Sun shining on Dorchester Square

 

From the look of it you might conclude it was warm today, but it was anything but. Strong, icy wind pelted Montreal which had received a fresh blanket of snow the night before. These trees in Dorchester Square line a walking path that only a few pigeons were brave enough to stroll down. Occasionally a group of pigeons landed right next to me anticipating food. To keep the top part of this painting clean, I omitted the background which was full of skyscraper buildings in shadow. 

Pigeons strolling, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026 

Many tour buses park around Dorchester square, although I did not see too many tourists. Maybe they were staying on the bus which would have been smart today. The pigeons were hanging out on top of the archway of the Dominion building in the background, they were probably catching some heat off the front door of the facade. This was a tough painting to complete due to difficult conditions, the palette blew onto the ground a few times. Luckily I was dressed heavily for the occasion, all parts wind-proofed and insulated. Still the paint froze on the palette and the slow-drying salty water was a pain as usual. 

Tour bus Dominion building,watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026

To keep things moving I did two paintings at a time. For example, I painted the background elements for this one, worked on the bus painting, then finished this one with the dark overlays. The paint brush handles like a gooey crayon in these conditions, so its hard to paint straight lines. The left is a car rental building, the right is part of the impressive Sun Life building. 

Car rental Sun Life, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026

Being a 'square' instead of a 'park' means that they can lay a million expensive stone bricks instead of having grass. At least the square is still surrounded by tall trees which house many squirrels. The medieval-looking building in the background is the old Windsor Station, now a community center. As you can tell, Dorchester square is at the center of some historic parts of Montreal. Dorchester was a British army figure, in fact, the main street through downtown Montreal was called Dorchester until they renamed it after a Quebec politician. This square retains the name though. 

Snow piles Dorchester square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, February 2026