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.

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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Spring is busting out all over here in Ontario and brought with it sunny tidings on the artistic front. I have two pieces of happy news to share with you.

My recent painting of Georgian Bay titled The Windy Shore (watercolour on 20 x 16 inch panel, private collection) has been accepted into the Society of Canadian Artists 2025 Open International Online Juried Exhibition this week!

The Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) is a national, non-profit artists’ organization founded in 1972 and dedicated to fostering and celebrating the visual arts in Canada. 

The SCA reports that 425 artists from 12 countries submitted 1,180 paintings and sculptures to this year's international competition. 

This is the first time I have applied to an SCA event and, to my amazement, The Windy Shore was one of 167 artworks accepted into the online exhibition.

I am thrilled to have this honour and send my humble appreciation to the SCA and their panel of judges. I also send hearty congratulations to all the artists whose work was accepted.

Click here to view the show which runs until June 15.

The other exciting news is about my painting Moonglow (watercolour on 20 x 16 inch panel, private collection). 

Last month, I was thrilled to hear it won a Viewer's Choice Award in the Women in Watercolor Members Only Online International Exhibition 2025. 

There were over 300 entries and the winners are shown below: 2 from Canada, 1 from Iran, and 3 from USA.

Congratulations to all the award winners, and thank you to all my fans and followers who voted! 

I am grateful to the Women in Watercolor organization, which was formed in 2020 to "help encourage, support, and promote the outstanding women that are working in this medium on an international level, through online competitions, and in-person events". 

Click here to view the online exhibition of watercolour paintings from all over the world.

After many decades spent navigating through this roller coaster artist's life of mine, I still feel as thrilled as a little kid when good things like this happen. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to visit and paint the places I adore, and then share my paintings with people all over the world. I often think to myself "Pinch me, somebody!".

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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We have lived in our Lindsay house for a decade and this winter finally made time to refinish the original floor in my art studio, office, and gallery space, which are in the basement of our home.

I designed a new layout that reversed positions of my office zone and my painting zone. Shown above is my new painting setup and I am delighted to be settled in and creating art again.

The panorama shown above is how my L-shaped art space looked a few years ago, viewed from the stairs. The brown carpet was glued directly to the concrete floor with no additional insulation, and had been in place since the house was built 25 years ago.

The gas fireplace that we added 10 years ago made my art studio very comfortable in winter, but I always thought the dark brown carpeting made the space look dark, and its busy pattern drew too much attention. It was also showing its age.

This winter, my husband and I got underway with the flooring project that took 6 weeks. He did most of the work and I assisted where possible. We ripped up the old carpet, laid a sub-floor, and finished it off with commercial grade carpet tiles.

Shown above left is the gallery space just before we began, and on the right is the same room with carpet and baseboards gone, and sub-floor being installed.

Since the sub-floor and 20-inch carpet tiles are modular, we were able to shuffle furniture around and complete the work in one area at a time. Then we moved furniture to the completed section and worked on another section. It was like a big Tetris puzzle.

Once all the new carpet was laid, we refinished and reinstalled baseboards and moved furniture to its final placement. I love the neutral colour of the carpet, as it will go with any wall colour I may choose in future. We wanted to find a Canadian-source carpet and the grey one we finally chose was made in Quebec.

Shown above is a wide angle view of the refurbished gallery space. The subtle random pattern of the flooring should stay looking nice forever, and if any carpet tile gets stained or damaged, it is easy to lift it up and replace with a spare tile. 

Shown above is the before and after view from the gallery space. In the old layout, my office desk and computer are by the window. In the new layout, my painting setup is by the window.

The photo above shows the view from the fireplace, looking towards the gallery space and stairs up to the main level. The black steel flat file on the left is one of my favourite furnishings in my studio. Those ten drawers provide an amazing 60 square feet of horizontal storage, where I have organized all my watercolour paper and other art materials, current art projects, future art projects, art card supplies and office supplies. 

Shown above is the view of my painting zone from the stairs. I appreciate the spaciousness of this area. When needed for projects, or when my artist friends come over to paint with me, I have several 2 x 4 foot folding tables that I can add to this area.

