Clementis 2005

The weather in the Vancouver area and all around, has been for weeks cool and rainy and finally today we're in a warm spell. From my studio window we planted a clementis and the pink and beige flowers bloomed finally; I hope that sun stays for awhile. We planted it close by the window because the blossoms and leaves create much needed shade and the fragrance is sweet. That painting was completed years ago and I'm sure with more sun the plant will yield more flowers and look just like that composition. Wildflowers are so hardy and just bloom and some come into fruit and soon will go to seed. Just because they're wildflowers and they make do with what nature throws their way.

Birthplace Spring 2003

Everytime when I explore the flood plains of the marsh areas below the escarpment , I cross creeks and some do have in autumn returning salmon that will breed and spawn. In Spring of 2003 when I was exploring some of the cleaner creeks, they had salmon fry swimming down to the Fraser river. I always make a habit of looking especially in the tidal pools and waters around the estuaries and have actually spotted small salmon feeding and thriving. When they become bigger their instincts will drive them out to the Pacific and years later they'll be back; thus completed their life cycle.

Indian Bean Tree 2008

In the specimen orchard of Q.E. Park I painted this exotic tree. In a fleeting moment it's contorted shape took place and it sometimes resembles a sentinel guarding over the good visitors, like us, in this spooky park. I literally pushed the pigment around the canvas at light speed and this expressionistic vision was before me, and I quite like it now. The oriental plane tree and some other trees are growing in this area of the park: come and visit when in Vancouver. These trees are from other countries and are there for people to do research, the bark is quite colourful on some. Our other high-lights while visiting this park were the extremely beautiful flowers in the beds and the quarry, wildflowers hiding under the trees, the westcoast forest area, the ponds and the birds.

That Secret Stream 2001

Back in the early spring of 2001 I was hiking in the back-country of Golden Ears and the exploring is what I love about a long nature hike. I'm drawn usually to something visually beautiful and unusual, like a manifestation in the colour of the boughs of a tree. A spruce had some golden branches which contrasted with the greens and that drew me closer to that tree, and it wasn't a bug infestation. It was just a genetic gift that nature gives to some plants and animals: and many people who search for rareness like me will share with others and be back. For that Secret Stream I never knew where it lead to, but it held a secret, and presumably fed into Alouette Lake.