This nine panel painting ( each one is 20"x20”) is about special summer memories for me! It commemorates some wonderful evenings, walking back from fishing trips with friends on beautiful summer evenings. It also shows a macro image of an old logging winch which sits on a beach where we spend our summers. I think the textures of rusting metal and trees are so suited to watercolour painting techniques! I am delighted that this piece was chosen to be published in Splash 25, which comes to news stands and book stores in July 2024! Yippee!

This image reminds me of many magical evenings spent on the water, chasing the evening slack tide, because that’s when the fishing is best… It’s also so calm, with the sky mirrored on the water, when the world reveals its best light shows. These are some of our most treasured memories of summer! This painting is 21x29, and is going to be mounted on cradled panel and framed. The price is $2590.

This painting has the same dream like quality as my memories of Savary . This painting is 21” x28” and is sold, but archival prints are available.

This piece is about memories of the slower pace of summer. Summer is golden and slower, filled by moments shared with friends and family, doing the easy things like walking the dog, going for a bike ride and just enjoying nature.

I love the shapes and patterns of the dinghies, traps and rocks on the beaches, marking summer peoples’ spots, where they moir their boats. Come winter, they are gone, either put away, or washed away by the tides…

This piece is about the local water taxi…everyone who has come to our beloved island has been on this boat at one time or another! The challenge, here, was to convey the sense of the passage of time, that the boat keeps coming and going… it’s kind of eternal, like island life. This original is sold, but prints are available.

This is another Savary Island image, made surreal by layers of boats on the wharf and a special sunset view from a friend's place on Dragon Lady Lane… This image is sold, but prints are available.

I call my latest piece about memories of Savary Island "Waiting". It's a familiar image for anyone who has travelled to magical places on the coast, and experienced the anticipation of beach time, or the sadness when leaving the adventures behind to return to the "real world"... Consider it a happy thought! This painting is 16x20… mounted on cradled panel, varnished, waxed and framed. This piece is available through South Shore Gallery, in Sooke, BC.

Just before the beginning of the pandemic, my family was up at Savary Island, so when everything shut down, we stayed put. I had a lot of time to walk and paint, and the spring there, was absolutely enchanting. I couldn’t resist layering the shasta daisies with one of my favourite views on the north side of the island. It was a reminder that, despite the anxiety and fear that Covid generates, one can still find beauty and peace in nature. This piece is a “happy thought”… sorry, the original is sold. Prints are available.

Appropriately enough, this piece was created when the lockdown was at its height. It layers the Front Beach both deserted during the lockdown, with what it was like last summer… If you look closely, you can see people on the beach, cars and the hut on the end of the wharf and the beach furniture that is left in front of peoples’ cabins. I think it gave me a sense of reminiscing about summers in better times! It also has layered views looking both east and west on the beach. It did strike a chord with one lovely lady; she bought it as I was signing my name on the piece! Reproductions are still available, though!

This is the first piece of my new series about memory…. check out my blog for information about how and why I am doing this series… the painting is 16x28, and done in watercolour, of course! It’s primarily about arriving or leaving my happy place, Savary Island… If you have been there, you’ll get it!! Unframed, it is priced at $1150.

16x20 painting about the morning water taxi that brings workers to Savary… It is mounted on cradled panel, varnished and waxed, and sells for $975.

All true Savary-ites have a rite of passage; the sunset dock-jump, that appropriately happens every summer evening, in full view of the sign that says “No Diving off the Wharf”! Welcome to Savary… This piece is 24x30, and the original has been sold. Contact me if you are interested in an archival print, though!

One Spring Break, we headed up to our Happy Place, and on a gorgeous sunny afternoon, we stopped off for a visit with some of our neighbours and friends. This image is of a couple of friends talking over wine, while we enjoyed the sun on the water.

There is a water taxi to get to our island. On one spring trip, we were sitting, waiting for a late passenger, and the fogging on the windows attracted my attention… For this piece, I painted the faces, traditionally, then masked them off. I then did six successive layers of liquid watercolour, masking each value, from light to dark. This image is a half sheet of watercolour paper. That measures 15”x22”. Unframed, this is priced at $850.

I often end up in the back seat on family road trips, because i am the only one who doesn’t suffer from motion sickness, and I prefer my kid when he isn’t miserable! We were driving up the Sunshine Coast highway, and I wanted to preserve the moment! This was done , partially, at two Artist Demos for Opus Framing and Art Supplies. It’s a poured watercolour, with two layers done with liquid paint, and a third layer done traditionally, to add in the final details.

