I'm back to my favourite spot on the planet for this image. It's on Pender Island where my parents live. I told Alan to scatter my ashes here if I die before him. Just a magic place for me.

I have never painted this particular arbutus before because the setting for it didn't make a perfect composition. However, the advantage of having painted so many arbutus before have led to me being much more confident about inovation. I moved trees and rocks, changed the colours on the main tree and was happy with what I ended up with.

"One Day in August"  30 x 40" acrylic. The painting is now on the wall at Granville Fine Arts Gallery in Vancouver.

Hope Bay finished

Here's the completed painting of Hope Bay, plus a 30 x 40" acrylic that I did of the Salmon river near my house in Fort Langley. These paintings will go with me when I go to Sidney on September 7th.

I'll be doing a demo in the Peninsula Gallery in Sidney in the afternoon of the 7th. Come and see me if you live in the area- everyone welcome.

Last Wednesday was my first annual Paintout and Artist's picnic at Whytecliff Park. We had a great turnout and perfect weather. The consensus was that it's a great location so next year's event will be at the same spot. Hope you can join me next summer.

Hope Bay in stages

I haven't posted any sequential pictures for a while. Here's the stages of today's work- I started this 24 x 36"piece this morning. It's about half way along. I'm really enjoying painting it and looking forward to trying to get those underwater rocks really working. The second half of my paintings take longer but I will post more images as it progresses.

More Arbutus trees

While looking for something new to paint, I went through some old files of photos from Thormanby Island. The reference photo for this painting was taken in 2009. I never recognized it at the time as something interesting to paint but it stopped me in my tracks this time. The trees were smaller and quite hidden by foliage but I've painted enough arbutus trees by now that I know how to create them without much to go by. I love the colour palette in this piece ; " Against the Sky" 30 x 40" acrylic.

I will be doing a painting demonstration at Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver this Sunday, August 11th  from 1:00 to 3:00. It's free- come and see me if you are in the area.