06 April, 2025 0 comments Leave a comment

Canada holds profound beauty in all its regions and seasons, and I am immensely grateful to live here. I have been painting the unique rocks of this country since the 1980's and they remain one of my favourite subjects to portray in watercolour.

In my latest painting series, I include a collection of rosy pink pebbles and a red maple leaf resting on a weathered board. Together these represent my rustic interpretation of the Canadian flag.

The concept for this series came from a daydream about the red pebbles (pictured here) that I was using as reference for a stone circle painting seven years ago.

I imagined adding a red maple leaf to the centre of the circle, and that lead to another idea: if I changed the shape to a rectangle it could resemble the Canadian flag. 

Then I pondered which light coloured, straight-sided, natural object could I use to represent the white part of the flag. I decided a weathered piece of lumber, such as one might use to build a dock or a deck, would be suitable, and add a 'cottagey' feel to the composition.

I sketched out my idea on watercolour paper, masked out the leaf and painted the weathered wood. After removing the masking, I painted the leaf. Then I masked out stripes on certain pebbles and painted them in various hues of soft reddish colours.

I thought the resulting painting Canada Rocks! #1 (shown here varnished and mounted in a black wood frame) was patriotic in a fun, outdoorsy way and it sold to a collector shortly after.

I intended to do more in the flag series but life (and a pandemic) took me on a different artistic path for several years.

Fast forward to 2025. With threats of annexation by the current leader of a neighbouring country, Canadians have experienced a profound rekindling of our national pride. Witnessing this huge wave of Canadian solidarity brought to mind my flag painting and I felt compelled to continue my series.

Click on the photos below for more information about these paintings.

The first version I completed this winter is shown above, Canada Rocks! #2, varnished watercolour on 6 x 12 inch panel.

Pictured above is the next version, Canada Rocks! #3, varnished watercolour on 6 x 12 inch panel). 

I keep all my painting references and preliminary sketches in an archive so I can refer back to them if needed. This habit came in handy for my flag project. 

The shapes of the leaves in this flag series are taken from actual maple leaves that I pressed and traced onto paper thirty years ago. At that time, I was using them in preparation for a collection of maple leaf paintings I created between 1997 and 2000.

I had such fun creating these whimsical little paintings that I came up with a few ideas for other versions of the flag. I'll be working on those in the next few months, so it you want to join the wait list please contact me. And if you have a suggestion for another rustic flag painting, I would love to hear it.

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