Ontario Trillium
In my part of Ontario, the annual appearance of Trillium heralds the arrival of Spring. Picking the flowers of Trillium can seriously injure the plant. The three leaves below the flower are the plant's only food source and a picked trillium may die or take many years to recover. While a popular belief is held that it is illegal to pick the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in Ontario, no such law actually exists. However, experience has shown that attempts to transplant trillium rarely succeed. I took only this photograph and left only a small footprint.
Snow Sculpture
Our part of Ontario is having an early winter, and this unusual snow sculpture seems to herald a long, long winter. There is a special beauty in freshly fallen snow, as long as we can look up from shovelling the stuff!
Street Racers
During the summer months my wife and I have a country hideaway alive with families, children and dogs. It's a treasure trove of photographs and reference pictures for winter watercolours. These two little girls drive by our place on a regular basis and I couldn't resist this as a typical summer shot. I'll be doing a watercolour of these two after Labour Day and I'll try to post if as a WIP/Demo.
On a recent return visit to the Niagara area where we used to live, this sign posted in the Botanical Gardens near Niagara Falls made us smile. The usual fine show of Spring bulbs looked a trifle sad. But is was Spring, and these bulbs made us realize summer was just around the corner.
This shot was taken down in the ravine at the foot of Niagara Glen, half-way between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Ontario. Just below me was the Niagara Gorge, and just beyond that is the U.S. For several years I used this shot as my summer "wallpaper" on my computer, and it symbolizes for me a crystal clear Ontario day after a snow fall. I've often debated whether I should crop this differently, but even with the picture split in two it still appeals.
"Lane's End" is a black & white photograph which goes back to the late 1940s, and is a classic example of luck in photography. Taken in the days before automatic exposure and built-in range-finder, this was taken with a Voightlander Bessa 2 1/4" x 2 1/4' square format. I was on holiday in Poole, Dorset, and I came across this dramatic shot of shadows and a builder's scaffold. I was intrigued by the way the sun angled across the brickwork and set up my camera and tripod. When I started to take my exposure readings with a separate exposure meter, and my distance with a separate range-finder the end of the lane was empty of people. As I was checking over everything and getting ready to actually take this shot those two men in sailor hats just turned up and stood there! I couldn't believe my luck. I was able to take several shots with quickly varying exposures before they moved on. I had not heard of the saying "Chance comes to the prepared mind", but this was one example I won't forget. I only regret colour film was yet to be developed for amateurs in those far-off days. Oh yes - I entered this shot in my local camera club contest and won an honourable mention.
It's the Fall harvest season in our part of Ontario, and the Farmer's Markets everywhere are displaying traditional crops. In this shot of a crate of pumpkins is the essence of harvest season. It reminds us that another summer has passed and we must prepare for the coming winter. Do you have any favourite watercolour paintings of Fall scenes you have done? Send them along to our "Your Galleries" section and we'll post them.
Water boy
Ah - summer time and the livin’ is easy. This little boy playing in the water seems to symbolize the summer season. This was taken at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Ontario, and I did a watercolour based on this photograph; I’ll post this in the months ahead. Handling the water proved tricky and I did some experiments which turned out nicely, and I’ll share these with you. So - if you live in in the northern hemisphere, enjoy your summer months, and store up plenty of reference material for later paintings. See you in September.
Australian mail-boxes
This unusual photograph of a row of rural mail-boxes near Gosford, N.S.W. was sent by our son Peter who lives in Australia. This so intrigued me I did a watercolour from this reference photograph and sent it as a gift. I'll post the watercolour in the months ahead. This great variety of mail-boxes would be strictly illegal in Canada of course, and Canada Post is hardly noted for its sense of whimsical humour. I'm not sure how practical some of these are, but they certainly have character. I still wonder who lives at Yango Park House.
In May, 2005, my wife and I were fortunate enough to spend a week in the beautiful English Lake District. This lovely panoramic shot was taken high up in the hills near Lake Windermere, and as I look at this photograph again, I wonder why we tend to paint in square or rectangular formats. Is it because the frames are cheaper? Is it because urban houses, condos and apartments are too small for this larger format? If this inspires you, be my guest. How I wish I could have set up my easel that day, but we were part of an eight-person mini-bus tour and had just enough time to wait for the sun to shine as it did. Minutes later it was gone and the Shangri-La effect was lost. I can still smell that indescribable damp earth smell, and the spring breezes that blew across that lovely valley were a memory I'll never forget.
Do you often need that little extra something to make you start painting? I know I do, and often it's a photograph I've taken in the past, or something in a magazine that stirs my thoughts. I think it was Ansel Adams, the famous U.S. photographer who said something like "Chance comes to the prepared mind". My photo of the month was one such chance event. My wife and I have a summer hideaway in the shape of a small mobile home/trailer in a lovely trailer park north of Toronto. We managed to get in one bright and sunny day to take winter photographs, and here is one shot. Maybe here is our next Christmas card?
