The Lodge had a half dozen serviced camping sites adjacent to their cabins, so we reserved a spot for a week in June and brought our travel trailer.

This is the view of the little island from the shoreline of Edgewater Park.

The island looks small and unassuming from this angle, but I suspected from seeing it last winter that the island might be more impressive from other viewpoints.

These Canada geese swam by as I was taking photos from the shore.

They might be just the thing a future painting could use in the foreground.

Luckily, we had our kayaks with us, and on the first calm day of our visit, we went for a paddle along the shore and over to the island.

I had my IPhone on board in a waterproof case so I could take pictures.

My husband, paddling in his kayak ahead of me, made for a good model in some of my photos, helping to show the scale of the landscape. The island looks quite wide from this angle.

As we circumnavigated the island, it was amazing to see how its appearance changed when viewed from different directions, and depending on whether the sun was shining or hidden by a cloud.

The lake water changed its appearance also. Sometimes it was a pale blue, sometimes a deeper blue, and other times the water was so clear we could see the sandy bottom.

There were quite a few different types of evergreens on the island and they made ever-changing groupings as we paddled by.

I particularly like the dynamic cloud and tree reflections in this scene. They would be challenging to paint but worth it.  I think a large scale painting would do this scene justice.

Here are more intriguing cloud and tree reflections. The slanting lines of the waves really catch my eye in this photo.

Parts of the shoreline were rock, which is one of my favourite subjects. The warm tones of the stone contrast nicely with the cooler hues of lake, sky, and trees.

Here are some lovely slabs of rock counterbalanced with a few interesting trees and rustic sheds. I am certain these rocky shorelines and their reflections will make their way into some northern lake paintings one day.

These are just a sampling of the many photos I took of this little island. Each of them is a seed with potential to grow into beautiful artwork one day. Nature is all around us, ready to inspire dozens of paintings. But sometimes, one magic island is enough.

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

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Usually my realistic landscapes begin with a full sized pencil drawing of the entire scene, based on one or more reference photos, before I apply paint to paper.

The five northern lake scenes pictured here were created this spring with a different strategy that pushed me out of my comfort zone of colour and composition.

I began all of the paintings at the same time, using combinations of purple and gold paint mixtures.

Each artwork would have serendipitous focal areas of glowing light. The location of the glow would determine the placement of the scene's horizon.

After taping my watercolour paper to rigid supports, I brushed on clear water and applied a layer of rich colour on each piece of paper, allowing the colours to blend on the wet surface. This photo shows the first layer complete. I let the paintings dry overnight, then re-wet the surface and added more colour.

I continued to add one layer per day, building up more intense colour over the course of a week.

Working on wet paper is very unpredictable and risky, since paint moves freely on the moist surface and I never know how successful my attempts will be until all the layers have dried.

When luck is on my side, this process can result in beautiful glowing skies and lake reflections. If not, I can turn over the paper and try again on the other side. (Been there, done that, many times!)

Once the backgrounds were done, I continued work on the paintings one at a time over a six-week period, completing each artwork before proceeding to the next.

The largest piece became Nature's Gift, varnished watercolour on 14 x 11 inch panel.

The inspiration for the sky was a photo by a Facebook friend, Noreen Ebel Luce, of a sunset on Lake of the Woods. She gave me permission to use her photo (shown here) as a painting idea.

Once I was happy with my many-layered watercolour sky and lake, I invented a pine tree for the foreground (work in progress pictured below left).

   

I saw that the composition was too heavy on the left side. I needed to either make the tree extend to the right, or add a second tree to the right of the first one. Since watercolour is a transparent medium, I knew I only had one shot at fixing this painting.

To help me decide which option would look better, I took a photo of the artwork in progress and printed out two copies on photocopy paper. Then I used coloured markers to 'test drive' my two ideas (pictured above right).

I liked the single large tree better, so I went with that option to complete the watercolour painting.

For more details about Nature's Gift, click here.

I decided to use the two-tree concept in my next painting, Sunset Duet, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel.

This pair of windblown pines pays tribute to the many beautifully sculpted trees I have seen in the Georgian Bay region. These steadfast conifers have spent a lifetime together, adorning this rocky shore. Hand in hand, they sing a quiet farewell to the setting sun.

I gathered several reference photos I had taken at Georgian Bay and sketched out an imaginary lake scene (shown here). With a few modifications, these morphed into a finished sunset painting.

Click here for more information about Sunset Duet.

