As I write this, I find myself feeling very grateful for silver linings. I am referring to all the positive things that have happened in my life because of the global pandemic which has caused us to isolate at home. I posted in May about how Corona impacted us and you can read the article here.

I realize that some people have had a much sadder experience with COVID-19 and my heart goes out to them. I'm one of the lucky ones, and most Canadians I have spoken to feel blessed about their situation this year.

My husband and I had planned to spend the spring of 2020 touring Australia in a rented camper van, and then venture out on summer camping trips with our travel trailer to various regions of Ontario. The realization that we would be spending more time at home this year lead us to research growing a vegetable garden. This project has become my favourite 'silver lining'. Check out the lettuces I'm growing (shown above and below)!

Bare shelves at the grocery stores this spring resulted in many people growing a vegetable garden, similar to the Victory gardens of the second world war. I think taking concrete action gives people a sense of control in a time of uncertainty, and growing food in our own back yards makes us feel useful and gets us out into the fresh air while safely spending time at home.

My husband built me two raised bed planters for my food garden in March (shown above in his workshop) and I filled them with organic matter and soil and planted a square foot style garden in a sunny spot in our yard in April and May. I wrote an article showing this process here.

We had a cold, wet spring but the heat really came on in June and July and the plants took off. This is what my west planter looks like now (pictured below).

The front row is 5 varieties of pole beans (vines) climbing up bamboo teepees. They are flowering now (shown below) and will start producing fresh beans within the next few weeks. They will continue producing beans for about 3 months, until hard frost kills the plants. I have grown pole beans before and they are excellent producers for small gardens, since they take advantage of vertical space.

Behind the beans are 6 tomato plants supported by spiral stakes. The huge plant on the left (taller than I) is a cherry tomato and I picked my first ripe one this week. The other tomato plants are beefsteak (shown in the first photo at the top of this post) and Italian (shown below). I have hundreds of green tomatoes and I'm going to try my hand at canning when they ripen.

Behind and around the tomato plants I have sweet peppers, chives, basil, parsley, thyme, and marigolds growing. Below is a photo of my baby sweet peppers and parsley.

My east planter is pictured below and contains onions, carrots, raspberry bushes, leaf lettuce, romaine, spinach, radishes, mesclun mix, and marigolds.

I've been picking baby lettuces and spinach since early June and they are excellent - mild and tender - and very prolific. I thought the lettuces might bolt (flower) in our excessive heat the last few weeks, but they are still growing tidy little leaves and taste great (pictured below).

The spinach has flowered so I pulled it out today and will plant more seeds in August for a fall harvest. I had less success with radishes, harvesting a half dozen before the plants flowered. I dug up my first samples of onions this week to check the size and it looks like I will have a large harvest of small onions. Carrot tops are looking healthy and I have my fingers crossed.

Shown above are two more food gardens. At the house foundation is a row of rhubarb, which I harvested twice this spring and preserved rhubarb nectar (shown below). I mix this sweet syrup with club soda to make a delicious rhubarb lemonade.

Next to the rhubarb garden I am growing 6 blueberry bushes (in cages to protect from rabbits) and 50 heads of garlic. Shown below are the garlic flower stalks (scapes) that I harvested a few weeks ago. I made a delicious pesto for pasta, and froze some chopped scapes. They are very tender and mild and I enjoy them sauteed with potatoes.

This week I dug up the ripened garlic bulbs (about half the crop - shown below) and will wait a week or two to harvest the rest when they are ready. I will set aside enough bulbs to plant 50 cloves in late October and use the rest for cooking from now until next July.

I'm 'cautiously thrilled' with my Corona garden and am hoping that pests and diseases will stay out of my beautiful raised beds. So far, so good.

I will post a garden update later in the season so you can see how things progress. If you are growing a Corona garden this year, I hope you are enjoying it and have good luck with your silver lining. Be well and safe.

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Usually I paint from my own reference photos gathered during our camping journeys, but today I am showing my process of creating a watercolour from photos taken by other people.

Shown above is 'Discovery Awaits', watercolour on panel (no glass) 10 x 10". This was inspired by a photo, taken by my long time friend and former co-worker Tim Thorington, of Rock Lake in Algonquin Park. Tim is an avid, accomplished photographer who shares his work with the world via Facebook, and when I saw this photo below, I knew it would translate into a fine painting.

I loved the curving shoreline that invites the viewer into the scene, the unusual cloud patterns, the warm and cool colour scheme, the rocks, the pine trees and the autumn colours in the far hills. I messaged my buddy Tim and he kindly replied with his consent for me to copy his photo and sell my painting.

Many hobby painters don't realize that all photography has an automatic copyright, meaning only the photographer has the right to sell any copies of his or her photo. Painters can copy any photo they wish to, for practice or for pleasure, but if the painter wants to sell the resulting painting (or any reproductions of that painting), international copyright law says the painter must obtain written permission from the original photographer.

