Paint Ontario is one of the province’s most celebrated art events, and this spring it returns to Grand Bend with a stunning collection of representational painting and sculpture inspired by life in Ontario. For over 30 years, the show has drawn artists and art lovers from across the province to the shores of Lake Huron for three weeks of exceptional art, learning, and community. 

This year is especially exciting for me: it’s my first time entering Paint Ontario, and I’m thrilled to have all three paintings accepted into the exhibition (pictured below, thanks to my friend Patti Burke who attended the show on opening day). Artists from across the province submitted 632 artworks into the competition, and only 264 pieces were accepted.

These juried paintings and sculptures are beautifully displayed in a transformed gallery space at the Grand Bend Legion Community Hall. Major awards were announced at the Opening Night Gala on May 1, with the Exhibition and Sale running from May 2–17. Along the way, visitors can enjoy on-site art demonstrations and special events that make each visit unique.

You don’t need to be a collector to enjoy Paint Ontario, just an admirer of beautiful art. The collection celebrates everyday moments and familiar scenes capturing the rich diversity of our province.

Best of all, supporting Paint Ontario means supporting the arts right in the community. Proceeds help fund local music programs, youth art camps, pottery facilities, and other cultural initiatives through the Grand Bend Art Centre.

Spring feels like the perfect time to slow down, be inspired, and experience something beautiful. Paint Ontario offers all of that and more. I hope you’ll make the trip to Grand Bend and enjoy the show with fresh eyes and an open heart.

Click here for more Paint Ontario 2026 details.

Your comments are welcome; please use the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

I’m excited to share a recent win from the studio. Here’s the note I received from the Society of Canadian Artists:

"Dear Karen Richardson,
Congratulations! On behalf of the SCA, it is our pleasure to inform you that your artwork Starting Over has been successfully juried into the SCA 2026 Open International Online Juried Exhibition."

Here are a few quick details about this show that made my acceptance feel extra special:
•    14 countries represented
•    1,180 artworks submitted
•    180 works selected (about 15%)
•    $14,000 in prize money awarded

Having Starting Over included in this renowned juried exhibition feels both thrilling and deeply affirming. I congratulate all the amazing artists who have work in the show. You can view the full online exhibition until May 15 here: SCA 2026 Open International Online Juried Exhibition.

Ironically, this 12 x 9 inch painting sat half-finished in a studio drawer for five years. Finding it again was the nudge I needed to either finish it or finally let it go.

View the behind-the-scenes-story of how I brought it back to life here: The Painting That Took 5 Years to Finish. It's a lesson in patience and tenacity for us all. Sometimes we just need time to ponder our options and come up with a new way forward. 

Feel free to click on “Leave a Comment” at the top of this post. I read every note.

Subscribe to My Studio Newsletter for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Bon Echo Provincial Park has been shaping my work quietly for months, but this spring, it’s also becoming part of where my work lives. I’m thrilled to share that Greystones Gift Shoppe & Café in Bon Echo Provincial Park will be carrying prints, cards, and original paintings from my Bon Echo Collection. 

Although my husband and I have explored a good portion of the Canadian Shield during our lifetimes, some exceptionally moving encounters have stayed with us. As an artist, I find they gently shape what I create next.

Our camping stay in Bon Echo Provincial Park, near Cloyne, Ontario last fall was profoundly memorable. (Over 200,000 visitors enjoy the park each year - for good reason.) Bon Echo's iconic feature - a tall granite cliff soaring over the pristine blue waters of Mazinaw Lake - has kindled a creative fire in my soul.

Pictured here are two of my new varnished watercolours in the Bon Echo Collection: Mazinaw Morning, 9 x 12 inches (above), and Mazinaw Mirror, 6 x 12 inches (below).

I shared the scenic highlights of our Bon Echo visit in my previous blog post The Magic of Mazinaw. If you view the photos and video therein, (or if you have visited this famous park) you will understand my enduring sense of wonder.

