Naniamo

Just when I was considering what I would paint next, I got an email from Carole, an artist friend with a change of address notice. They were downsizing to an apartment with a view of the water in Naniamo, BC. I looked up the area, and found this image, near to where they will be living. This is a small painting, about 7 inches square, done on paper in that exciting 6,000 year old 'new' paint medium, casein.
About a week earlier, I got inspired to find out all that I could about the media. If you look online, you will find that there is not too much out there, but what there is is fascinating. I was getting hooked.

Ocean Park

After more than half my life inland and far away, I've returned to the Pacific coast. Home is where you're from, and now I'm home. Ocean Park is on the western tip of the Semiahmoo peninsula, a quiet gem near White Rock, between the US border and Vancouver. Views like this are common, and are shared with bald eagles. 
Yet another water based media, this was painted opaquely as well as transparently using casein.  Pronounced kay-seen, it is a pigmented binder, or glue, made from a protein found in milk. Binder plus pigment equals paint. Ten years ago, I did a painting of the infamous kitten, George Michael, looking out our window. As a generally overlooked paint, it has great potential.

The Heron at Crescent Beach

Last fall, I was at Crescent Beach, near White Rock BC, and captured an image of this heron as the sun was setting. I took it on my smart phone, and from there it went to Instagram in the requisite square format. It was one of those rare right place at the right time photos, and I especially liked it. It made sense to paint it. This is done in acrylic, my first attempt in that medium. Acrylic is a very popular water based paint, but because of it's handling characteristics, I suspected that I wouldn't like it, and hadn't been in a hurry to try it. An art store's closeout sale finally compelled me to buy a small acrylic set. I can't say that painting in this medium was for me a terrible experience, but it was at least a learning one. I did it on 140 lb watercolor paper, and was amazed to find that by the time the painting was finished, the paper had become plasticized, like a vinyl coated tablecloth. 

Sunset

With April came a flurry of painting activity as I anticipated being a part of the first annual Oxford County Studio Tour, held the first weekend in May. I had been pursuing other interests since Christmas, and consequently spent much of April catching up. I really liked working on this sunset, building up layer after layer of warm colours to intensify the deep glow. I was thrilled to see it sold on the first day of the tour.

The Winamac

My dad's love of tug boats can be traced back to one boat: the Winamac. It was owned and run by my dad's Uncle Baird and crewed in part by another uncle, Laddie. When my dad was very young, he went on family picnicing excursions on this boat, and was told by Baird that when he reached twelve he could come out alone and help the crew. His uncle kept his promise, and for most of his teen years, my dad was a frequent 'guest crewman' on the Winamac. His hopes of more permanent work with his uncle didn't materialize and my dad turned to accounting instead of an adventurous life at sea.

Recently, my dad found online a photo he had never seen before of the Winamac, taken just after she had been sold by Baird in about 1950. She was just as my dad remembered her - before being sold a few more times and finally sunk in the 1970s. Although the photo was rather blurry and faded, I knew I had to paint it. This was no ordinary tug after all, this was the Winamac.

Tugboats on the Fraser

If you see I've painted a tug boat, you can be sure that it is for my dad. This was a father's day gift for him that I painted while visiting him in Vancouver.

Vancouver Tug Boat

That Christmas, my dad would be getting a painting as well, although not a portrait. One of his great interests is tug boats, particularily the ones he watches working the waterways around Vancouver. He knows them all by name, and could probably tell you what kind of engine each one has. But where to get a reference photo? I had not taken any on my previous trips home, and there are not many to be found in the farming country of Southern Ontario. None, actually. This painting was taken from a photo at the website of Seaspan International. I loved painting the mountains that I grew up beside, and the water reflections were time consuming. But the big challenge was making sure that I painted the boat accurately. A stickler for detail (on important things like tug boats) I knew my dad would be checking. I must have gotten it right, because he knew which one it was instantly. This photo is blurrier than the actual painting.

Thank you to Seaspan International for granting me permission to display this painting here.