The big white cabinet has seven shelves that provide 35 square feet of horizontal storage. They hold paint palettes, painting supplies, brushes, backing supports, art panels, frames, and binders of reference photos.

To the right is a black filing cabinet holding my painting records, office files, documentation of shows and art competitions, and other important paperwork. I have two fireproof safes below my painting desk that hold backup copies of my photo archives.

Tucked into the far corner of my studio is my office desk and computer. This is where I write my blog posts and newsletters, post to social media, manage emails, edit photos and videos, and keep on track with accounting and other administrative tasks. Out of that window I can see the farm next door, complete with a vintage red barn.

I ordered extra carpet tiles so I could extend coverage into our utilities room. This space also provides efficient storage for my art business archives, shipping supplies, varnish,  Watercolour Toolbox books, and art card supplies. These tiles are laying on concrete and can be used as replacements in the studio, if needed.

I feel very fortunate to have this beautiful, bright, cozy, clean, quiet, inspiring space in which to create my art. Much of my life is spent here, and I couldn't be happier.

I hope you have enjoyed your virtual tour of this latest version of my art studio. Perhaps I will see you in person here at some point in the future. Visitors are welcome by appointment, or during an Open Studio event.

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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In my last post, New Works: Misty Lakes and Canoes, I introduced four watercolour paintings in a new series called Northern Journeys. 

They all depict peaceful northern lakes with a canoe or two, creating stories of exploration and discovery, and prompting memories of happy adventures in the Canadian wilderness.

Today, I am sharing the creation steps involved in one of those paintings, titled Mystic Shoreline. Whether you are an art student, or just someone curious about how things are made, you will enjoy this behind-the-scenes story.

This piece was painted mostly in the traditional manner, starting with the soft hues of the sky and background, and then working in layers towards the darker foreground details. 

However, this painting had a change of direction mid-course, that I think made it a better composition and a more pleasing final result.

Have a look at this 90-second video to see what I mean:

I hope you have enjoyed this insider's view of my painting strategies. For more details about Mystic Shoreline, click here.

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I have been painting Canadian wilderness landscapes since the 1980's and and find their quiet magic to be infinitely inspiring.

This country holds profound beauty in all its regions and seasons, and I am immensely grateful to live here.

This winter, I have started a new painting series called Northern Journeys, focusing on misty northern lake scenes and that icon of the Canadian wilderness - the canoe.

Pictured above is one of the new pieces, Whispers of the North, varnished watercolour on 8 x 8 inch panel.

This series evokes a sense of discovery and that feeling for which we all yearn: a soul-deep connection with the natural world.

Shown here is Mystic Shoreline, varnished watercolour on 11 x 14 inch panel.

These paintings hint at the scent of pines on the breeze and the sound of water gently lapping rocky shores.

The new scenes convey that sense of excited anticipation that accompanies any journey to explore new horizons.

Pictured here is Lakeside Refuge, varnished watercolour on 10 x 10 inch panel.

We wonder what astonishing vistas will be revealed when the mist evaporates.

Which bird, fish, or animal will we encounter beyond that next point of land?

Pictured here is Adventures in Solitude, varnished watercolour on 24 x 12 inch panel.

During our exploration of these sacred places, whether in person or in our imaginations, we find peace and space to breathe. I hope my paintings remind you of the beauty that surrounds us, waiting to be explored.

Each of these paintings began in my sketchbook as a tiny concept drawing, such as those shown here.

I am most grateful to my friend Averill Ambrose, who graciously allowed me access to her canoe trip photos, providing valuable details for the watercraft depicted in my artwork.

For purchase inquiries or more details about these new paintings, including framed views, click on each image pictured above or visit my Available Paintings online gallery.

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 want to see more of her painting stories, travel tales, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.

In my last post, I introduced this new painting Echoes of Summer (varnished watercolour on 18 x 24 inch panel). It portrays famous Mazinaw Rock in Bon Echo Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.

Today I am sharing with you a time lapse video showing the creation steps involved in this complex artwork.