Something about islands in a calm northern lake just draws me in. I want to hop in a canoe and get a closer look at the rocks and trees that have found a home there.

This idea resulted in the third painting of the series, Heaven on Earth, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel. 

Searching through my reference archives, I found these three lake photos taken throughout northern Ontario.

Using them as reference, I sketched a composite scene onto my watercolour background, inserting foreground rocks and canoe. Then I painted all the elements in subdued colours to give a feeling of dusky light to the scene.

Click here for more details about Heaven on Earth.

Dawn of a New Day, varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel, the fourth painting, was taken from my imagination.

Onto my watercolour background I sketched a simple, rocky island and a few trees, with their feet cloaked in a gentle mist.

I made the leafless tree sturdy enough to support a bald eagle, surveying his watery kingdom from a lofty perch. Soft reflections completed the painting.

Click here for more details about Dawn of a New Day.

One Last Look, varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel was the final painting in the series and the most technically difficult piece.

This scene is Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior near Marathon, ON. My husband and I spent a glorious week camping there last summer. Kayaking in Hattie Cove was a special memory of this trip. The surrounding rocky cliffs were so massive and impressive. I didn't want the day to end, and this painting commemorates this special place.

I used these reference photos from our visit, but I took them on a breezy day and my painting had calmer water.

This meant I had to create a whole new set of reflections, based on the physics of how light behaves. I studied a bunch of other reference photos of reflections on waves to understand the concept before completing my painting. I breathed a big sigh of relief when it was done successfully.

For more information about One Last Look, click here.

I hope you have enjoyed this look 'behind the scenes' of what goes on in my art studio. Determining layout concepts and painting approaches are key steps in creating meaningful, beautiful artwork that conveys authentic emotion.

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

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

March was a quiet and intense time for me and I was able to finish five new paintings. I continue to express my admiration for northern lakes and forests in my artwork, inspired by past trips to Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario.

Then I proceeded to create a larger interpretation of the same subject (four times the size of the first painting). I made the sky slightly more complex with some cloudy streaks running through it. I also added a few distant treetops to show how the white pine towers over the surrounding forest.

Thunderstruck, varnished watercolour on 16 x 16 inch panel, may have taken six years to come to fruition, but I still feel the same thrill looking at it as I did the first time I saw the battle-scarred white pine at Lake of the Woods. Click here for more information about Thunderstruck.

Early One Morning, varnished watercolour on 6 x 12 inch panel, was inspired by the old growth forest towering above the campground at Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior.

I wanted a gentle, warm mood so I created soft mixtures of peach and bronze using primary colours (Sennelier Red, Magenta, Sennelier Yellow Deep, and Phthalo Blue). 

I used these two reference photos of tree tops I had taken in the Park one evening, and assembled them into an imaginary dawn scene. I love the romantic peace of this time and place. Click here for more information about Early One Morning.

The marvellous Pebble Beach in the town of Marathon on Lake Superior has inspired yet another painting.

This one is Superior Sunbathers, varnished watercolour on 20 x 16 inch panel.

This beach is composed of smooth round stones the size of citrus fruits - from limes to grapefruits. The colours are rich and varied, especially when the stones are wet, and many have interesting stripes or other markings.

The scene never looks the same twice, with wind and sunlight affecting the behaviour of the waves and the colours of water and rock.

A few years ago, we were lucky to visit the beach on a calm, sunny morning, and I took dozens of photos from many angles.

Sometimes I had to put my camera almost in the water, viewfinder out of sight, hoping to capture the low point of view I was after.  The photo pictured here is one of those lucky shots.

Stones are one of my favourite painting subjects and it was pure pleasure to depict the beautiful details of this extraordinary place. Stay tuned for more paintings of Pebble Beach.

Click here for more information about Superior Sunbathers.

On the subject of multiple interpretations of a given scene, here is my third painting of this northern lake with dock and red canoe.

This piece is Spirit of the North, varnished watercolour on 18 x 24 inch panel. The first two versions were painted earlier this winter and you can read their story here.

Thank you to Pamela Weston for permission to use her reference photo (shown here) in the creation of my artwork.

I love to paint scenes that convey an unfolding story, immerse us in the beauty of nature, create a sense of joyful anticipation, hint at a mystery, or capture a precious memory. This scene checks all those boxes.

Click here for more information about Spirit of the North.

Currently, I have five new paintings of northern lake sunsets in progress in my studio and look forward to introducing them to you next month. I call them my 'purple and gold' series...

