Hello all,

There is no doubt about it. Fall is my favourite time of the year. The kids are back in school, the boots and sweaters come out, and the fall colours appear. Here at Sun Peaks that means primarily yellows from the aspens and some birch. Later in the fall, though, the brilliant reds and oranges also appear in the underbrush. Trying to catch it all I have been out constantly taking pictures. Hundreds of pictures. While I admit these pictures all look more or less the same, in my minds eye every scene is more wonderful than the next.

One location that features commonly in my paintings the path to the Whitecroft Waterfall. There there is a micro climate of ferns, mosses as well as more deciduous trees than up here and a great variety of coniferous. There is also a dramatic gully, rushing water and the falls themselves (which are amazing but so far have been hard to capture in photo or paint). This painting takes advantage of the drama to provide a scene that is bright and profuse.

To my eyes, this canvas is brighter than my usual. I credit another lucky happening of September for this. Our art club was able to lure one of my favourite contemporary artists, David Langevin, up here to do a workshop. In the past I have been resistant to workshops and group painting (mostly out of stubbornness). I can see my folly in that now. I learned more practical painting skills in 7 hours that day than in 10 years of painting on my own. It is going to take me awhile to fully digest and practice his advice, but I am already feeling the benefits. Thank you David! You are welcome back any time!

That said, it is time to start a new sketch for a canvas that will hopefully be this years’ offering for the Sotheby’s Auction up here in Sun Peaks. This year I am going for an early Autumn snow scene because, you guessed it, we got an early autumn snow. Too early to be useful and it sort of shortens my favourite time of year. But I will embrace whatever the weather can throw at me up here because it is all beautiful. And I have no choice. And I already have hundreds of autumn source photos .. so onward with the yellows, oranges and reds.

Happy painting