Being a confessed 'rockaholic', it was pure joy for me to depict the contours, colours, and crevices of this magnificent cliff. Capturing the intricate forms of trees clinging to the granite was more of a struggle but I just kept adding more details until the trees looked real.

The tiny kayaker paddling in the distance adds a human presence and gives scale to the 330 foot (100 metre) tall rock face.

Before you watch the video, I have a sweet story to tell you, about how this painting found a perfect home. 

After completing Echoes of Summer, I uploaded it's image and details onto my web site www.karenrichardson.ca and sent the link to my friend Kate, whose photo I used as reference for the painting. I knew she would be thrilled to see it finished. 

It turns out, Kate had shared the link with friends of hers in Ottawa who also camp in Bon Echo Provincial Park regularly, and they bought the painting.

The collectors sent me this lovely note: "Kate is a good photographer and in all our years in Bon Echo [we] have never managed to capture the rock as she did. Now you have transformed her photo into a beautiful painting. We have canoed by the rock every year for over 20 years and will love having your outstanding painting to remind of us of those times. It will hang prominently in our family room where we will see it every day..."

I am delighted to learn this special piece will be treasured and enjoyed in its new home. To know that my paintings uplift people's lives every day is enormously satisfying, and keeps me invigorated to make new art to share with the world.

And now, without further adieu, I present the 90-second creation video. Click on the picture below and turn on your speakers.

Prints of Echoes of Summer are available in a variety of sizes on canvas, paper, and other substrates from my print-on-demand publisher. Click here to see the selection.

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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Travel plays an essential role in my art making process. My husband and I spend several months each year slowly exploring different regions of North America and camping in our trailer.

When I am out in Nature, absorbing the light, colours, shapes, smells, and sounds of a peaceful place, I often feel a sense of delighted discovery and soul-deep connection to the wilderness. I am driven to capture this feeling of awe and wonder in my artwork.

The four new paintings I am introducing to you today each represent a unique journey through the northern landscape. Two pieces came directly from my travels, and the rest were inspired by other people's journeys.

The first painting was sparked by a beautiful vista near Syracuse, New York. Let's begin by looking at my reference photos.

We were camped on a warm August evening beside ripened grain fields on a gently sloping hillside.

There was a huge valley spread out below us, with a lake in the distance.

As we relaxed outside after dinner, a hot air balloon flew by.

The magic of the moment captured my imagination and I knew I had to paint a scene like this with a balloon in the sky.

I Will Wait For You (varnished watercolour on 6 x 12 inch panel), shown here, is the resulting art work.

In my painting, I added pine trees to give the scene a more northern flair. The title is the fond adieu the viewer bids the hot air balloonist. When anyone embarks on a significant journey, it is comforting to know that a warm welcome awaits the returning traveller.

For more information about I Will Wait For You, click here.

The second painting is Quiet Perfection, varnished watercolour on 16 x 12 inch panel, shown here.

This painting pays homage to a powerful body of fresh water that holds a piece of my soul: Lake Superior. I am fortunate to have visited its shores a few times each year for the last decade.

The lake has many moods and never looks the same twice. Sometimes the weather is cold and misty and other times it is warm and sunny.

Often the lake surface is disturbed by waves, but occasionally on a windless day, the surface is glassy calm.

This painting is a scene I invented by combining these two references from different parts of the shore taken in different years.

The foggy scene is near Rossport (if memory serves), which is just east of Nipigon, Ontario. I took this photo from the Trans Canada Highway.

I love the sense of mystery the mist imparts, as it cloaks the channel islands and makes us wonder what there is to see around the point.

The sunny scene was a rare day at Pebble Beach at Marathon, which lies west of Wawa, Ontario.

Lake Superior storms are constantly rearranging stones and driftwood on this municipal beach. On a calm day the pebbles appear to go on forever out into the lake. The water is so clear, you can't tell the stones are under water.

For more information about Quiet Perfection, click here.

The third painting in this series is Superior Seduction, varnished watercolour on 12 x 12 inch panel, pictured here.

The setting is a group of islands in Lake Superior, viewed while sunset bathes the rocks in golden light.

A canoe rests on the shore, waiting to explore more of those intriguing islands tomorrow.