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

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

After a year spent focusing on my starlight series, making paintings featuring moonlight, northern lights, and sunsets, I felt the urge to paint rocks again.

If you don't already know, rocks and I go way back... All my life, I have felt the magnetic pull of stone, from mountains to boulders to pebbles to grains of sand. I find all these forms of rock to be utterly fascinating and beautiful.

Perhaps it was my childhood spent near Algonquin Park, surrounded by the terrain of the Canadian Shield, that makes me instinctively drawn to rock-filled wilderness scenery.

So, last month I pulled out some reference photos I took last summer on Lake Superior while we camped at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park near Rossport, ON. This is a gorgeous park with a pebble beach and huge boulders and bedrock along the shore.

I love to explore these rocks and ponder how Nature carved these shapes with water, wind, and ice. Imagine the stories this stone has witnessed over millions of years. 

I had dozens of inspiring photos to choose from and settled on this gem featuring a huge rock slab shoreline. When I took the photo, I made sure a tree was reflected in the large puddle. I made a vertical shot so the cracks in the foreground rocks lead the eye into the scene. The photo had been taken on a partly cloudy day but I was able to lighten and brighten it before printing, to simulate a sunnier scene.

I decided on a half sheet painting (22 by 14 inches) that fit a custom art panel and float frame I had on hand, and sketched the scene onto 300 lb watercolour paper.

After making colour tests to make sure I could mix the colours I would need when painting this subject, I selected Sennelier primary paint colours (Sennelier Red, Sennelier Yellow Deep, and Phthalocyanine Blue) and Neutral Tint made by Maimeri.

Only these four colours would be used to paint this scene. Both Sennelier and Maimeri make fantastic artist quality paints and I have been delighted to work with them on several occasions.

In my paintings of rocky subjects, I paint the dark shadows and cracks first and then add the stone colours afterwards. This sequencing took me several years to develop and is the reverse of traditional watercolour methods (which often begin with large pale washes and darks are added at the end).

My method lets me paint shadows and dark details while I can see my pencil lines clearly. I have learned it is best to use a staining mixture for the black colour, so subsequent colour layers don't blur the black lines too much.

As I painted this scene, I kept pausing to take photos of my work in progress, so I could show you the steps involved in creating this painting.

Here is a one-minute time lapse video that summarizes the steps involved and shows you the flow of this painting from start to finish.

Click on the picture below to view the video.

This painting has been acquired by a collector in Pakistan (read that story here), but custom print reproductions of this image are available through my print-on-demand publisher FineArtAmerica. Click here for details.

I have many more dramatic photos of this beach and am looking forward to creating more paintings of this remarkable place. If you are a 'rockaholic' like me, you will understand my compulsion.

Here is a photo I took of my husband looking out into the lake that really inspires me. I love the scale of the rocks and their lichen-covered surfaces. I will attempt a painting of it one day soon. 

Do you have favourite spots on Lake Superior I should visit? If you have suggestions or comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

In a previous post, Smoke on the Water, I revealed four paintings inspired by our time at Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario this summer. After our stay there, my husband and I slowly traveled east for a few weeks, exploring the north shore of Lake Superior.

Luckily, we obtained the last available camp site (shown here) in Pukaskwa National Park near Marathon, for a week-long stay. We enjoyed hot sunny weather every day, which is rare on the Lake Superior shore. A 50-amp electrical hookup, as well as music from our satellite radio, were icing on our cake.

Pukaskwa (pronounced PUCK-a-saw) has been a National Park for over 40 years and covers an area of 1,878 square kilometres (725 sq mi), protecting part of the longest undeveloped shoreline anywhere on the Great Lakes. This photo shows me kayaking in a protected bay near our campground. 

We were so charmed and delighted by this gorgeous park that I have posted a photo article entirely devoted to the highlights of our stay. See Pukaskwa: Lake Superior Perfection (Top Ten Photos).

For now, I would like to show you the first six paintings this special place inspired me to create. I assumed my initial pieces would feature magnificent Lake Superior water and rocks, but in fact the trees start out as the stars of this show.

One evening during our stay, we were strolling through the campground and I noticed how beautiful and varied the tall tree silhouettes were against the twilight sky.

I took a few dozen reference photos such as this one, looking up at the treetops.

Back in my wee mobile studio (otherwise known as the dinette in our trailer), I let my imagination run loose. I wondered what would those trees look like with a radiant sunset, starry night sky, northern light display, or a combination of these backdrops.