This is a poured watercolour of some old bikes that I saw leaning against someone’s porch on Savary.. I was attracted to the strong shapes and light! It’s just an itty bitty little piece, measuring 6”x6”, and it’s mounted on cradled panel, varnished and waxed. It’s priced at $ 112.

This was one of my first paintings that was accepted into a Federation of Canadian Artists juried exhibits. It showed in the AIRS show, in my first year as a member of the FCA. The image is of my husband, and three year old son. My son decided that he wanted to learn to fish, so we bought him a small, plastic Spiderman fishing rod. It didn’t even have any line on it, but he was happy, anyway! (We now all fish for real, btw!)

The characters at the Steveston Fish Market were delightful. I did this piece for a juried show with the FCA, called “Sketch”. It did get accepted, btw!

Just for fun, I chose to paint this memory of a perfect evening, on an antique nautical chart. The image is done in watercolour and a bit of ink. It was donated and sold at an auction for The Autism Support Network.

Every time I walk in the red doors into the market, I am attracted to the colours and shapes of all the produce stacked there. This guy was putting some fruit out on display. This is another poured painting, with three layers. This one is gone… but I can do reproductions if you like!

I just laughed at the bookends looking at the view! This was an earlier poured watercolour, but, sorry, it’s sold…

I loved the designs of the repeated shapes, and the two sunbathers mirrors of each other.

This piece is the first of a series that I am just starting, of images taken out of the windows of the West Coast Express. I took the train into town one snowy morning, so I could avoid driving in bad weather, and the views on the trip home were absolutely captivating. This image was in the evening, as people were leaving the station to go home.

About my beautiful new home town. Available for purchase at South Shore Gallery, Sooke, BC.

About my beautiful new home town. Available for purchase at South Shore Gallery, Sooke, BC.

About my beautiful new home town. Available for purchase at South Shore Gallery, Sooke, BC.

About my beautiful new home town. Available for purchase at South Shore Gallery, Sooke, BC.

About my beautiful new home town. Available for purchase at South Shore Gallery, Sooke, BC.

1710 Tattoo is the first painting that I ever got into a juried exhibit! I got the email notification as I was walking on a picket line, during a teacher’s strike. I remember jumping up and down, screaming and crying with excitement! People driving by must have thought I was crazy…

The image is a tattoo parlour in Victoria, that I loved for its’ primary colour palette and the repetition of rectangles.

The old architecture of Victoria lends itself to poured watercolours.

This is the smallest street in the world. It has all the charm of old Victoria. And it’s sold.

This is a farm that I drive by every day on my way to work. In the fall, the colours of the cranberry bushes are amazing. I did this as a poured watercolour.

I loved the fish market in Steveston. The colours were other-worldly, because this man’s fish stall was under an orange tarp.

This poured watercolour shows the solitude of a winter morning in the city.

Such amazing light on a quiet Mexican street.

I saw this person while on vacation with my family. I happened to have an artist’s demo scheduled not long after my return to Canada, and I was to be demonstrating watercolour portraiture, and here was an irresistible subject! I approached him, and after showing him and his lady my work, I asked if they minded if I photographed them to do paintings. We spent about half an hour together, at which time, I asked them for their email address. Their reply was, “ We don’t do that stuff, Man. “ The painting is a full sheet watercolour.

I saw this wonderful artist while on Granville Island one day. He was setting up a display of his hand carved birds, and the scene was so incredible, with the light coming in the window of his shop, that I had to ask him if I could paint him! He forgot about it, and the painting became the cover art for Opus Framing and Art Supplies Visiting Artists circular. Apparently, he saw the painting and papered the window of his shop with the brochure! His shop is now on Main Street, I think.

This is Maui Man’s lady friend…

This painting has a story that is near and dear to my heart. I kind of approached this lovely gentleman at a car show, by holding up my camera, and asking permission with a smile and raised eyebrow. This was his answer! I never asked his name or spoke to him, but I loved the image so much that when I found out about the International Watercolor Society’s first Canadian Biennale, I decided to paint him for my entry.. I sweated over this painting for over 120 hours! My painting was chosen, and that led to Opus asking me to become a member of their visiting artist’s series .

Eventually, I posted the image on my FaceBook account, and one of my ex-students contacted me, and said, “ I think that’s my dad!” It wasn’t, because she introduced us, but he turned out to be the grandfather of one of my other students! Unfortunately, this lovely gentleman has passed away, but his family used the painting at the memorial service. I am glad that it reminds them of happy times.

This was another car show subject! I used his image for another artist’s demo at Opus Framing and Art Supplies.

Meet our charismatic tour guide… I loved the hat, and the pattern that the shadows made on his face.

I had this amazing picture of Maui Man, and it was so playful, that I had to loosen up with the colour to suit him!

