Category Archives: Sketches, etc

Quick sketches done mostly on a daily basis of home, cities visited and holidays.

Fall is here in the Gatineau Hills, 2025

The  hills are adding orange, lime and crimson to their colour scheme. This is the « in between season » not hot or cold, wet or dry – each day has it’s own personality. Below are two paintings originally painted earlier this summer but with the season changing to autumn here they lended themselves to this early fall colour scheme.

The sheep are kept close to the barn probably because we have stray dogs and coyotes in our area. As usual, they chose between grazing or curiously staring at the viewer.

September Sheep , oil on canvas, 12 x 12, 2025
The Rupert barns are always a mystery on how they manage to stay upright. It’s been years since any maintenance. My thoughts are the Irish settlers where proud farmers who built and maintain these barns for their cattle, hay and grain storage. These barns are testimonial to a passed rural life when  well built barns, livestock and farm implements were a status of prosperity and success.

On the road to Rupert, oil on canvas,12 x 14, 2025

Sure sign summer has arrived 2025

It’s been a bumpy ride here in the Gatineau Hills, sometimes it’s 29 Celsius and then 6. Nature is always in charge and delivers the weather as it likes.
Wonderful to see the peonies starting to bloom in the garden and the Spatterdock flowering on the local waterways.

Peonies, watercolour, Hahnemühle, 12×16 inches, cold press, 140 lbs, 2025

 

Spatterdock, 28 by 20, oil on canvas, 2024

 

Spring Thaw 2025

Last day of March and Mother Nature is calling the shots here – snow, freezing rain and more rain.

View from local Quarry before ice is out of the Gatineau River, oil on canvas, 36×24, 2025

When we have the “betweenness” not winter not spring, I looked to the budding trees, rotting ice and blue horizon for inspiration and always the generous spirit of  the Gatineau River and hills supplies it. Hurrah!

Winter is here

Mother Nature is in charge here with 25 cm of snow in our first winter storm. Of course, she precedes with rain, ice and mild weather.

Oil on canvas, 10×10, 2024

I titled the above “when a day makes a difference “ because November was mild and the sheep were turned out in a pasture enjoying new growth after late and final hay cut. Shortly after the snow started.

Oil on canvas, 12×25, 2024

These sheep are resilient to this changing weather pattern. Here they huddle together and make a decision to head back to the barn.

Now it’s official winter is here with solstice marking the shortest day of the year  yesterday Saturday 21 At 4:20 am. Best wishes to all for the end of 2024 and forward and onward to 2025.

Not Winter nor Fall

Halloween and All Saints’ Day are over and the hills have lost their fall foliage – time to move on to another season. It’s a striped down landscape where the hills, sky and Gatineau River dominating with dark foreboding colours.

The silver lining is the local farmland where recently mowed hay fields enjoy the recent rain and warmth giving us a beautiful green carpet.

Gatineau Farmland, oil on canvas, 20x20

Gatineau Farmland, oil on canvas, 2024