These paintings are the result of absorbing the essence of this magical place and letting my creativity soar.

#1: Sweet Dreams, varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

#2: Nightfall, (below) varnished watercolour on 12 x 9 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

#3: Awakening, varnished watercolour on 9 x 12 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

#4: Last Light, (below) varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

Then I progressed to these northern lights scenes:

#5: Night Fire, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

#6: Night on Fire, (below) varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel. Click here for more information about this piece.

I look forward to sharing with you more inspiration from this exquisite National Park. Stay tuned!

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

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

All my life, I have felt the magnetic pull of stone, from mountains to boulders to pebbles to grains of sand.

Perhaps it was my childhood spent near Algonquin Park, surrounded by the terrain of the Canadian Shield, that makes me instinctively drawn to rock-filled wilderness scenery.

Pictured here is 'Superior Jewels' (varnished watercolour on 20 x 16" panel), a painting that features the beautiful weathered stones of a Canadian Shield fresh water beach.

Many people I meet at art shows or in my art classes are as captivated by beach pebbles as I.

We often talk about our shared fascination with smooth stones, especially those displaying unusual colours or interesting patterns.

During a classroom chat about four years ago, one of my painting students suggested I would enjoy a visit to Pebble Beach in the town of Marathon on Lake Superior's northern shore.

Since then, my husband and I have visited this beach once or twice every year.

Shown here are three views looking eastward along the shore, photographed during three separate visits.

The beach and lake look different every time, due to the weather conditions of the moment (sun, clouds, fog, wind).

Marathon's Pebble Beach is composed of smooth round stones the size of citrus fruits - from limes to grapefruits.

The colours are rich and varied, especially when the stones are wet, and many have interesting stripes or other markings.

One wonders how stones from many different rocky origins ended up in one place. Imagine the journeys they have undertaken over millions of years to reach this gathering place.

I always wear my hiking boots to explore this beach, as walking on these piles of shifting 'bowling balls' with camera in hand is a tricky prospect.

Shown here is the westward view along Pebble Beach.

So far, I have completed two paintings of this beach, choosing a low point of view for the composition to give the stones more prominence. Both of these paintings have been acquired by private collectors.

I photographed each step of my painting process and created one-minute time lapse videos, to show you the flow of these paintings from start to finish.

Click on the pictures below to view the videos and get an idea of how I work.

The Making of 'Superior Jewels' (2021):

The Creation of 'Superior Gems' (2018):

I have many more dramatic photos of this beach and am looking forward to creating more paintings of this remarkable place. If you are a 'rockaholic' like me, you will understand my compulsion.

Here is a photo looking out into the lake that really inspires me. I will attempt a painting of it one day when I need a serious 'pebble fix'. 

Do you have favourite spots on Lake Superior I should visit? If you have suggestions or comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Shown here is 'Our Place' an 11 x 14" watercolour that I created recently for good friends of ours, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

This lovely cottage property named 'Screeching Pines' is in the Haliburton Highlands region of Ontario. My husband and I have spent many weekends there, in all seasons, over the last 30 years.

Back in the day, this building was a commercial establishment - a dance pavilion - and after purchasing it, our friends moved the structure onto a new foundation and basement walkout level. Now there are nine comfortable bedrooms plus loft, 4 modern bathrooms, a large garage, a well-equipped kitchen, and an enormous great room with cathedral ceiling - room for a whole gang of people.

In winter months when snow was plentiful, a big group of us would go snowmobiling from here, returning at the end of each riding day, grateful for a warm fire and delicious food followed by board games and conversation.

In spring and fall, we often joined the seasonal changeover crew, putting the dock in or out of the lake, getting snowmobiles ready for riding or storage, cleaning, and working on whatever maintenance or upgrades were scheduled that season.

Occasionally in the summertime, we would drive up on our motorcycles for the day and enjoy some summer fun on the lake with our friends and their kids and grand kids.

So, even though I don't do many architectural commissions these days, when our friend asked if I could make a painting of 'Screeching Pines' in only two weeks, as a surprise 50th anniversary gift for his wife, from photos he would email me, I agreed.

The fact that I have spent so much time at this place, meant that my memory and imagination could 'fill in the blanks' where needed, and construct a scene that really captured the feeling of this special piece of heaven.

Despite time pressures, during the design and execution of this artwork, I stopped and took photos of the work in progress at many intervals. From these photos, I put together a time lapse video of the whole project. This custom video is my anniversary gift to our friends.