Seeing the park in person makes me want to capture this incredible landscape in watercolour, but an unexpected chain of events led to a deeper relationship with Bon Echo, and to my work being available at Greystones.

The Backstory

In 2024, I created this large painting of Mazinaw Rock (Echoes of Summer, varnished watercolour on 18 x 24 inch panel), inspired by a spectacular photo taken by my friend Kate. 

I loved the moment of morning light she captured, with a tiny kayaker paddling in the distance to show the massive scale of the cliff face, and featuring Turtle Rock, a prominent outcropping. 

Our mutual friends, Rob and Lynn, who have camped in Bon Echo Provincial Park every fall for at least 20 years, acquired the painting. I decided I just had to see this landscape in person, booked a camping spot, and we joined them the following fall. Kate and her husband were there too.

We spent ten wonderful days exploring the park on foot and by kayak and enjoying visiting with our friends.

Greystones Gift Shoppe & Café

The park store, called Greystones Gift Shoppe and Café, is housed in this historic log cabin, operated by Friends of Bon Echo Park, a non-profit volunteer-based group.

Greystones was a hive of activity during our September visit, offering tour boat tickets, ice cream, pastries, coffee, maps, books, games, souvenirs, park branded clothing, and an impressively fine selection of paintings, prints, and note cards created by regional artists.

All profits from Greystones are used to assist the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and Bon Echo Provincial Park staff in achieving their goals for the protection of park resources and in furthering educational and interpretive programs.

Our friend Lynn was certain that Greystones would want to sell prints of Echoes of Summer and urged me to show a photo of it to the manager.

When I did so, the manager said it was the best painting she had seen of Mazinaw Rock.

That lead to an email conversation over several months where we worked out an agreement.

The Bon Echo Collection (Available at Greystones)

Here’s the exciting news: during camping season (mid May to mid October), Greystones will be carrying matted prints and note cards of Echoes of Summer, along with six small original varnished watercolours featuring Mazinaw Rock.

I have been busy this winter preparing the artwork as well as a selection of my most popular note cards of Canadian Shield scenery.

•          Matted archival prints: $80 each CAD
•         Note cards: $7 each CAD
•         Small original varnished framed watercolours: $450–$700 CAD

Pictured above is another of these paintings, Mazinaw Majesty (10 x 8 inches), and all six paintings in the Collection are shown as a group below.

As an artist who enjoys and appreciates the natural wonders of our world, it is a true privilege to be able to contribute to the sustainability of one of Ontario's most popular provincial parks, through my art.

The Bon Echo Collection asks viewers to pause, to notice, and to recognize beauty, not as an infinite resource, but as something fragile and worthy of care. This park is a sacred inheritance, and my artwork offers a quiet, heartfelt testimonial for why it matters.

Bon Echo Provincial Park is located at 16151 Highway 41, near Cloyne, Ontario and offers day use passes, boat tours, and overnight camping, all of which need to be booked in advance. If you’re visiting Bon Echo this season, stop in at Greystones Gift Shoppe & Café. It sits beside the Visitor Centre on the lake shore, facing Mazinaw Rock. This Bon Echo Collection is available at Greystones from mid May to mid October, while supplies last. 

Hit “Leave a Comment” at the top of this post. I read every note.

Subscribe to My Studio Newsletter for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Over many decades, my husband and I have toured every province and territory of Canada, and the island of Newfoundland remains one of our favourite destinations. An unexpected encounter there would later inspire three very meaningful paintings.

My dragonfly journey began in 2007, when we visited Newfoundland for the first time. We camped there for two months, exploring all of its beautiful regions.

I wrote about this fantastic holiday here and we knew we would go back some day to experience more of this magical island.