As with all my paintings, before I started to paint, I made some colour tests (shown above) to help me choose which primary paint colours to use to make this scene. I decided on MaimeriBlu paints Primary Yellow, Primary Red, and Primary Blue. These three combine to make all the land and foliage colours in  the scene (see the bottom row of paint swatches), but I knew I would need to mix in a second blue to produce the soft sky and lake colours, so I included Cobalt Blue Deep.

The next step was to gather a few more reference photos, cut my Arches 300 lb bright white cold press watercolour paper about 1" larger in length and width than the finished painting, and tape it to a back board (shown below). The pine tree reference photo was my own, and another good friend supplied the canoe reference photo with permission to use it.

On the watercolour paper, I penciled in the major lines of the composition and used liquid masking fluid to temporarily waterproof a few details such as the canoe and logs on the beach. This masking preserves the white of the paper until after the sand is painted.

Then I began with the most risky part of the painting - wetting the sky area with clear water and brushing in the cloud patterns using a mixture of Cobalt Blue Deep with a bit of Primary Blue. The tricky part is matching the moisture level on the wet paper to the thickness of the paint, so the blue/gray transitions are gradual and the blue doesn't bleed too far. I was thrilled when the sky turned out so well. Then I wet the lake area and brushed in the same paint mixture, being sure to leave areas of highlight to make the water appear to glow.

I let the sky and water dry for an hour and went on to paint the first layers on the beach, rocks, and deciduous trees, (shown above) and completed the far shore by dabbing in a careful arrangement of foliage colours, using the photo as reference. These colours are slightly more muted (grayed) than the foreground foliage will be, to give the appearance of atmospheric distance.

After another half hour of drying, I deepened the colours on the beach and painted the pine tree foliage and then their trunks and branches (shown above).

The next day (shown below), I added yellow and orange areas to the deciduous tree on the right, shadows and twigs to the pine trees, shadows on the rocks, and texture to the foreground beach. I removed the masking fluid from the canoe and pieces of wood on the beach and painted them, adding shadows at the end. I decided the far shore was still too bright, so I glazed over it with a diluted neutral (grayish tan) mixture to subdue the colours slightly. Perfect.

I feel many elements of this painting turned out exactly right: the curving line of the beach that beckons the viewer into the scene, the glow of light on the water, the unusual cloud patterns that lead the eye to the sculpted pine trees, the warm and inviting colour scheme, and the canoe which adds a storytelling element. I love the  sense of place in this painting and feel like I could step into the scene. I grew up just east of Algonquin Park, and have happy memories of time spent on sandy beaches like this one, swimming, canoeing, listening to the wind in the trees and enjoying the peace of nature.

The completed painting is mounted on an archival wood panel, trimmed, varnished, and presented in a black wood floater frame. There is no glass to get in the way of enjoying the details of 'Discovery Awaits'.

Click here to see more details about this painting.

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My life has been impacted in many ways by the Covid19 global pandemic. During these last few months of isolation, it has been an interesting journey to design a 'new normal', while my husband and I hunker down at our home property, which is pictured above. In this article I am sharing with you a glimpse of how we have been spending our time at the homestead.

The biggest impact to our personal life was the cancellation of a 7-week vacation in Australia. My husband and I were to begin our excellent adventure in early April with a week touring Tasmania in our rented camper van and then fully explore the coastal route from Melbourne to Cairns before flying home at the end of May. Here is the type of adventure we had envisioned:

Hopefully we can re-book the trip at a later date through the same company, Gallivanting Oz, who did an excellent job of arranging our camper van rental and subsequent cancellation and refund. If anyone is considering a similar holiday in future years, I highly recommend this awesome Australian company. We cancelled our first class flights with Air Canada but have not seen our refund or credit yet.

Our life at home has gotten quiet, yet not boring. My husband is retired but his handyman hobby takes him to his shop out back (pictured above), fixing things for the house and doing vehicle maintenance. We order repair parts and supplies online or by phone (from local stores offering safe curbside pickup if possible) and I make a weekly trip to the grocery store. I'm doing more cooking and baking for us than I usually would and we are making the most of this chance to live life simply and deliciously.

Since we live on the edge of a small town, there are lots of places where we can walk during the day for exercise without getting close to anyone. We don't have cable or satellite TV but enjoy spending our evenings watching educational videos on YouTube or programs on Netflix. I also enjoy reading most days. We have conversations with friends and family by phone or Facetime. I look forward to the day when we can resume our in-person walks, visits, and dinners with our longtime friends.

I'm an introvert by nature (as many artists are), so being told I have to stay home actually makes me happy. I have an infinite list of fun things to do in my home and art studio (pictured above). As is my usual habit, I spent the winter months creating lots of new paintings and then moved to outdoor mode once spring arrived. Shown below is the mound garden in our front yard, tidied up for the start of the growing season.

The fact that I don't have to go out for meetings, fitness classes or appointments, means I can decide how to fill each day based on the weather or how energetic I  feel. I find myself wondering how to change my habits going forward, so I can continue this simpler existence in a post-pandemic world.

My husband and I had planned to spend the summer of 2020 making short camping trips with our travel trailer to various regions of Ontario, after we returned from Australia. It remains to be seen whether those excursions will happen or not. The realization that we may have to stay home this spring and possibly summer lead us to research growing a vegetable garden.