The paddlers are unseen, perhaps setting up their tent or enjoying dinner around a campfire, atop the hill.

I got the idea for this painting when Shanna Cameron, a Facebook friend of mine from Thunder Bay, posted a photo from her canoe trip last August. She graciously gave me permission to use her photo as a painting reference.

The location is McKay Cove on Simpson Island, which is part of an 8-island archipelago near Rossport. Canada's renowned Group of Seven artists painted in this area in the 1920's.

As you can see from the photos, I took much liberty when painting the foreground rocks, which are barely visible in the source photo, and I added the canoe to complete the story.

For more information about Superior Seduction, click here.

The fourth painting in this series is Echoes of Summer, varnished watercolour on 18 x 24 inch panel, shown here.

This magnificent rock face is Mazinaw Rock, a 330 foot (100 metre) high cliff.

It stretches for almost a mile (1.5 km) along Mazinaw Lake, and is a landmark in Bon Echo Provincial Park, just north of Kaladar, Ontario.

My friend Kate Dowsett gave me permission to use this photo that she took last September as reference for my painting. I made very few changes to the scene and was sure to include the tiny kayaker in the distance, to give a human presence and add scale to the rock face.

For more information about Echoes of Summer, click here.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes to see how I use reference photos to construct my watercolour scenes. When you look at these paintings, I hope they transport you to another place and time, and remind you of the beautiful world that surrounds us, waiting to be explored. Enjoy the journey.

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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Since I began my art career almost 40 years ago, I have been showing my artistic creations at studio tours, art festivals, open houses, fund raisers, juried shows, and art galleries.

Over that time, over 800 of my watercolour paintings have made their way, one by one, into the hearts and homes of people near and far. It warms my soul to know my creations bring peace and joy to the daily lives of so many people.

While the majority of my artworks reside with collectors in Canada and the USA, several of my paintings have become world travellers. So far, to my knowledge, my paintings are enjoyed in at least 24 countries. How cool is that!?

One of my recent travellers, A Winter Wonder (varnished watercolour on 12 x 6 inch panel), is shown here. It came about because of a rather contrary idea.

While touring the 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River last summer, I chanced upon a beautiful white pine standing proudly above the forest.

I took this photo of it, thinking I would later include the iconic tree in a northern lake scene.

Back in the studio, I had another idea: I wondered what this statuesque tree would look like in a winter scene.

I drew the basic shape of the trunk, branches, and foliage masses with pencil onto watercolour paper. Then I sketched lumps of snow where snow would gather logically. I drew more snowy shapes in the smaller trees as well.

Before starting to paint the sky and distant forest, I masked out all the snow shapes on the central tree, and on the tops of the lower trees, to preserve the white of the paper in those areas. This allowed me to create a clear blue sky quickly, painting right over the snowy trees.

Once the sky dried, I removed the masking and added shadows to each white snow clump individually. Lastly, I painted the dark trunks, branches, and needles peeking out from under the snow.

I mounted the finished painting on a wood panel, varnished it, and set it in a black wood frame, shown here. (If you are interested in the details of this mounting process, see my article Framing Watercolours Without Glass.)

I posted the finished piece on Facebook in early December and caught the eye of a long time friend and former co-worker, who now lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. She sent me a message to acquire the painting and later picked it up at my studio while she was in Ontario visiting family for Christmas.

It makes me smile to think of this little snow scene residing in the Middle Eastern desert, bringing happy winter memories to a Canadian living abroad.

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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This post is the third and final chapter of our Manitoba travel tale.

As we toured this beautiful province for five weeks alongside 18 other Airstream couples this fall, little did we know this adventure would become one of the most memorable of our lives. (There are a couple of videos at the end of this post that reveal why.)

In my first post Manitoba: Through an Artist's Eye, I shared with you my favourite photos of the Manitoba landscape.

My second post Artist's Travels: Hidden Gems of Northern Manitoba, detailed our fascinating visits with farmers at their potato, canola, honey, bison, and softwood farming operations.

As enthralling as these aspects of our tour were, the icing on our proverbial cake was a five-day excursion to Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay, to see polar bears and northern lights.