A dozen years later, we returned to The Rock for a three month tour. During that trip, we encountered lovely people and beautiful scenery everywhere. I highlighted the most memorable photos, videos, and travel stories from that summer in these posts:

Top 14 Vistas of Newfoundland

A Whale of a Tale in Newfoundland

Seeing Caribou and Moose in Newfoundland

Now comes the Viking dragonfly part. During both summers, we made a point of visiting the Viking Settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site on the northern tip of the province.

Discovered in 1960, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, this archaeological gem is the first and only known site established by Vikings in North America and the earliest evidence of European settlement in the New World. 

Professional actors (authentically costumed as Vikings) serve as historical interpreters, showing and telling visitors about life at the settlement 1000 years ago.

In 2019, just after we enjoyed this immersive experience, we were walking on a boardwalk over the bog, and I noticed this gorgeous dragonfly on our path.

It was the largest specimen I ever had seen, with brilliant blue dots and dashes along its body. This exquisite creature stayed obligingly still while I took several close-up  photos. I knew they would make  excellent painting references one day.

That day came last summer, during our Airstream travels. I decided to create a small painting of a pebble beach.

I sketched a still life scene showing smooth stones from my pebble collection, nestled together between a few large boulders. One of those boulders became the dragonfly's perch.

When finished, I titled the painting A Place of Rest (varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel). A collector of my work in Georgia, USA, acquired the piece for her home. 

When I announced this happy news on Facebook, one of my followers commented "My favourite is gone..." so I asked if she would like me to make a similar painting for her.

She said yes, so I created a new version of the scene, and she acquired it in celebration of her milestone birthday. The second painting was titled Rocky Repose (varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel).

I thoroughly enjoyed making these two small paintings of my dragonfly and the subject kept speaking to me even after these pieces had left my studio.

Apparently, my dragonfly wasn't done with me yet. It deserved to be explored in a grander scale, so this winter I lovingly and meticulously crafted a third version in a more impactful size. I had to add new details to fill the larger spaces, inserting more stones and changing shapes and markings of others.

Pictured above is a collage of all three paintings showing their relative sizes. The two earlier pieces are on the right, and Love Changes Everything (varnished watercolour on 24 x 24 inch panel) is shown on the left.

As I reflected on why this subject continued to call me back, I began researching the deeper symbolism of dragonflies.

I discovered that they are revered as omens of good fortune in many cultures. These delicate, winged creatures are regarded as messengers of change or guides to new beginnings, and can represent loved ones who are no longer with us.

The title Love Changes Everything captures this symbolism and also is the title of a famous 1988 song by Honeymoon Suite, a Canadian pop metal band.

I hope you have enjoyed the tale of how a chance encounter with a dragonfly in Newfoundland evolved into three very special paintings. I’ve learned to pay attention when a subject keeps calling me back - because sometimes it’s leading me somewhere meaningful.

For more information about Love Changes Everything, click here.

Your suggestions and comments are welcome; please use the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

If you are familiar with my work, you will know I’m often drawn to the ancient rocks and pristine blue lakes of the Canadian Shield.

I grew up surrounded by this rugged landscape and it keeps finding its way into my paintings.

This past winter, I decided to really spend some time on the Shield - at least on paper. From January through March, I worked away in the studio, bit by bit, on the largest watercolour paper I can manage.

The subject was a place I hold close to my heart: the quiet, timeless shores of Georgian Bay.

The genesis of this major work began over twenty years ago, when my husband and I spent a quiet weekend at a small Eco-lodge tucked among the islands of Georgian Bay. 

It was my first time seeing up close the ancient striped rocks of this region, and I was truly captivated. With my very first digital camera in hand, I captured over 200 epic photos, some of which are pictured in this post.

Out on the water in a kayak, I came face to face with that landscape in a way I never had before.

The smooth, ancient rock rising out of the gorgeous blue waters of the bay, and the wind‑sculpted trees, all stayed with me. 

Ever since then, those rocks and trees have felt like old companions.

Their patterns, their strength, and their quiet resilience have found their way into several dozen artworks over the years. 