The current upheaval of our food supply caused by the pandemic has prompted many people throughout the world to start a vegetable garden this year, just like the Victory gardens of the second world war. I think this activity gives people a sense of control in a time of uncertainty, makes us feel useful by growing our own food, and gets us out into the fresh air while safely spending time at home.

I have enjoyed establishing raised bed flower gardens at all three of our home properties over the years, but never had the time to devote to growing many edibles before this year. The photo below from 2013 shows some of the backyard flower gardens at our Port Perry home, which was on a one acre property.

We downsized to our lovely bungalow in Lindsay the following year. The raised border garden shown below was one I constructed shortly after our move, using stone dug up from our one acre yard. I grew pole beans and garlic successfully, but invasive grass runners from the adjacent farm field had started to invade my stone garden. This spring, I decided to dismantle it and try something more robust and permanent for my new vegetable garden.

My husband and I designed wooden raised planters 18 inches tall with a top frame wide enough to sit on, to make gardening more comfortable for me, and to have high quality soil with fewer weeds.

He built the two cedar planters pictured below in his shop. These are each 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and have no bottoms. The little legs will keep them pinned to the ground and the planters are lined on the inside with builders' vapour barrier to help extend the durability of the wood. He also varnished the outside surfaces with clear Varathane wood preservative.

We moved the planters to a sunny spot in our yard in mid April, and since then I have been steadily filling them with a custom mix of soils and amendments using a sustainable agriculture technique called Hugelkultur (meaning 'hill culture' in German).

Hugelkultur mimics how plants grow in a natural forest ecosystem, where trees fall over onto the forest floor,  and other organic matter falls and accumulates on top of the fallen trees and breaks down. This creates a fertile place for the seeds of new plants to germinate and grow on top of the decaying wood and other organic materials. This environment not only provides extremely fertile soil for new plants, but the woody materials also soak up water like a sponge.

The photos below show the layers I used to fill my planters.

First I covered the sod with cut up paper leaf bags. By the time they decompose over the next year, the grass will have died and will not invade the garden. Worms and other beneficial organisms will be able to travel between the ground and the raised beds. The second layer was wood from apple trees we cut down. The largest pieces went in the bottom, followed by all the cut up twigs. This wood layer will slowly rot, providing nutrients to the soil above and acting as a spongy layer to retain moisture.

Next I covered the twigs and wood with layers of composted manure and native top soil (screened to remove gravel and weeds) that was cleared from our yard when my husband's shop was built.

I had saved garden clippings from the spring cleanup of my perennial beds and all those dried trimmings went on next. I covered that with about 8 inches of screened native topsoil mixed with peat moss and composted manure. Then I created a grid with string and aluminum plant markers, in preparation for my 'square foot gardening' planting layout. In this bed I am densely planting raspberry bushes, onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and marigolds (to deter pests).

The photo above shows my other raised planting bed which will have asparagus, pole beans, tomatoes, sweet peppers, lettuce, herbs, nasturtiums, and marigolds. You can see the bamboo teepees that will support future pole beans. The plastic bubble is a cloche, protecting herb seeds while they germinate. To the right of my planters is where the stone border garden used to sit, now seeded with grass.

I will post a garden update later in the season so you can see my progress. If you are growing a Corona garden this year, I hope you enjoy it and have good luck with your green thumb. Be well and safe.

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

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Since I paint in a realistic style, I use photographs as references for my watercolour scenes, so I can get the details right and make viewers feel like they could walk right into my paintings.

Although I occasionally use a photo taken by another photographer (with written permission as dictated by international copyright laws), the overwhelming majority of my painting references are my own photos.

The autumn scene pictured above, 'One Shining Moment', watercolour on panel (no glass) 14 x 22" was inspired by a photo I took while visiting our friends' cottage near Haliburton, Ontario.

The view from their shore is lovely in all seasons, looking out over the lake to a series of forested hills.This lake has inspired a handful of watercolour paintings over the years, including 'Winter Interrupted' (2001) 12 x 21", shown below.

Here is another watercolour shown below, 'Jennifer's Winter Wonderland' (2007) 10 x 7".

During another visit to this lake in September 2012, I managed to catch a moment of autumn sunlight highlighting the shoreline trees in the photo below. This 'spotlighting' effect creates a dramatic focal point, emphasized by diagonal lines of the treed slopes as well as dark shadows in behind, and underscored by gentle lake ripples from a faint breeze.

Lighting makes the difference between a great photo and an ordinary one. Below is another shot taken at a different time that day. While lovely, it has no strong focal point. No single element grabs the viewer and says "Look at me! I'm magnificent!".

For the last 8 years, the sunlit photo with the strong focal point has lingered in my vast photo reference collection, too daunting to try to capture in watercolour. Finally this spring I had time to tackle a major work, so I took the plunge and developed a large watercolour based on my autumn lake photo.

As I suspected, the sheer scale of the painting and the technical difficulties of masses of tree foliage and blurred reflections would make this a very difficult and time-consuming project. But I kept my nose to the grindstone for 3 weeks, working layer by layer with lots of patience, and prevailed.

