was there a no painting rule I wondered? The wealth and class divide is very obvious in Brazil, in a large part its due to the after effects of colonialism. This community had little by way of diversity as compared to the other neighborhoods I stayed in, so you get the idea. They also had an affinity for vintage Volkswagen beetle cars, we saw about half a dozen in here fully restored.

 

Inside the gated community vista, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

Alll the fruit

 

All the fruit on a tray minus the mango we ate! There are two varieties of bananas, limes I picked, a green-skinned orange, red plums, peaches and grapes. In the background, anchoring the whole composition, is a yellow honeydew melon set against a cobalt blue-painted wall. People take for granted just how good the fruit is here, and painting it in bright Brazilian sunlight really made the image pop off the page. 

All the fruit, 8 x 10" watercolour, January 2026 

Grapes peaches limes

Here are some of the other fruit items we bought at the market on the weekend including peaches and grapes. They has plenty of limes there too, but the ones in the painting were the ones I picked from the tree on Cile's land. In the background is the tiled patio that sits atop the garage. The full sun overhead was blasting heat downwards...wish I could send some to Montreal they need it! 

Grapes peaches limes, watercolour, January 2026 

Market banana vendor

Bananas are picked fresh and brought to this street market which we visited on the weekend. Its only open on Sundays, then it moves to other streets. Once a major event, the market's popularity has waned over the years as more people prefer to buy all their food at a major grocery store. At the market, prices can be haggled, and Cilei got some good discounts on bananas. I posted a blog of the banana painting. 

Banana vendor, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

Flowering trees magenta pink white

Magenta is a rare colour to see in nature, but in Brazil there are large trees filled with magenta flowers. This one had red-magenta I mixed with quin magenta (PR122) tinted with pyrol red (PR254) and dark magenta shadows (PV55). The number codes are for the pigment identification, since different companies use different names I list the pigment codes. 

Magenta flowering tree, 6 x 7.5" cold press, watercolour, January 2026 

 

Pink flowers on this tree were very small and in bunches. I mixed dilute pyrol red tinted with quin magenta to get the pink, then applied it in one large blob. Once dry, which happened fast in this heat, I daubed on the green leaves and filled in the rest of the street scene. 

Pink flowering tree gates, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

 

White flowers adorned this tree, I used a pale grey mix tinted with yellow, blue and a purplish grey, then over painted the foliage. A red car and fortress-like house in the background completes the São Paulo vibe.

White flowering tree, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026 

Fresh fruit fresh fresh very fresh

With the chaos back home, power out and thirty below, luckily Cilene was checking and saved the big fish. Guppies and loaches may have made it too despite the cold temperature without heat for a few days. Cilei and I are staying in the warm part of Montreal, its called São Paulo, where the fruit is very fresh. There are several types of bananas here which I painted, they are on a decorative metal tray with the house cat in the background. 

Three types of bannas,  8 x 10" watercolour, January 2026

 

These lychees, or dragon fruit, were picked fresh with a deep maroon colour I made with perylene maroon (PR179), pyrol red (PR254), dark magenta (PV55) and some black (PBk6). The leaves are yellow orange (PY110) with a green tint (PG36). They tasted as good as they looked. 

Lychee on branch, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

Of course, next up is a sliced mango. The locals take for granted that mangoes grow all over the place, in Canada we only get them shipped. Here they can pick fresh off the mango tree. Cilei has a mango tree on her land but it has not made fruit yet. I used A Van Gogh style for this one, and really played the cobalt blue wall against the juicy yellow-orange of the mango, with its tri-coloured skin. Cobalt blue was made with phthalo blue (PB15 red shade) and my favorite indo blue (PB60). This painting looks like you can eat it. ...and yes I did it was great.

Sliced mango, 6 x 7.5 watercolour, January 2026 

 

Chickens and interior scene

On Cilei's land they have chickens running free, we went there with her dad to feed them. They scooted around clucking and warbling as I painted, probably wondering if more food was coming. Their plumage was a variety of beige, orange, grey and black with red crests. Those trees are lemon and lime trees, we picked half a dozen before leaving. 

Chicken run, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026

Inside the small house her Dad built, you see the Montreal-style brick wall she requested. They wanted to plaster over it but the whole dream here was a Montreal-style exposed brick wall. Last time I was here I scraped off paint splatters to make it look nice. The window frames are a stained hardwood, with exposed concrete completing the scene.

Montreal style in Brazil, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026 

A few more Grande Praia scenes

 

Praia means beach, grande means large...so this beach-side city is called Large Beach. Being so close to São Paulo makes it a prime weekend getaway location. These flowers were growing on a tree in the sidewalk, they looked delicate like rose petals. Since it was raining I stood under a ledge to complete this one. 