Painting them feels a bit like returning to a place that knows me as well as I know it.

The photo shown here has inspired four previous paintings, which are pictured in the photo collage below:

When one of the galleries representing my art mentioned a while ago that they had clients showing interest in my large rocky landscapes, I decided this Georgian Bay scene would be a good candidate for a large-format piece.

With a finished image measuring 40 x 28 inches, this new varnished watercolour painting titled Serenity in Stone is over twice the size of the previous four paintings put together.

I made sure to photograph the work in progress at the end of each stage, so I could compile this two-minute video showing the whole process. Click on the image below and enjoy!

I hope you have found this creation story interesting and informative. Serenity in Stone is now on display at Eclipse Art at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, ON. Click here for more details or purchase inquiries about Serenity in Stone.

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 for more painting tips, exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, and notices of upcoming exhibitions. 

Over the past month, I’ve been spending wonderfully focused days in my art studio, completing the four new watercolours shown above. Winter is one of my favourite times to create, working beside a cozy fireplace while the daylight slowly begins to stretch a little longer beyond my window.

In recent years, I’ve returned again and again to 'after dark' themes, and they continue to captivate me. My initial inspiration often comes from reference photos taken during the day, and then I let imagination guide the transformation into night.

This latest body of work gave me the chance to experiment with new pigment combinations and explore richly atmospheric, dusky skies.

The new series features the Milky Way glowing gently above quiet northern lakes.

To bring more clarity to the landscape, I included a subtle trace of sunset’s afterglow along the horizon, reflected softly across the water.

Today, I’m excited to share the stories behind these new artworks, beginning with the two unframed miniatures.

This is Finding Peace, varnished watercolour on 5 x 5 inch panel.

Decades ago, while cruising on Georgian Bay one overcast afternoon, I saw this rustic cabin hunkered down on a rocky point, bracketed by wind-sculpted trees.

Seeing this tiny rustic abode made me wonder who lived there and what their life was like. For my painting, I imagined how the scene would appear after sunset, with the Milky Way leading a celestial trail to the cabin.

For more information about Finding Peace, click here.

This is Stardust, varnished watercolour on 5 x 5 inch panel.

In October 2018, I took a sightseeing lunch cruise with my local Women's Probus Club on Lake Muskoka.

I was really keen to photograph the rocky islands and robust pine trees of this renowned lake, viewed from the water.

The weather was terrible though - drenching rain the whole time - so I thought my photos would be dreary. How wrong I was!

The rain gave atmospheric perspective to my photos, which made closer islands appear darker than background shores. This dramatic layering of values would not have appeared in photos taken on a sunny day. I ended up with dozens of inspiring island photos such as this one, which I used as reference for Stardust.

Click here for more details or purchase inquiries about Stardust.

This is Starlit Shores, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel.

In August 2017, on the suggestion of an artist acquaintance, I stopped at the hamlet of Rossport on the Ontario shore of Lake Superior to see the scenery, and I am so glad I took his advice. 

The Rossport Archipelago is the largest group of islands on Lake Superior, and they were absolutely stunning, with high cliffs and lush tree cover. 

The day was foggy but I took many photos and they have inspired several paintings since then.

This is the photo I used as reference for Starlit Shores.

For purchasing details and other information about Starlit Shores, click here.

The fourth painting in my Milky Way series is Mazinaw Midnight, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel.

It was inspired by our camping trip to Bon Echo Provincial Park near Cloyne, Ontario last fall and is part of my Bon Echo Collection of paintings.

We truly fell under the spell of this stunning nature preserve, enjoying kayaking on Mazinaw Lake to examine the mighty cliff face of Mazinaw Rock, and hiking in the surrounding forest.

This is one of the wonderful photos I took during our ten-day stay in the park, and this snapshot taken after sunset served as inspiration for Mazinaw Midnight.

I recounted the wonders of Bon Echo in my previous blog post The Magic of Mazinaw, highlighting all my best photos and videos of this natural wonder.

