Habs game 6 action, outside Bell Center

It was total mayhem downtown in Montreal tonight outside of the Bell Center where the Montreal Canadiens (nicknamed the Habs) were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 6 of the series. I found a spot outside of the McDonald's with good light, and a spot to nestle my bike in without getting over run by fans. A cop car sat there blocking the main road to the arena, which was just for fans and a big screen outside. The Habs colours are blue white and red (bleu, blanc, rouge) and the McDonald's was yellow (Jaune). The cop car was also red white and blue which is kind of neat. I liked the sky which was just on the verge of night time, I did it with indo blue (PB60), phthalo blue on the horizon (PB15), and a streak of pyrol orange (PO73) with indo blue at the very top. 

Bleu blanc rouge (et jaune), watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Here was the scene looking towards the arena (which is on the right, unseen in the painting). A large crowd was cheering loudly, and I could hear the massive crowd inside of the arena, and hear the whistles from the ref and the announcer call, and the sound of the sticks and pucks though loudspeakers. Waves of cheering kept going, although I could not see the score, only the back of the screen. Incidentally it was 0 - 0 the whole game, and Tampa scored in overtime to take it to a game 7 in Tampa. 

Bell Center big screen, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

This was the first painting I did, after approaching the scene along the st Jacques bike path. A cop car blocked the road here too, and there were cruisers parked all over. The Bell Center is seen up in the background, with the Bonaventure station ramp going over to the upper left. Another watercolour painter stopped and talked to me, she had her paint kit with her, and we will follow each-other on Instagram, that was kind of neat. I made the traffic lights on the left red, blue and white to go with the theme. 

Bell Center game 6 Montagne street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Red river and Assiniboine river, Fork

Assiniboine river is a tributary of the Red River, they meet at a fork in the center of Winnipeg, in fact, these rivers were a main reason Winnipeg formed as a city to begin with. Assiniboine is the name of a First Nations peoples of the northern Great Plains, while Red River might have something to do with its colour, there was a silty iron-oxide look to it. This painting shows two geese taking off from the Red River, from the vantage point of The Forks, a National park that has been a meeting ground for over 6000 years. Geese were honking the whole time I painted along the rivers, and I had to watch where I was stepping! 

Geese flycing over Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Here I was standing in South Point park, it is a triangle of land where the Assiniboine and Red rivers meet... the former is on the left, the latter on the right. A giant tree with many trunks anchored itself exactly on the point, it was a stony ground with packed earth. 

Forks point tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Standing on the same spot, looking upstream along Red River, there was a view of the Norwood bridge, part of the Trans Canada highway. The trees in Winnipeg were interesting, medium sized with very chaotic, zig zag branches. There were no leaves out yet, barely a hint of green. When I got back to Montreal, things were turning green. 

Norwood Bridge Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Still in the same location, I did a painting of the support structure of a footbridge that crosses from Point park to the Forks park across the Assiniboine river. Some colourful graffiti adorned the stones, although I changed it to be my initials and year. The bridge was closed however, I guess they open it more in tourist season. It was early morning for these paintings, so you can see the morning glow and shadows. 

Graff under bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

This is the first painting I did on the Winnipeg trip early in the morning, I caught a view of the sun coming through some light cloud cover through trees. I was standing along the embankment of the Assiniboine river, so the south Point Park is across the way. In the foreground, you see a walking path descending into water, the whole pathway along the shore was flooded out, and several staircases went down into water. The city had blocked off such paths until waters recede. 

Assiniboine overflow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Further downstream is the Forks historic port, now a tourist 'trap', there were restaurants and souvenir shops here, I bought a few items. A small beach was at the river-side, with thick mud covering the lowest tier. Birds' footprints were all along the mud, to which I added my initials in the painting (not in real life). The base of a train bridge can be seen in the background. I did a lot of paintings of trains, I will post in a separate blog. In fact, I did 45 paintings in total in Winnipeg, so a few more blogs to go! 

Mud beach bird prints, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

The furthest point I reached downstream on the Red River, here you see the first major bend of the river to the right (south), after which it turns sharply back to the north. It was getting late here and the weather cooling off. A few geese swam near the shore. It was very peaceful.

Red River bend, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026