Having left our trucks and trailers at a campground in Thompson, we boarded a Via Rail train for the 15-hour overnight ride to Churchill.

Our hosts from Frontiers North picked us up at the train station the next morning and gave us a bus tour of Churchill. This included a visit to the town's Polar Bear Holding Facility, shown below. The 'jail' has 28 cells.

We learned that from mid October to the end of November each year, about 300 polar bears gather at the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill. They wait for sea ice to form, so their winter seal hunt can begin.

Polar bears are marine mammals whose main diet is seal blubber. They catch seals by ambushing them at their blow holes in the ice.

The bears we were soon to meet had not eaten since spring when the ice melted. They spent their summer inland, without food, resting and living off of their body fat reserves.

Polar bears are powerful predators. A mature adult male can be ten feet long and weigh 1,500 lbs - a dangerous threat to humans.

Churchill is very protective of its polar bear population and does its best to keep bears away from townspeople. But now and then a hungry bear gets too close to town.

In that case, the bear is caught in a bear trap similar to the one shown here, using seal meat as bait. The bear is transported to jail and kept there until sea ice forms. Then the bear is anaesthetized, netted, and transported by helicopter far up the coast so it can reach the ice from there.

While in jail, the bear is not given anything to eat, so it will not associate the facility with food. In other words, the bear's fast continues whether it is incarcerated or not.

After the town tour, we were dropped off at the Tundra Buggy dock to board this 40-passenger cross between a Greyhound bus and a Hummer.

The tires were as tall as I and the electric powered vehicle was custom-built to navigate the rough terrain of the tundra while keeping passengers safe from bears. The open air viewing deck at the back made photographing wildlife easier.

Once we boarded the Tundra Buggy, our feet did not touch ground for three days. The reason was twofold: to keep us safe from bears, and to keep the tundra as untouched by humans as possible. The Tundra Buggies adhere to a strict trail network in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area to protect the delicate tundra ecosystem.

After spending the afternoon meandering over rough terrain full of rocks and shallow ponds, listening to stories from our guide and our driver, and seeing bears and ptarmigan, (more about that later), we docked at the Tundra Lodge, pictured here on the shore of Hudson Bay.

I would describe this portable, self-contained resort as a travel trailer on steroids. The Lodge unit on the right was our sleeping car, with each little square window representing a single bunk. There were hot showers and flush toilets, as the Lodge had storage tanks for fresh water and waste water.

The unit with the viewing deck on top was our lounge. Beyond that were the dining hall, kitchen, and staff lodging. Outdoor viewing platforms connected each unit to the next one. For two nights we stayed in this comfortable resort overlooking Hudson Bay. We slept well in cozy bunk beds and enjoyed chef-created meals in the dining hall.

For another two days we crawled over rough terrain in the Tundra Buggy, coming close to bears many times and spotting other arctic wildlife such as fox, hare, bald eagle, and many small birds. On our last day, one female polar bear came within 20 feet of our vehicle.

I have so much excellent photographic footage of our bear encounters that I made this video to share the most exciting highlights with you. Click on the image below and meet some bears! (The video is 12 minutes long so may take a few moments to load, depending on your internet speed. Trust me - it will be worth the wait.)

While we were at the Tundra Lodge, northern lights that had eluded us for the entire Manitoba trip finally made their appearance on a clear night.

Those of us brave souls who donned coats over PJ's and ventured outside in the wee hours of the morning were treated to an epic display of red, purple, and green Aurora dancing among brilliant stars over Hudson Bay. The sight was profoundly beautiful and took our breath away.

On the overnight train back to Thompson, a few of us caught another strong show of northern lights, this time all in brilliant green.

Then, incredibly, we experienced the strongest celestial show as we journeyed south towards Winnipeg.

The rays of scarlet, pink, and green light 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.

I was able to capture a multitude of stunning photos of the aurora with my iPhone and made this six-minute slideshow of our best northern lights sightings.

I hope you have enjoyed my travel tales of northern Manitoba, and that I have been able to convey the enthralling magic of our experiences. I also hope you can witness these natural wonders in person one day.

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 travel tales, painting stories, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.