Click here for more information about Mazinaw Midnight.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the personal narratives accompanying my latest paintings. Creating imagined wild landscapes illuminated by spectacular starlight brings me great joy, and I’m grateful to share them with you.

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 for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Over the Christmas break, I had to pause painting, as many days were spent on administration of my art business. Since the turn of the year, the return to my art practice has been very intentional and all the more meaningful. Sitting at my drafting table, near a warm fireplace, I have been pouring so much love and gratitude into new work, including the four new watercolours pictured here.

These new scenes were inspired by our incredible adventure to visit Churchill, Manitoba, on the shores of Hudson Bay, in 2024. That time away left me brimming with inspiration.

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.

I am so thrilled to introduce you to these luminous new paintings! 

Working with these vivid, glowing colours was an absolute joy, but I do admit, the early stages of northern lights scenes are decidedly unattractive and discouraging. It takes patience and a profound belief in my process to pursue the painting journey to completion.

In this first piece, I love the way the northern lights seem to swirl through the starry sky, so I titled the painting 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'.

Click here for more details about this artwork.

This vibrant artwork is titled Rhythms of the Night, varnished watercolour on 12 x 12 inch panel.

It 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 collection.

Reference photos provided a jumping-off point for my painting, which evolved into an imaginary scene all its own.

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 it has been featured in several of my paintings.

For purchasing details and other information about Guardian of the Sky, click here.

And finally, the polar bear painting...

The fourth painting of the series 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 its territory, or to the aurora, watching over a 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 if you are thinking of acquiring it, click here.

I hope you have enjoyed the personal stories of my latest paintings. It brings me profound joy to imagine and invent beautiful wild places bathed in spectacular aurora light, and then share them with you.

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 for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.

Last month I finished this painting Dancing With the Stars, varnished watercolour on 9 x 12 inch panel. 

It was inspired by my travels in northern Canada, especially my recent trip to Churchill, Manitoba to see epic northern lights. 

The rolling landscape with sparse trees also reminds me of our snowmobile adventures in Labrador a decade ago.

I prepared for this painting, along with three others, by making these 2 x 2 inch concept drawings of snowy scenes with aurora skies, in my sketchbook.

Then I created full sized pencil drawings on 300 lb watercolour paper.

I worked on all four paintings at the same time, using the same colours.

This is a tactic I employ often to save on paint and time. As I waited for one painting to dry, I worked on the others, using brushes already loaded with the appropriate colours.

DANCING WITH THE STARS DAY 1:

MASKING AND FIRST AURORA LAYER

I taped my sketched watercolour paper onto a rigid waterproof support and masked off the horizon with tape to preserve the white of the snow while I painted the sky. Reference photos are shown around the painting.

I also spattered masking fluid randomly across the upper half of the sky. This protects little dots of white paper that eventually will look like stars in the sky.

After wetting the sky area with clean water, and using five paint colours (each with its own separate paint brush), I quickly painted the basic shapes of the aurora and dark sky around it. Then I let the painting dry overnight.

DAY 2: AURORA LAYER 2

I wet the sky with clear water and, using the first layer of colours as my guide, brushed the same five colours onto the sky. I overlapped the edges of some existing light shapes with darker colours, to smooth out colour transitions. 

Then I let the painting dry overnight.

DAY 3: AURORA LAYER 3

Using the existing colour placement as my guide, I wet the sky area with clean water and added paint on top of the existing colours.

Some green areas were darkened with blue to contrast with the remaining luminous greens. Then I let the painting dry overnight.

DAY 4: FINAL AURORA LAYER

I was happy with the overall shapes and colours in the sky. After wetting the entire sky with clean water, I used my two darker blue pigments and a negative painting technique to make the luminous shapes more feathery. I let the painting dry overnight and then removed the masking tape and masking fluid.