I added a tiny red canoe to the sheltered little beach to give a sense of scale to the forest and to help viewers insert their own stories and memories into this scene.

Fortunately I had the foresight to take photos of each stage of this challenging painting as I worked. From these work-in-progress photos, I assembled a short time lapse video, so you can see the flow of this piece to its completion.

Click on the image below to view the 3-minute story:

I am very pleased with how this major work turned out. I feel like it is beckoning me to enter the scene and spend a perfect day exploring the mysteries of this beautiful northern lake. I hope you feel the same pull to become part of this magical place.

For more details about this painting, click here.

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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 glorious landscapes throughout the year.

I pour my authentic soul into each and every painting I create of remarkable natural places. My hope is that you, the viewer, find a soothing resonance within your own true self when you gaze upon my artwork.

Every winter I enjoy several months of dedicated studio time. This post tells the creation stories of my latest northern lake paintings, all of which are small in size but abundant in optimism and joy.

Shown above is A Piece of Heaven, watercolour on panel (no glass) 6 x 12".

This piece was inspired by two photos taken years ago. I forget the locations but I think they were somewhere in Ontario. One was an early autumn photo and the other was was taken in summer, but they joined together to make an interesting composition (shown below).

I particularly liked the tiny sailboat near the island, and the faint reflections of the dark trees on choppy water. I decided to make my painting a later autumn scene. How lovely it would be to spend a breezy day sailing between the islands of this glorious place.

Click here for more details about A Piece of Heaven.

Shown above is Out of the Blue, watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 9". This piece is entirely from my imagination, based on years of visiting beautiful northern lakes and absorbing their peace and serenity.

I painted the sky and water first, building up a half dozen layers over the course of a week to get the depth of colour I needed. When that was fully dry I penciled in the island and two canoeists, then painted them. They are enjoying a peaceful paddle around the island, before the sun dissolves the early morning mist.

Click here for more details about Out of the Blue.

Shown above is Autumn Dream, watercolour on panel (no glass) 6 x 12". It is another piece painted entirely from my imagination. Originally it was a square 12 x 12" work in progress, but I overworked the reflections and decided to crop them out of the painting. I think this stretched format makes a stronger statement.

I especially love the clear autumn colours and variety of trees on the island, and the misty shores in the background. I included a canoe in the scene to add to the story. Someone is exploring this wee island. Maybe they camped here last night and are preparing for another glorious day on the lake.

Click here to see more details about Autumn Dream.

Shown above is Autumn Adventure, watercolour on panel (no glass) 8 x 8". I took the reference photo (pictured below) a few years ago on an ATV excursion in the Haliburton region of central Ontario.

It was easy to translate this photo into a square format. I changed the overcast day into a sunny one in my painting. I included the overhanging leaves to enhance the sense of shelter and protection. The viewer is exploring on a fine autumn day, peeking out from a tree-covered shoreline to discover this wee gem of an island. Let's hop in a kayak or canoe and paddle over there.

Click here for more details about Autumn Adventure.

Shown above is When All is Calm, watercolour on panel (no glass) 6 x 12". This scene was inspired by two photos I took somewhere in Ontario years ago (shown below).

I employed considerable artistic license when creating this painting. It captures a moment of serene calm - that rare early autumn day when the lake is like glass. We all could use some of this peace and solace these days.

Click here for more details about When All is Calm.

Shown above is The Golden Hour, watercolour on panel (no glass) 10 x 10". This is one of those paintings that started off as one thing and morphed into something completely different. It was like the painting knew what it wanted to be and nudged my brush strokes in that direction.

The original idea was inspired by two saltwater sunset photos (shown below) that I took near Twillingate when we visited Newfoundland last summer. I liked the golden tones in the first photo and planned to add the moored sailboat from the second photo. The story would involve sailors anchored for the night in a sheltered bay.

I decided on a square format and started painting the sky and its reflection. It took many layers over the course of a week to build up rich colour and contrast between the glow of the sun and the shadows surrounding it. Shown below are 3 stages of this layering process.

The resulting bronze colour scheme was not the original coppery hue from the photo reference, and the highlights were more globular than streaky, but I really liked the soft, soothing mood that was emerging. I looked through my photo archives for a new water scene reference and found the perfect one (shown below).

I took this early morning photo decades ago at the old Richardson family cottage on Big Cedar Lake in central Ontario. I used the iconic raft and far shore as references to complete my painting and the story became a quiet moment in cottage country.

Click here for more details about The Golden Hour.

I hope you have enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at my latest creations, and a glimpse into how I translate photos from my travels into unique artistic expressions. My hope is that my artwork will welcome viewers like old friends, and draw them into the narrative deeply embedded in each painting.

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 painting classes and exhibitions

Shown above are the three watercolours I completed last month. They form an eclectic group, with each painting having been inspired by a different journey. The trait they share is that I have wanted to paint these subjects for a while, sometimes years, and I finally got around to it this winter.