This lady runs the gift shop in Refuge Cove. She graciously posed for me. I loved the pensive quality of her expression.

This is a portrait of an old family friend. He is a philosophical man, and a carpenter. I hoped to capture his introspective nature… I believe I did, because, not only did the original sell, his mother bought a giclee print of it.

Another piece, the first one I painted of him. I trailed after him with my camera for more than two hours, until I caught him unaware. This is also gone, a gift to him.

This man was cleaning his catch off the back of the boat, and I couldn’t resist his smile!

This is a commissioned piece, done as a draw prize for people who purchased art from me at my solo show. This lovely lady decided that she wanted an image of herself to give to her kids. We went out in the “back 40” with a camera, in the sun, and took lots of photos… this is the result!

This piece was about the most important elements of the view… the contour of the landscape, the cypress trees and the collection of buildings on top of the hillside.

After coming back from my Italy trip, I was asked to design a banner for a friend, and needed a simple image that wouldn’t detract from the text, and that would represent the island that we were on. So, evergreens and water…

In this piece, I wanted to capture the olive groves, greenery and the layered hills in my view into the Val D’Orcia.

This was intended to be an exercise on abstraction- no petals, stamen, etc, but I couldn’t refrain from my favored bold, gestural mark-making!

The challenge, in this view from the Val D’Orcia, was to capture the “bowl” in the landscape… it’s not quite here, but the house on the hill, with the cypress trees in the yard, and the sense of aerial perspective are there!

This exaggeration of the contours of the landscape capture the hollow in the valley.

Oftentimes, when I paint on location, I fall into the habit of trying to capture everything.. and then I tend to lose sight of the most important parts of the scene. When I do that, I repaint, but not from the scene itself. I edit by painting off my painting, and ask myself, “ What is essential? What attracted me to the subject in the first place? “ Then, I repaint, and simplify! This painting is the third version of a view in Cortona. It’s painted from a painting, based on the original plein-aire piece!

This is the painting based on the original plein-aire painting done on location in Cortona. What attracted me to this view was the geometry of the buildings, and the soft colours.

While in Italy, we were challenged to paint one of the doors in the courtyard of La Fratta. The kicker was, only eight percent could reveal that it was a door. I chose this door, because the layers of paint peeling off it created a variety of soft, muted colours.

We stayed in this amazing, 16th Century working farm, when I was in Italy. On our last day, I just felt compelled to paint the essence of the old walls of the structure.. they were masonry, with peeling stucco, concrete, brick, and bits of paint.

This piece commemorates the shared experiences that kids have on Savary, of jumping off the dock. There are those who leap, unafraid, and those who stand on the edge, contemplating whether it’s cold or a long way down! Eventually, all true Savary kids take the leap!

This is a custom watercolour portrait based on a favourite photo, that was provided to me by the client. She requested that I do the background using my poured watercolour technique. The piece was then mounted onto a cradled panel and varnished.

Painting small children requires different techniques than painting people who have wrinkles! This commission was a Christmas gift from a doting uncle!

This was one of a series of commissions of Mission landmarks, for clients who loved a painting that had already sold at my solo show. They decided that favourite local landmarks would be something special that they would love to keep, to remind them of their home town. I was told what landmarks that they wanted, and I knew which painting appealed to them, so, This one and the next two pieces were the result.

This painting resulted from someone coming to my home, and seeing my work on the wall! He asked me to paint a favourite view of a place where he and his son loved to go camping. A second image is in progress, now!

Artwork for a new house, of a favourite family photo! Framed and painted to match the decor…we aim to please!

This is a second commission, of the client’s favourite camping spot.

Jean wanted an image of herself to leave to her kids. We took lots of photos, chose a favourite image, and this is the result!

This one was a treasured family memory… they were at Disneyland on a family vacation and it started to pour. No one but Dad had a coat, so the kids shared…

This piece was created for a fundraiser for The Autism Support Network, and sold at auction. The image is a moment from my son’s childhood.

Appropriately enough, this piece was created when the lockdown was at its height. It layers the Front Beach both deserted during the lockdown, with what it was like last summer… If you look closely, you can see people on the beach, cars and the hut on the end of the wharf and the beach furniture that is left in front of peoples’ cabins. I think it gave me a sense of reminiscing about summers in better times! It also has layered views looking both east and west on the beach. It did strike a chord with one lovely lady; she bought it as I was signing my name on the piece! Reproductions are still available, though!

All true Savary-ites have a rite of passage; the sunset dock-jump, that appropriately happens every summer evening, in full view of the sign that says “No Diving off the Wharf”! Welcome to Savary… This piece is 24x30, and the original has been sold. Contact me if you are interested in an archival print, though!