Trucks Under Cover

I was given some funny frames that look like badly rusted metal.  Like, they would fall apart if you picked them up.  I wasn’t quite sure why anyone would want a frame like that, but you never know.  When I had the idea to paint these rusty trucks under their zigzag snow, I suddenly remembered the rusty frames.  They are just like the license plate holder things.  It seemed like a suitable match so I painted a couple of 4 x 6 truck paintings to fit.

They are from the same photo, I just switched which trucks I put in.  And I took the light off the top of the one in the top photo (did the tow guy forget it?) and replaced a headlight in the bottom one.  Oh the power of the artist 🙂

In Progress

The larger piece was Carolyn’s main focus, and only plan for a photo she took years ago.  However, she was digging for frames for the miniature show and found a couple of 4 x 6s that looked like rusty license plate holders – just the thing for a painting of rusty cars!  Doing the mini version on a deadline was great practice for the slow work of the larger one.  A lot of structural details that might have gone unnoticed got worked out by the second round.

Cloudscape

This has been the summer of clouds!  On the few days when it wasn’t actually raining, there were some fantastic fluffy white clouds.  On other days we had the dark and gloomy style, but so dramatic!  Here’s a view from just south of Spirit River.

Winter Whiteout

On days when snow is pouring down it silence of the world and the enormity of open territory are quite effective.  It is an artists’ paradise, well, at least for a photographer.  Even the hardiest of watercolourists can’t keep their washes from freezing on a day like this one.  Sometimes the camera can say it all anyway.  This barn exists in the open land near Spirit River, Alberta, and has withstood many storms like this one.

Big Skies at the Lodge

In keeping with our negative painting practice, we painted big prairie clouds at the lodge this week.  The idea was to use negative painting techniques to get the strong white edges on the clouds, then go back in to make the insides three dimensional.  These ladies are landscape painters so they each finished their painting in their own way.

White Ghosts

The smoke has been fairly thick here in the Peace Country the past few weeks.  Everything is dull and grey, with that weak, pinkish light.  The air smells sweet and sharp, maybe from bubbling sap?  Anyway, it isn’t pretty. I found these pictures from summer two years ago when the smoke was heavy as well.  Look very carefully and you can see a white ghost, or four, if your eyes are sharp, on the horizon.  Those are the grain elevators nine kilometres away.  Usually they are clearly visible. One of the elevators was torn down this summer.  Another prairie giant lost to the modern age of concrete.  Like lighthouses or churches, elevators used to be a beacon.  The mark of a prairie town: its focus and reason for being; the hub of all activity; visible for miles as a symbol of prosperity, hope and progress.  The concrete may not be as picturesque and the tower may be out of town aways, but the idea is still there 🙂

Snowshoeing Beside the Railway Bed

This is the best kind of winter day!  It might be colder than comfortable, but the sun’s rays are strong.  Everything is blue and white, but an incredible number of shades.  What colour are shadows in the snow?  Not black!

 

Fresh snow.

Sunlight and shadows.

Colour and contrast!

I didn’t notice the jet until I got home and looked at the photo.

The incredible intricacy of frost.

A sheltered spot, but chilly in the shade.

Shadow patterns are like stained glass windows laid on the snow.

Skylight.

The snaggle-toothed railway fence is surprisingly photogenic, filtering snow into drifts.

Fence posts are more interesting the older they get.

And curly grass is always a nice touch.

Simply perfect.

 

Wind Blown

Wind erosion of snow is fascinating!  We’ve had a lot of snow and wind lately, and now it’s very cold, very sunny and very windy, so perfect for snow sculpting!  Here are some shots from the wind blown prairies 🙂

 

Season of Shadows

We have beautiful, sparkling white snow on the ground once again!  And what colour are the shadows?  Blue!  Not black.  People sometimes get the idea that shadows have to be black, and they even want to paint them that way!  Nope.  Shadows come in many colours, and on a clear, sunny winter day, snow shadows are most definitely blue 🙂

PWS Goes Painting on the Ridge

Peace Watercolour Society members got together on Saturday for a painting expedition to the windmill ridge above Dawson Creek, B.C.  It was a spectacular place to paint!

An artist’s paradise spread out before us in every direction.  What to paint?  Well, that decision was driven by the wind.  There are not 35 windmills on this ridge because the breezes are the merest of zephyrs.  It was pull-out-your-hair windy!

See the trees leaning back from the edge, like they do on the coast?  Still, the wind was blowing us onto the rocks, not off them!  We watched rock climbers rappel down a sheer cliff not many paces from this spot.

One watercolourist hunkered down in a large gap between rocks.  Another sought spruce for protection.   I went for a little sandblasted walk along the ridge.  There were many nice views and lovely poplars.  Plenty of things to paint!

There were wonderful, enormous rocks populating the leaf litter as well.

You can see some of the layering in this rock.  It, and all the rest of the rock, is composed of fine gravel and sandstone, so it’s a cross section of ancient riverbed.  Weathering has left further interesting features.

More recently, trees have been taking their own toll on the rock.

 

This was not a place to lightly jump across a gap.

 

You might just fall off the end of the world!

The view off the east side was just as enormous.

It was altogether a lovely day.  Everyone painted.  Tomorrow I’ll show you what – and where – I painted 🙂