The smallest painting, 'Frozen Two', watercolour on panel (no glass) 6 x 12" is shown above and pictures an ice falls that forms each year near Lake St. Peter, ON. I photographed the icy cliff while snowmobiling several decades ago (photo shown below) and always thought this scene would make a dramatic painting subject.

I am drawn to the contrast of dark brown rock and light blue icicles, so I enhanced this colour scheme and value contrast in the painting. I added the deer to the picture to give a sense of scale and a spark of life. Shown below is me in my studio working on this piece.

Disney's latest cinema blockbuster, Frozen II was playing in theatres during the time I was creating this watercolour. I couldn't resist the play on words when I was searching for a title for this sweet little painting.

Click here for more information about Frozen Two.

My next two pieces are from trips to the East Coast of Canada. 'Reflections of Yesterday', watercolour on panel (no glass) 12 x 16", is shown below.

In the spring of 2017, my husband and I and several friends explored New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island for two months in our travel trailers. I posted three stories showing the highlights of this fantastic trip ('Perfect Prince Edward Island', 'Camping in Beautiful Nova Scotia', and 'Top 5 Must-Have's for Travel Fun').

While exploring the quaint seaside village of Victoria in PEI, I photographed this colourful, weathered shed window from five different angles. The two views shown below are the ones I chose as painting references.

I liked the colours in the red window trim better in the left hand photo, but I preferred the reflection of the jellybean house in the right hand photo. One of the advantages of being a painter is that I can 'mix-and-match' my references.

Every inch of this painting was pure joy to create, from the cracks in the wood shingles, to the flaking red paint of the trim, to the distorted reflections in the old window glass. I am trying a new brand of watercolour paints this winter. They are made by Sennelier in France and I am very impressed with their clarity and strength of colour. The three pigments I chose (Sennelier Red, Sennelier Yellow Deep, and Phthalocyanine Blue) worked perfectly for this piece.

Click here for more information about Reflections of Yesterday.

The next new painting, 'Yesterday's Dreams', watercolour on panel (no glass) 14 x 11", is shown above. I used the same three paints to create all the colour mixtures for this scene.

Last summer, by husband and I spent three months touring the island of Newfoundland in our travel trailer. You can read about key adventures and see highlights of the trip in these posts: 'Icebergs of Newfoundland', 'Top 14 Vistas of Newfoundland', 'A Whale of a Tale in Newfoundland', and 'Seeing Caribou and Moose in Newfoundland'.

While exploring the back roads of the Bonavista peninsula in northern Newfoundland, we came across this gas pump on its concrete pad, smack in the middle of a field of grass, in the tiny settlement known as Red Cliff (photo below)

The price on the pump was 75 cents a gallon, so it probably made its last sale in the 1970’s, before the metric system was adopted in Canada. Any surrounding buildings were long gone. On the shore beyond, a row of houses and fishing sheds had succumbed to wind and rain. I could imagine a story here about the folk who lived and worked in this beautiful place. I knew this would make a fine painting subject.

The grass was finicky to paint, using many layers of masking fluid and paint to achieve the effect of individual blades of grass. The rusty gas pump was an absolute joy to portray in watercolour. I used a magnifying glass and super fine Micron pens with archival ink to do the lettering on the pump.

Click here for more information (including a close-up photo) about Yesterday's Dreams.

The final new painting to show you today is a commissioned piece titled 'Summer Constellations' watercolour on panel (no glass) 6 x 12". The client had seen an earlier painting I did of this scene, fell in love with it, but was disappointed when it was acquired by another client. The problem was solved by my painting a similar version. The first painting, 'Evening Constellations', (2018) shown below, was the same size.

For more information about Summer Constellations, click here.

That wraps up my latest creations. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into how I translate photos from my travels into unique artistic expressions. My hope is that my artwork will welcome viewers like old friends, and draw them into the narrative behind the art. Stay tuned to see what old friends February brings!

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 painting classes and exhibitions

This year for our Valentine's anniversary, my husband and I and 4 friends enjoyed a 5-day 800-km Gold Rush Tour of the Timiskaming-Abitibi region by snowmobile. This part of northeastern Ontario lies between North Bay and Cochrane.

Everyone towed snow machines from home and gathered in New Liskeard on the shore of Lake Timiskaming, where we stayed overnight at the Waterfront Inn and parked our trucks and trailers for the duration of our snow adventure. As the photo above shows, we had our machines stationed right outside our patio doors. We had a lovely view of the lake, complete with dozens of fishing huts (some of which are shown below).

Our first day on the trails we rode from New Liskeard west to Gowganda. The weather was relatively mild and sunny and the trails were well groomed and smooth, so I was able to hold my camera in my bare hands and take a bit of video as we rode along. Usually it is too cold to do this, so it was a rare treat to be able to capture this footage to show you what trail riding is like.

Click on the picture below to view the 2-minute video:

We stopped at a trail bridge to take some scenic photos. Shown below is me walking out on the bridge and then a photo of the beautiful view of the frozen river. I think this will make a great painting.

In Gowganda we stayed at Auld Reekie Lodge, which was easy to find due to the trail signage, shown below. The Gold Rush Tour had excellent trail markings along the entire route, thanks to the dedicated volunteers who clear the trails and post signs like these every winter.