DAY 5: SNOW AND TREES

I decided I didn't like the bear idea that was in the initial sketch and replaced it with a cluster of boulders and some small trees peeking out of the snow.

After drawing these new objects with pencil, I wet the entire snow area with clean water and painted in soft blue-grey shadows to indicate contour changes in the snow.

After an hour's pause to let the paper dry, I used a very fine rigger brush to paint the trees. The dark (almost black) paint mixture was created by combining complimentary colours navy and brown and very little water.

Using two mixtures (warm tan and cool grey, mixed from primary colours), I painted random patchy colour on the stones. 

Once dry, I added a few darker shadows and cracks to make the boulders look more natural. 

Then I painted the foreground tree, shrubs, and twigs to complete the scene.

I love the way the northern lights seem to swirl through the starry sky, so I titled this painting Dancing With the Stars, (varnished watercolour on 9 x 12 inch panel). For more information about this artwork, click here.

I mounted the completed watercolour onto an archival wood panel, protected it with UV-blocking varnish, and framed it in a black wood float frame, shown here.

If you are interested in the details of this mounting process, see my free article Framing Watercolours Without Glass, or order my art instruction book Watercolour Toolbox.

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 for more painting tips, exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, and notices of upcoming exhibitions. 

Last week I delivered two commissioned paintings to their new owners, and it warms my heart to see how delighted they are with their special new art pieces.

The painting pictured here, Tamarack Territory, varnished watercolour on 16 x 16 inch panel, now graces a home near Ottawa, Ontario.

Not familiar with the term 'commissioned'? It refers to custom artwork created with the specifications of the client in mind. Over the years, I have created almost 100 custom paintings for clients who wanted to celebrate the memory or feeling of a special time and place.

In the case of Tamarack Territory, my clients saw the two reference photos pictured here in an article I wrote in 2024, Manitoba: Through An Artist's Eye.

The first photo is Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park near Dauphin. The leaning tree on the point caught my eye but I also love the rocks in the foreground and the moody sky.

My client is from New Brunswick originally and this scene reminded her of the seashore there.

The second photo I took from the train between Thompson and Churchill. The tamaracks were in their full autumn glory the week we were there. They are a deciduous conifer whose soft needles turn golden in the fall, drop from the tree and regrow each spring.

My clients let me know they wanted a painting of the rocky shore with a few tamarack trees added. We agreed on a size that suited their wall space and I worked on the new scene for five weeks, completing it on Christmas Day.

Painting the sky and water waves really stretched my technical creative skills, and I was very pleased with the success of the finished painting.

Once it was displayed in the clients' home, they sent me this photo and remarked "We have hung our treasure beside the fireplace where we can admire it every day. It catches the morning light beautifully."

As an artist, knowing that this special piece will be treasured in its new home is very important to me, and magnifies the impetus to keep painting.

The second commissioned painting, Whispers of the Wilderness, varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel, is shown here. It now resides in Peterborough, Ontario.

My client saw a similar painting of mine last summer in my blog post New Works: Little Gems from my Traveling Studio.

The piece captured her love of exploring northern lakes by canoe and she admired the scene, but it was a bit too large for the wall space she had in mind. She asked me to create a new version of the scene in a smaller size, and with more emphasis on autumn foliage.

I finished her painting on Christmas Day and she and her husband picked it up from my studio last weekend.

The next day she sent me this photo of the new painting hanging in their living room and commented "Hi Karen! It’s hanging with my other favourite pictures!! Thank you for your incredible talent." I think the painting looks perfect in its new home (below another painting of mine, Whispers of the North) and am so pleased my clients are happy.

Whether large or small, a work of art can communicate in a personal way what no other object can. It is a permanent presence in our lives and can be passed on to future generations.

If you would like to acquire a painting similar to one of my previous pieces, or inspired by my travel stories from all across Canada, please contact me to discuss your ideas.

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 for exclusive early access to new work, studio news updates, travel tales, painting tips, and notices of upcoming exhibitions.