577 Snow Berries and Birch Leaves

I stole a few moments today to do this study of autumn leaves and snow berries I found on a walk. 

576 Chili Peppers

These are some chili peppers my cousin dried this summer. Locally grown and sold door to door by a neighbor. They are almost black red and they all curl in interesting ways. I enjoyed the shadows as much as the pappers.

575 Dried Flowers Study

I'm a house guest for a few days this week and didn't want to push my welcome by making a mess painting in my cousin's home. So I took out my water colours and painted flowers from the dried bouquet on her dining room table. 

574 Montreal the Ritz

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I love painting Montreal Cityscapes.  This is a Montreal Rue Sherbrooke scene during the holiday season.

573 Japanese Maple Leaf Study

These Japanese maple leaves have stems that back up on an odd angle. They's very pretty though. 

572 Autumn Forest, Mount Doug

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It was back to Mount Doug today. A lovely day, raining lightly, not too cold.   The moss was such a bright green, the maple leaves orange red and burnt sienna, and the snow berries on their bare slim branches seemed to dance in the air. I felt enchanted today surrounded by all this beauty.

Emily Carr painter here as well. In 1942 She claimed to have had a vision that inspired her to paint at Mount Doug Park.  She said she felt the forest had something to tell her. This is where she painted her last works which were both mystical and enchanting.

Here's a photo of my setup in situ.

571 Chinese Empress Leaves

This is a sprig from the Chinese Empress tree on the lawn of the Parliament Building. It was a great find. On the lawn amongst thousands of other leaves. It spent the night in the crisper of my fridge. It's a good way to keep them from drying up quickly.

Here's a photo of the sprig.

570 Red Maple Leaf

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I found this amazing red leaf today and just had to paint it. I looked it up and think it is a silver maple leaf. The sugar maple. I think it's the real Canadian Maple leaf that the Canadian Flag is about. I found it on the lawn of the Parliament Building. So that might be further evidence supporting this theory. But I'm not an expert so I titled it what I knew for sure to be true. It's red. Wonderful orange red with wonderful cadmium and crimson veins, with splashes of yellow and drops of oxide green and cerulean blue and ivory black and paynes grey (sp?) and quinacridone orange and yellow ochre.......Stop  Painting this wonderful leaf was just so much fun.  Here's a photo of my set up. I think I captured it well. Should I have painted the scotch tape in?

569 St Catherine Street

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Here's Rue St Catherine at the time of long shadows. 

568 Montreal Downtown Winter

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Here's a typical downtown scene after a big snow dump. All the snow in the world doesn't bring Montreal to a halt. They just bring out the ploughs. 

567 Golden Maple Leaf

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Here's another Beauty.  Autumn leaves make a gorgeous bouquet. The keep better in the fridge than on the table. I began this one night ant finished it the following day. The leaves had curled so the shadows might be off.  I like it anyway.

566 Snow Berries

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It was fun painting these.  Snow berries are just so pretty. When I was a kid I liked popping them under my shoe. 

565 Montreal Skyline

This is the view from my sister's balcony in Hochelaga. What a wonderful view. It might be Notre Dame Basilica. What ever church it is it's gorgeous on the skyline.

564 Chestnut Leaf

Here's a watercolour study I did of a chestnut leaf. The next block is lined with chestnut trees and chestnuts and leaves are covering the sidewalks.  There are so many beautiful colours and shapes in leaves. I'm like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to leaves. There's a pile of them on my table waiting to be painted. (I find it strange there are no insects on them as there would be in the summer....are they hibernating?)

563 Charlottetown Winter Morning

Most Canadians like to go someplace warm during the winter but not me. I want to go where inspiration takes me.
Snow is all about shadows and reflections.

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562 Matin d'Hiver Montreal

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Here's a cold winter morning in Montreal. Parking is a nightmare in winter. People get desperate. That's not my car parked in front of the hydrant.
I love the warm shadows and cool skies.

561 Charlottetown Winter Evening

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Here's a snowy winter night scene from Charlottetown. I believe these folks were just leaving late mass at the Basilica. Not cold, nor snow, nor rain, not even hurricane keeps Islanders inside.
I really like this little painting. 

560 Avenue du Musée

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I just love painting snow, slush, wet pavement, and twilight. There is a wonderful play of light with these elements that is dynamic and exciting like a favourite song. I love the way branches are lit by street lights against the night shadows.

559 Montréal Hiver

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I just finished this painting. Sorry about the glare. I love winter paintings. Painting the shadows on the snow is a fun challenge. The typical after the snowfall Montreal scene where people and cars make their way down the middle of the street and clamber over neck high snowbanks. So glad to have a warm cosy place to be tonight.

558 Leaf Study

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Here's another leaf study I did today. What kind of leaf is it? I picked it up yesterday having fallen under it's warm orange spell. Sigh. I like the tear in it's tip. 

557 Maple Leaf Study

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Today it is sunny but cold outside. It is around zero C (30 deg F). Not that bad really but I felt like staying in my cozy little space all day with the heat on.  I just love sketching. I happen to have a big pile of autumn leaves on my table. Here is one big maple. I found it yesterday on my way home from errands. It was really yellow then and flat. Overnight it curled up and started turning hues of raw and burnt sienna. It's still beautiful!

556 Charlottetown Winter

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This painting is from my winter spent on Prince Edward Island.  Charlotte is such a charming and quaint city. So cozy with the tight little streets lined with crooked wooden century homes and snow piles. 

555 Maple Leaf Study

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This is a watercolour study I did today. I haven't done watercolours in a few years so I'm rather rusty. Watercolours are so relaxing to do compared with oils. When I paint with oils my muse is highly charged and energized.  But with watercolours my muse is serene and delicate. Are they actually separate muses? There's a muse for every mood.

554 Sweet Dream

This is an alla prima painting I did at a life painting session with the Sketch Club. The model was particularly graceful.

553 Rue Jeanne-Mance

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This is another image from the neighbourhood where I grew up.  Montreal is especially lovely in the autumn with all the maple trees in colour. Parking is way difficult and they now have bicycle lanes running all over the place. Good thing there's lots of posts to chain your bike to.

552 Av du Parc

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This is a scene near my mother's home in Montreal. Why is rain so beautiful? I really enjoyed painting this. I used a larger painting I did a few years ago as a reference. (Usually it works the other way)

551 Autumn Forest

It was an an amazingly beautiful day at Goldstream Park. The autumn colours are so inspiring! The salmon are swimming upstream to spawn. Thousands of them. It's an amazing spectacle. The smell of rotting fish is in the air as well. It's a seagull and eagle buffet. The forest is amazing too. Old growth towering overhead and branches blackened and covered with moss twisting at strange angles.  At first I thought these branches are so clumsy and considered painting them with more graceful curves. But once I really gave them my attention I realized they had a grace of their own. I painted them just as I saw them. 

550 Charlottetown

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Winter in Charlottetown is so pretty, and snowy. You can cross-country ski around the downtown area after a snowfall. The earth is so red that if you're new to PEI it might look like somethings been run over on the road on a slushy day. Those  towering steeples are from St Dunstan's Basilica.