At Auld Reekie, the 6 of us shared a 3-bedroom lakefront cabin (shown below) and enjoyed a delicious pork schnitzel dinner and full breakfast in the main lodge.

The second day we snowmobiled from Gowganda to beyond Gogama. The weather was colder but riding conditions continued to be excellent and the scenery was fantastic.

Occasionally our group stopped on the trail to stretch our legs, bask in the winter wonderland scenery, and enjoy cups of hot chocolate and coffee from our thermoses. We  carried trail food for snacks (such as trail mix, chocolate bars, cheese, water) and equipment for emergencies (saws, tow ropes, first aid kit, space blankets, cell phones, tools, etc). Snowmobile trips are more like safaris than road trips. Below is a photo of my husband and me on our snowmobile at one of our rest stops on the trail.

By late afternoon, we arrived at our next destination, the Tata Chika Pika Lake Lodge, where hosts Henri and Annie gave us a warm welcome. Our rooms in the 6-bedroom sleeping cabin (shown below) were spacious and warm.

Everyone enjoyed drinks and conversation at the bar in the main lodge before dinner (shown below).

The owners had mounted a magnificent 62"-wide moose rack (by comparison, I am 64" tall) above the field stone fireplace, shown below with me and my husband as we shared a laugh.

That evening we were served an awesome gourmet dinner of pork tenderloin with wild mushroom sauce, roasted organic carrots, twice-baked cheddar potatoes, and an old-fashioned Queen Elizabeth Cake for dessert. Beyond yummy. We had such an enjoyable stay at this lodge that my husband and I want to return in the summer with our travel trailer, to camp at their adjacent campground and do some exploring with our ATV and kayaks.

On the third day we headed for Timmins and stopped on a bridge above rapids at a control dam (shown below). There might be a painting subject or two here...

In Timmins, we stayed at Cedar Meadows Resort and Spa, which we have enjoyed many times in the past. We soaked in their outdoor hot tub and had an excellent chef-prepared dinner in their fine dining room. The 6 of us went on their afternoon elk-feeding wagon ride, which I describe in detail (including video) in my previous post Hand Feeding Elk in Northern Ontario. The photo below shows me feeding Rocky the bull elk, a gorgeous gentle creature.

On the fourth day we journeyed from Timmins to Kirkland Lake, again with excellent snow conditions. I must mention our memorable lunch stop at the Cosy Diner in Matheson. We had lunches at restaurants four times during our trip, and this one was the best of the best. My husband and I enjoyed home made hot roast turkey sandwiches, fresh cut fries and fresh made creamy coleslaw that were superb. If you ever find yourself going through Matheson, I highly recommend stopping at this diner.

That night we stayed at the luxurious new Microtel Inn which is accessible from the trail in Kirkland Lake, and some of us enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub before a pizza-delivery dinner.

On day 5, we journeyed from Kirkland Lake back to New Liskeard. Below is a photo of me and my husband on our machine, which has a GPS navigation system, two gas tanks, and room for both of us plus 3 pieces of waterproof luggage. I ride on the very comfortable back seat which, along with my hand grips, helmet visor and underjacket, is heated electrically. Yes I'm spoiled.

Quite often during this trip, our route took us along hydro line right-of-ways, which provide convenient corridors through the forest and the opportunity to enjoy riding fast on swooping curves and hills (shown below). Woohoo!

We spent the final night at the Waterfront Inn in New Liskeard and drove home the next day. Our snowmobile adventure this year was easy and fun, and we very much enjoyed the camaraderie of our friends. We feel lucky to live where we easily can access world-class snowmobile trails for winter getaways.

Thank you to our friends Nancy, Rick, and Mike who contributed several of the photos in this article.

One of the excellent side benefits of these winter adventures is that I have access to gorgeous wilderness scenery, to take photos I can use for painting ideas. Shown below are a few of the paintings that resulted from years of snowmobile excursions. Click on the photos for more details about these pieces.

Frozen Two, watercolour 6 x 12"

Snow and Stone, watercolour 16 x 12"

Winter on Lake Kashwakamak, watercolour 11 x 14"

February Flow, watercolour 18 x 24"

Cabin in the Snow, watercolour 9 x 12"

Wild Wonders - Lynx, watercolour 22 x 15"

Fresh-Fallen Snow, watercolour 7 x 10"

February Farm, watercolour 5 x 15"

What do you do to enjoy the outdoors in winter? 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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Shown above is 'Whispering Waters' watercolour on panel (no glass), one in a series depicting islands in northern lakes. Everything in this 24 x 18" painting is inspired by my imagination assisted by general reference photos from trips throughout northern Ontario, except for the green cedar-strip canoe, which is shown below in a close-up photo of the painting.

This 16-foot canoe was made by First Nations (Huron) in Wendake, Quebec for Simpsons-Sears. My husband bought it in their store in 1963 and we still own this fine craft. I painted it from life.

Shown above is a close-up photo of the island in the painting. I am thrilled with the mist in the background, which contrasts perfectly with the dark hues of the island and adds a sense of mystery to the scene. The complex reflections were very challenging but turned out even better than I had hoped.

