Frozen scenes, demoed mall tree shadow

At  the end of Terrebonne where it meets up with Placette Guillaume-Couture, there are some trees growing including a prominent birch tree that I have painted before. Its a good place to walk in the winter when the bike paths are snowed-over. By the time I walked home they had plowed the bike paths and they seemed ridable, maybe tomorrow. The first painting of the year, gee its been a whole year since I last painted! We are in the middle of a cold snap that will last a few more days, then it is supposed to get up over zero, meaning the snow will melt. 

Frozen birch tree Placette, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026

The old shopping mall that was demoed late last year has been scraped clean. A fresh blanket of untouched snow covered the small plot this morning which gave a new angle to paint. Sunlight was beaming down a gap between buildings, and casting a long shadow of a tree behind me. When I finished the painting, I was that guy who tromped across the fresh snow leaving a trail of boot-prints. It was so cold today the paint was crystalizing despite the amount of salt in the water (20% salt solution). Zooming in you can see the crystal patterns in the sky and other wash areas.  

Demoed mall tree shadow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, January 2026