01 February, 2026 0 comments Leave a comment

Since the turn of the year, I have been working away in my art studio, completing the four new watercolours pictured here.

During these cold months, I enjoy making art beside my cozy fireplace, while winter winds blow outside my window.

These new scenes were inspired by our incredible adventure to visit Churchill, Manitoba, on the shores of Hudson Bay, in 2024.

I shared the enthralling magic of this trip of a lifetime, including awesome photos and videos, in a previous post Witnessing Wonder: Polar Bears and Northern Lights.

Let's have a look at the paintings:

I love the way the northern lights seem to swirl through the starry sky, so I titled this scene Dancing With the Stars, (varnished watercolour on 9 x 12 inch panel).

If you are a student of watercolour, or interested in how beautiful things are hand crafted, see the full creation story of this painting in my previous post The Making of 'Dancing With the Stars'.

For acquisition inquiries or other information about this artwork, click here.

Shown here is Rhythms of the Night, varnished watercolour on 12 x 12 inch panel.

This vibrant artwork was inspired loosely by the reference photos below.

I photographed the green aurora from the dome car of the train transporting us overnight from Churchill to Thompson.

I saw the rocky shoreline during our Tundra Buggy tour outside of Churchill.

This point of land is at the mouth of the Churchill River, where it flows into the salty water of Hudson Bay, after a 1600-km journey from Saskatchewan.

For more details or purchase inquiries about Rhythms of the Night, click here.

The painting shown here, Guardian of the Sky, varnished watercolour on 12 x 12 inch panel, was the third painting in this concurrent collection.

Reference photos provided a jumping-off point for my painting.

I saw the band of northern lights one epic evening, displayed over Cross Lake, near Wabowden, Manitoba.

We were camped on the shore of the lake, and the rays of scarlet, pink, and green aurora danced throughout the entire dome of the sky for several hours.

Words cannot express the wonder we felt as we witnessed this natural phenomenon. It was an overwhelmingly moving experience.

The storm-sculpted white pine I photographed during a camping holiday in the Temagami region of northern Ontario years ago, and has been featured in several of my paintings.

For purchase inquiries and other information about Guardian of the Sky, click here.

And finally, the polar bear painting...

The final painting of the set of four is my first watercolour featuring northern lights and a polar bear.

I titled this piece Guardian of the Night, varnished watercolour on 12 x 9 inch panel. 

The title is ambiguous; it could refer to the polar bear, guarding his or her territory, or it could refer to the aurora watching over their vast northern kingdom.

Either way, I created the scene to honour the memory of our incredible experiences in northern Manitoba.

The northern lights reference photo shown here I took from the Churchill train, and the bear I photographed from the safety of a Tundra Buggy, on the shores of Hudson Bay near Churchill.

If you want more information about Guardian of the Night, or may be interested in acquiring it, click here.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my latest paintings. It was very satisfying to imagine and invent beautiful wild places bathed in spectacular aurora light.

If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post.

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