The photo sequence below shows the painting in stages as I created this scene.

Step 1 (above) I drew the outline of island, canoe and rocks in pencil on 300-lb cold press bright white Arches watercolour paper. Then I masked the edges of the rocky point of land with masking tape, wet the rest of the paper with clear water, and painted on several mixtures of Prussian Blue, Cobalt Blue Deep and Primary Blue. I used sweeping horizontal strokes with a large brush, to simulate gentle ripples in the water. I used the same blue mixtures for the sky.

Step 2 (above) I added two more layers of blue to the water to get the deep colour I wanted, with a full day of drying in between layers, to minimize lifting of older layers when the new layers were applied. Then I removed the masking tape and painted the first layer of greens on the island trees.

Step 3 (above) I painted more layers onto the island trees and created their reflections, making sure to place them in the lighter sections of the ripples. All colours in this painting were mixed from the three blues mentioned previously, plus Permanent Yellow Lemon and Primary Red. These paints are all made by Maimeri in Italy and I love the rich, clean colours of these artist quality paints.

Step 4 (above) I mixed a neutral gray from three primary colours and painted the far shore on dry paper, adding clear water along the lower edge to look like fog. Once the paper was dry, I painted the straight blue reflection of the sky at the water level of the island. After that dried, I painted the rocks on the island.

Step 5 (above) Using masking fluid, I protected the gunwales of the canoe and the paddle on shore. Then I painted three separate layers to create the foreground point. The first was a grisaille (grayish) layer to set up the shadows while I could still see my pencil lines clearly. When that was dry, I wet the whole shore area and painted on several brownish mixtures and sprinkled on salt to create texture in the wash. When that dried I removed the salt and intensified the shadows.

Step 6 (above) I painted the canoe exterior and interior, removed the masking, and painted the gunwales and paddle.

Step 7 (above) I darkened the shadows throughout the painting to finish 'Whispering Waters' 24 x 18".

Mounting and Framing: Once the paint was fully dry, I mounted the watercolour paper to an archival wood panel, then varnished to provide protection from UV fading, then mounted the panel in a black wood floater frame (shown above).

I am very pleased with how this major work turned out. I feel like it is beckoning me to step into the scene, pick up the paddles, launch the canoe, and spend the day exploring the mysteries of this beautiful northern lake. I hope you feel the same pull to become part of this magical place.

For more details about this painting, click here.

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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My ‘Unbroken’ image was licensed last year for an album cover (shown above) by Canadian singer/songwriter Terry Posthumus. The long, happy journey of how this happened began about 18 months ago, thanks to Facebook.

The story of this series of events also is an excellent example of how I use Facebook and Instagram to spread awareness of my artwork, which often leads to new homes for my paintings.

In August of 2018. I made a Facebook/Instagram post of the photo above, showing me in my studio holding a painting in progress, with the following caption:

"I started a new watercolour painting this week, based on striped stones from my own collection (note the vases of pebbles on my window sill). I'm so lucky to be able to make art in a beautiful bright studio overlooking a field of corn here in Lindsay, Ontario. Life is good. Cheers to all."

Two days later, I posted these photos with the caption:

"Finished today. Watercolour 12 x 12"
I love it! Let me know your suggestions for a great title. So far I like:
The Same But Different
Stone Soul Circle
The Ties That Bind
Eternity Ring"

I had an excellent response from my Facebook friends, and was contacted by someone who wanted to buy the painting. A few days later I responded to my followers:

"I appreciate all the thoughtful title suggestions everyone suggested. I made note of over 30 good ones to use on future paintings. The title I selected for this piece is Circle of Kindred Spirits, which was suggested by the buyer of this painting. I like this title because it is welcoming and symbolic of positive energy, and it refers to a common bond shared by members of a community. Just like all of us on this Facebook post are bound together by art. Cheers to all."

One of the other title ideas I especially liked was 'Unbroken', suggested by one of my watercolour students who follows me on Facebook. I decided to use this title on my next stone circle painting. About a week later, I posted the new work in progress:

"I have more stone circle watercolour paintings in the works. These are such fun. (OK, I'm a confessed rockaholic.) Here I am in my sunny Lindsay studio, surrounded by my pebble collection - on the window sill, and arranged into circles in the foreground. The painting I am working on is titled 'Unbroken', a title suggested by my Facebook friend Pauline Shortall-Shenton for a previous stone circle painting. I love the red/gray colour scheme in this one. I'll show you when it is finished. Cheers everyone and have a great day."

The next day I posted the finished painting photo and caption:

"Unbroken, watercolour 12 x 12". I finished this painting today, the second piece in my Stone Circle series, inspired by my own collection of pebbles. I love the way Unbroken turned out. The stones are a metaphor for the common bond shared by humanity. We are one."

The post included this close up photo below with the caption:
"Unbroken, watercolour 12 x 12". I love the way it turned out. I used actual pebbles from my collection as reference for this painting. Thanks to Pauline Shortall-Shenton for the title."