Pink flowering tree 6 x 7.5 watercolour, January 2026 

 

I had  to find a Brazilian dumpster to paint...this one was on the way to the beach in front of a new house being built. It was much smaller than Montreal dumpsters because the trucks and roads are smaller. 

Brazil dumpster yellow, 6 x 7.5.'' watercolour January 2026 

 

With steady drizzle I painted fast, its a food cart on the beach in among palm trees. More than just a food cart, its a mobile restaurant run by a local family. They even set up umbrellas and beach chairs. The french fries were excellent and the coconut water was fresh out of a coconut...like they bring you the coconut with a hole in the top and a straw. 

Food cart palm trees, 6 x7.5 watercolour, January 2026 

 

Finally some sunny weather on the last day and I did a painting of pigeons on the beach and bright blue Haviana flip flops. 

Pigeons flip flops, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026 

Grande Praia beach town

You never knew Montreal had a beach town nearby...just a short cab ride to the airport then watch some in flight movies and you are there! Actually its harder than that but worth the effort...Cilei and her niece arranged the trip and their friend drove her Dad's car. This scene was from the balcony on the first night. There was a disco down on the beach creating a colourful glow in the distance. 

Grande beach night street, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026

 

Looking up the street during the day gave this view of the colourful houses and rolling hills in the background. I used a mix of indo blue (PB60) and yellow (PY154)  to make the hill colours, and allowed some water blurring to create the cloud effects  

Rolling hills clouds, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026

 

Next was an urban scene with some familiar graffiti on a wall. Lush foliage and colourful buildings completed the scene. Like Montreal, this city is slowly gentrifying...the old beach houses and shops circa 1960 are being replaced with soaring sky scrapers surrounded by gates and security. 

Graff wall Brazil, 6×7.5" watercolour January 2026

Finally  back at the São Paulo homestead we spent the afternoon preparing beans from vines. After pulling the beans off we opened them all, tossed them in a big sieve, then cooked and ate them! Not a painting this time, was too busy working on the beans.

Grande beach Atlantic ocean

Close to São Paulo, this beach area got popular in the 1960"s and underwent a massive restructuring a decade ago to accommodate millions of tourists and locals. Now the beach, about 10 kilometers long, is lined with wall to wall condominiums. There is a beachfront road, winding bike path, tiled walkway and a wide beach with soft beige sand. 

Grande beach, 8 x 10" watercolour 2026

The shallow water was pale blue with a tea-coloured tint. Despite being on the Atlantic ocean, it was warm like bath water and pleasant to stand in while waves rolled by. 

Rolling sea, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January 2026

It was fairly crowded considering how large the beach was. People were standing in the water while a few surfers were catching waves. Rolling mountains in the background were typical for this part of Brazil. The drive in and out went along a winding highway that crossed misty valleys, jungle waterfalls and long tunnels. 

Beach crowd, watercolour 6 x 7.5" January 2026

Roofs and cats

There are quite a few cats around the neighborhood  in Sāo Paulo, and not many birds or mice. On an evening walk we saw this cat on a slate roof and I painted it the next day...the cat from memory. Those tall jungle trees in the background are only there because its part of a nun's convent otherwise it would become condo high-rises.

Cat on slate roof, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

Up on the laundry level at home, which is covered in a slate roof, the family cat slept in a green plastic basket while it poured outside. Raining the whole day I made a few paintings up here its a great vantage point.

  

Cat in laundry basket, 6 x 7.5"  watercolour January, 026

 

Here is another scene from the upper laundry platform, an interlocking puzzle of roofs and slate tiles. Its a great scene at night I'll try to do it some time. 

 

Roof puzzle, 6 x 7.5" watercolour January, 2026

Scenes from Brazil

Real oranges have bright green skin with intense orange centers, which looked neat against the blue wall. Instead of tasting overly sweet, they are packed with zesty flavour. 

Green orange blue wall, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

This aloe plant grows in a rustic clay pot, illuminated by warm sun. A banana peel was placed next to it in the shadows. The bananas have incredible falvour and there are several different kinds.

Aloevera clay pot, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

The view out the window has been filled with condo high-rises, all beige and cream coloured. Slate roof tops are separated by a lush forest, with a busy highway in between. 

Condo wall roof tops, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

A Buddhist temple of Chinese culture is a popular tourist destination. Familiar red lanterns adorn the traditional pagodas. Loudspeakers played chanting and drums, with a strong odour of incense in the air. 

Red lanterns Buddhist temple, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

 

The top of the steep marble staircase at the temple was flanked by two water installations with large lilly pads and water fountains. I just added this scan after the trip, there were a few I didn't get on the blog while in Brazil.
 

