Ice river trees and tomb stones

After yesterday's commotion downtown I felt more like some peace and quiet and a few nice trees to paint. Taking the bus, then walking, I arrived atop Mount Royal. In 2021 I wrote a funny blog about my Climb up mount Royal. No drama today... the first painting shows an idyllic scene of trees on a rolling landscape, with just slight hints of melting snow. 
 

Pleasant tree line, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

 

Truth is, the heaps of snow were melting fast, which created an ice river down the walking path, with the refurbished chalet in the background. Tall metal poles marked the path, a lot of people were trying to tip toe around slush and water. 

Ice river, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Had I brought galoshes it may have been possible to venture further into the park. With just my leather winter boots I had to stay on relatively dry ground, like the path around Beaver Lake. You can see how the ice is thawing, which created a variety of colours, textures and reflections. 

Melting Beaver Lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

On the way down the hill I saw a brilliant blue horizon with tomb stones in the middle ground, and trees overlapping. It was kind of a fun painting to do, a fierce wind was blasting me, but with higher temperatures it was no more than an annoyance. Cars zipped down Chemine Remembrance, that is the name of the road on the west side, on the east side its called Voie Camillien-Houde which will stay open for the foreseeable future. There were plans to turn that road into a bike/pedestrian pathway, but cars are more important. 

Blue horizon tomb stones, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026