A week later I received a private message through Facebook from Terry Posthumous. I was acquainted with Terry from when I lived in Port Perry and knew he was a musician and guitar instructor. He knew my artwork from when he used to work at Framer's Gallery and make frames for my Doors of Port Perry posters.

"Hello Karen. I would be interested in chatting with you about using your, "Unbroken" painting as the cover for my soon-to-be-released EP entitled, "Catharsis". Are you open to chatting about this? Peace."

I responded in the affirmative and, over the next several months Terry and I discussed, researched and drafted a non-exclusive rights managed license agreement, which was signed in early January 2019.

This type of contract meant I was able to sell the original painting to anyone, and also make and sell print reproductions of the Unbroken image. I had the painting photographed by a professional photographer to make a very high resolution image.

I made this post at the end of January 2019:

"I have some amazing news. My painting 'Unbroken' will be on the cover of "Catharsis", Terry Posthumus's new record, which is expected to arrive on March 29, 2019. This is the first time I have licensed an image for the music industry and am thrilled that this well-respected Canadian singer songwriter chose my artwork for his international release.
"Hailing from Oshawa, Ontario, Terry Posthumus is an innovative Canadian artist, activist and speaker. Terry is known for lyrics that are introspective, inspirational and insightful. His gravelly voice and his command of his instrument has captivated audiences near and far - with performances that have been described as “root-sy”, engaging and delightful. His passion for life, love, family, faith and justice is woven into the very fabric of his songs and stories. Through story and song, Terry delivers a powerful message of grace, hope, mercy, peace and love."
'Unbroken' also is available as custom art prints on paper, canvas, wood, metal, and acrylic in a variety of sizes, from my print-on-demand publisher FineArtAmerica."

The album of gospel songs written and performed by Terry was released originally under the 'Catharsis' title, but he liked the title of my painting so much that he quickly changed the album title to 'Unbroken'. Here is the back of the CD package:

Then, Terry emailed me with more good news:

"Hi there. Would you be interested in doing a combined Art Show/CD Release concert with me? I would like to introduce you to my world and talk about how this happened. I was thinking the last weekend of March... BTW, I want to buy the original."

I attended the album release dinner concert party at Nestleton Waters Inn (shown above), made a speech about the origin and symbolism of my Unbroken painting, and had a display of my artwork there.

Part of my speech said: "This painting is the second in my Stone Circle series, inspired by my collection of smooth striped stones. This circle symbolizes unity and the stripes represent the common bond that connects all of us, no matter what colour, size, shape, or orientation we might be. My hope is that the people of this earth focus on what unites us, rather than what divides us."

Terry spoke about how my painting appealed to him as soon as he saw it on Facebook the previous year. He said he had 14 children (11 surviving) and there are 14 stones in my Unbroken painting, so it represented family to him. He loves stones, and the way they each have different shapes, sizes, and colours in the painting made him think of the different passions, personalities, and life paths of his children.The line connecting the stones symbolized his hope to spend eternity with his kids. He also noted how a watercolour painting is constructed in transparent layers, just like he builds the audio tracks on his record, so a picture emerges over time.

It was a wonderful evening of music and stories, presented to a sold out house. Terry gave me a deposit that night after the concert, towards the acquisition of my Unbroken painting.

The album went on to become an unprecedented international success for Terry. In February he posted this about a single from Unbroken called Time and Again:

In May he posted about another single from the Unbroken album that was being played worldwide:

I am so pleased that my artwork played a small part in the continued success of a fellow Canadian artist. I love it when artists support artists! You can find out more about Terry and listen to his music at www.terryposthumus.com.

Last October, after I returned from our summer exploring Newfoundland, Terry and his wife came to my studio to pick up his painting. Terry mentioned that his Unbroken album had been entered in a national music award competition and he would let me know if he made the short list. Here is a photo his wife took of Terry and me in my studio. Terry is a lovely person - very calm, caring, and kind. He has a big heart to match his tall stature.

Terry posted this photo of the painting hung in his Oshawa music studio. I can't think of a more fitting home for this piece of art:

In November, Terry let me know the fantastic news that his Unbroken album had garnered three official nominations from the Gospel Music Association of Canada. Here is my Facebook post with the details:

"Hello friends

I am honoured and thrilled to let you know that my 'Unbroken' image was licensed earlier this year for an album cover by Canadian singer/songwriter Terry Posthumus, and the album is now one of five nominees for 'Album Artwork Design Of The Year' in the 41st Annual Covenant Awards, presented by the Gospel Music Association of Canada.

Terry's 'Unbroken' album also has been nominated for 'Country / Southern Gospel Album Of The Year' and his single 'Time and Again' has been nominated for 'Country / Southern Gospel Song Of The Year'.

Congratulations Terry on this landmark achievement and I hope you win all three awards. Thank you for the opportunity to showcase my artwork to an international audience.

Pinch me, somebody...😁🍁❤️👍"

Winners will be announced at the 41st annual Covenant Awards at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC in March. I will let you know what happens.

And that is the story of how one of my Stone Circle paintings became an album cover. That reminds me, I have more stone circles to paint!

Click here for details about art prints of Karen's Unbroken image.

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

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