Lily pads fountain, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, January 2026

Curio Folio: Inflationator

Normally I would never do this, but I was reviewing federal grants recently for a new program called Canadian Uninflation Research Devices (CRUD) grants, and came across one that was really interesting. I could get in a lot of trouble for sharing the contents of a grant proposal, so I did a watercolour painting to capture the idea. The device was called the Inflationator... the way it works is to walk into an area of high inflation, inhale all of the excess money, then expel the money out of its rear end in the form of hot air. In the example, the Inflationator could walk into a grocery store, bank, or any place of business, inhale excess money, make heat, and inflation would be reduced. It was a smart and simple idea when you think about it, very feasible. Since this professor will likely get full funding, I believe its okay to share with you, I ranked the grant #1 in the pile. Besides, you will probably start seeing Inflationators at local shops and banks near you soon.

Of course, the production of hot air is bad for global warming, and the Government is familiar with that (both the hot air, and the inflation), which was a drawback to the device. A secondary device, which looks like a small robotic dog, is being planned which can inhale the hot air and poop out money, which may defeat the whole purpose but would surely make for a popular household pet. If that ever comes out, it would make another good addition to the Curio Folio of things you have never seen, heard of, or even imagined. 

Curio Folio: Inflationator, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Curio Folio: Grant Press

If you are new to the blog, I've been posting paintings of things you have never seen before, its called the Curio Folio, which began with the interesting case of a petrified pop-tart. In this installment, I made a painting of a 19^th century device used by scientists to assist them in writing research grant proposals. You might think that artificial intelligence was only a modern invention, but print makers had figured out a way to put words on hand-held rollers which could be covered in ink and applied to sheets of paper. The contents of the roller was based on words that appear most commonly in successful research grants, with special attention to contemporary topics most likely to be funded. Famous scientist Dr. Thinkfast used this device to get a grant to invent the world's first fork-knife, and luckily the grant was successfully funded. The grant press was in a Plexiglas display cabinet at the downtown MARMALADE museum where photography is not allowed, but they allow paintings for personal study. Since I am a scientist, I asked them if I could visit after hours and test out the device, but they said I would have to write a research grant proposal first, before gaining access to the grant press. Ironic. 

Curio Folio: Grant Press, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

Couple more paintings, slushy day

Where Decarie boulevard, which runs parallel with the highway, meets Maisonneuve, there is a five-way intersection. It used to be one of the most dangerous intersections in Montreal, but about 10 years ago they redeveloped it to be much safer for bikes, cars and pedestrians to co-exist. This barber shop is located near this corner, it had pictures of hipster dudes on the outside, I guess if you have a long beard in need of a trim its the place to go. 

Zanzibar Barber, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026 

There was not much light left so I painted a scene of the Vendome metro main entrance, at least the top part of it. The idea was to get in some details like the reflections, textures, and concrete tones. The concrete was done with a mix of raw sienna (PBr7), green umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60) tinted with orange (PO62) and magenta (PV55) here and there. When dry, I dragged a dry-brush with carbon black over top, and added some dots to make the concrete look sweaty. After painting all 68 Stations of the Montreal Metro, I taught myself how to get these colours down. By the way, in the last blog I was wondering if the graffiti person KONG was still active.... some time this weekend, he and the notorious SLUK defaced the MOLSON sign on the brewery that I painted late last year. Here is the CBC news story. When I say that I painted it... thats with watercolours by the way, I am not the graffiti person!

Vendome front door, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026  

Downtown, Lachine canal, Peel basin

Three of my favorite places to paint in Montreal: Downtown, Lachine canal, and the Peel basin! In the scene above, there was a protest in Phillips Square across from the old Bay mall, on st Catherine street. People were waving Iranian flags with the lion and crown in the center and chanting things in Farsi and English. A flock of pigeons flew overhead, a flying group of pigeons is called a 'flight of pigeons' by the way, while a police cruiser was parked by the curb. 

Flight of pigeons downtown, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026

An old factory warehouse on the Lachine canal has been 'decorated' extensively by the graffiti writers including KONG, one of the original writers from the 1990's who may still be active. As usual I placed my initials and year in place of the graffiti... that is called 'biting' by the way, when you copy a graffiti artist's style. To paint something like that, the writer has to hang from the edge of the building with some kind of harness, and probably used a roller instead of a spray paint can for most of the work. The canal was starting to melt.

Lachine canal Kong, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026

Its unusual for the ice to thaw in the middle of winter like this. With mild temperatures ahead it may start showing water again. The central element is where they hold the summer festivals like the Reggae festival, it used to be a shipping and receiving pier, while the background shows part of the Farine Five Roses building, actually the new Canada Maltage factory. To make that pale blue-green ice colour I use perylene green (PBk31) diluted and tinted with various cool paints like blue (PB15), green (PG7) and magenta (PR122, PV55). I  picked up more paper, a few tubes and brushes, at Avenue des Arts today in Westmount, Pierre was there, he runs the shop and also organizes a network of independent art companies around Canada. 

Peel Basin winter thaw, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026