Click on the image below to view the 4-minute story.

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

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

For the last two months I have been working diligently in my art studio, completing the seven new watercolours shown below. During this late winter season, I have enjoyed making art beside my cosy fireplace, while daylight hours continued to lengthen outside my window. I welcome the advent of spring that is upon us.

You might assume my studio would be full of new paintings by now, with the pace I have been setting (painting an average of one painting each week since the fall), but most of my new works have gone on to collectors or out for display at my retail galleries. I still have two empty walls in my studio that need filling, but I am extremely grateful that my artwork is capturing the attention of collectors even during this pandemic.

The series of 'after dark' paintings I began late last year continues to intrigue me. It has been exciting to experiment with new pigment combinations and create these magically dusky skies. My latest batch of paintings includes scenes of sunset, twilight, starlight, moonlight, and dawn.

Today, I am sharing the stories behind the creation of these new artworks, beginning with the two blue moonlight-on-water scenes.

These two varnished watercolours are different sizes of the same scene. On the upper left is Moonbeam Dream (8 x 8" panel) and on the lower right is Moonbeam Melody (10 x 10" panel). In both pieces, the reflection of a full moon shimmers on the lake like a dancing flame. The heavens are so dark a blue they almost appear black - a perfect backdrop for the celestial bodies that shine in the night. 

The smaller painting was requested by a client and I enjoyed painting this simple but evocative scene so much that I proceeded to make the larger one as well. I also painted this scene in February for another client. It's a popular scene.

These paintings were inspired by a photo I took of the full moon over Lake Ontario last summer. We were camping steps from the shore and the blue of the water and sky was captivating. Thankfully my camera was able to capture the rich colour (shown at right).

To make the distant headland more interesting, I changed it to a group of islands I photographed at Lake Superior (shown below). I had to imagine what the islands would look like in moonlight rather than sunlight. I also added the stars to make the scene extra special.

Click here for more details about Moonbeam Melody.

The next painting shown here is Dancing With the Moon, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10" panel. A stately pine bows gracefully towards a resplendent moon playing peekaboo with a delicate swirl of clouds. Together they dance under a canopy of stars.

The genesis for this painting was a photo I took at my sister-in-law's home on Lake of the Woods. We were sitting at her camp fire one evening last summer when the full moon rose over the trees (shown below left) and I grabbed my camera. I loved the soft blue and purple colours of the sky that were revealed when I lightened the digital photo later on.

I found another photo I took during that trip, of tree tops in Lake Superior Provincial Park (shown below right). I used some of the dramatic tree silhouettes in the painting.

Click here to see more details about Dancing With the Moon.

Shown here is Land of a Million Stars, varnished watercolour on 16 x 12" panel. The slim elegance of these trees hides an indomitable strength that allows them to withstand decades or even centuries of frigid northern winters. Their perseverance is rewarded on perfectly clear nights by a glimpse of the Milky Way.

This painting was inspired by a photo taken by my Facebook friend Randy Whitbread, an avid photographer who lives in Flin Flon, Manitoba. When I saw his photo (below right) , I knew it would make a super painting, although a technically difficult one (and I was right).

When I was close to finishing, I decided my painted sky was too bland. I referred to the photos of another Facebook friend, professional photographer James Shedden from Magnetawan, ON to add my interpretation of the Milky Way. An example of his beautiful night photography is shown below left.

  

I am tremendously grateful to these intrepid fellows who allow me to use their photos in my paintings. They can capture northern night images that I cannot.

Click here for more information about Land of a Million Stars.

 

Shown here is Twilight Magic, varnished watercolour on 6 x 12" panel. Northern lakes are the places in nature that heal the stress of my busy life, calm my mind, and restore my equilibrium. I love them beyond measure and cannot imagine a life that does not offer frequent immersion in these magical landscapes throughout the year.

This photo was inspired by the photo (shown here) posted on Facebook by our friend and former neighbour, Lee Warner of Port Perry, ON. This is the view from the property where she used to live. I loved the way the last rays of sunlight silhouetted the Muskoka chairs and distinctive cedar trees of the shoreline.

Click here to see more details about Twilight Magic.

 

Shown here is Morning Calm, varnished watercolour on 8 x 10" panel. This iconic diving raft is often seen in the quiet bays of northern Ontario lakes, near family cottages. A luminous sunrise reflected on the water makes the solitary raft our sole focus. It brings memories of summer fun, when swimmers played in the bay, and reminds us that soon summer will be here again.