Lands End

Here is another attempt with watercolours. St. Lucia, as you can see is a very rugged, tropical island and here we are at its northern tip where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean Sea. Old Volcanic mountains have created the landscape and as this shows most of the slopes are covered with tropical rain forest. Everything seems to bloom in abundance here and the flowers are fragrant, colorful and exotic.

                       

We have to continue to explore.

Pencil sketches

What fun to do pencil sketches again. This is how most artists start their artistic adventure and it is where I started mine. When I was a teenager I used to sit in the garden and sketch flowers for hours.I thoroughly enjoyed each moment and as I became more efficient, I enjoyed it even more. My art attempts were beginning to look like the real thing and the fun was starting to happen. This journey has led me through sketching to watercolours and eventually to oils. What an exciting adventure and such pleasure. 

So I am sketching again. Who knows where the journey will lead me this time?

         

                     

                                   

A Pergola in St. Lucia

After an uneventful trip down, we have arrived in St. Lucia. We have been here for nearly two weeks and the weather is showing signs of improving. We arrived with a nearly full moon and locals say that that fact accounts for the very high tides. The crashing huge waves on the Caribean Sea, can be accounted for by the tail end of the large weather system that has just left the eastern shore of the US. The rainfall everyday is because of the same weather system. Sometime this rain is a  lovely sun shower and that's all, sometime it is a heavy downpour that lasts for half an hour, one day it poured all day. So we just returned from the office where the locals said they have no idea why this weather is not better. It is usually sunny and hot. They say that in Februaury everything will be back to normal. We will wait and see. 

I have my watercolours paints with me this time, and the change to them has been challenging. I miss my oils!!! Anyway here is my first weak attempt. This is the view from our lovely little porch where we have been spending quite a bit of time. The pool beside this pagoda is a nice change and the lounges are very comfortable. We have been relaxing, drinking Piton beer and watching the freighters and cruise ships and sail boats pass by. Tolerating the weather is just something we will have to get used to........until February, then it is going to be beautiful, hot and sunny!

Oh well, back to the lounge and another Piton. 

                          

                         

Sunflowers

This was a wonderful summer for sunflowers and I took many photos. N ow that winter has arrived those photos encourage me to paint flowers.This is my latest painting, from my summer photos, of sunflowers. i like the way the sunlight is bouncing off some of the petals and some of the sunflowers are in the shade. Hope you do too.

                           

This is painted on an12x24 gallery wrapped canvas.

                                       

Hollyhocks by the House

Hollyhocks such as these are beautiful flowers. They grow so tall on very strong stems and one morning the blossoms start. The wonderful flowers face the sun and they just seem to shine as the sun hits them.

                       

A Monarch finds Bliss

                               

Yes, one of the few monarchs we saw this summer found our purple cone flowers! Here she is feasting!

She visited all the cone flowers and golden rod but did not feast on the Queen Anne's Lace. She was a very welcome sight since we have not seen many monarchs this summer. Maybe next year there will be a recovery of this much loved visitor.

Big Hazel, Poppa, Little Hazel, Chris in the Fall Woods

 Our grandkids have moved to Calgary and when the fall foliage came this year we missed walking in the woods with them. Instead I did a painting of the lovely fall colours and drew an imaginary picture of the four of us walking in Le Moins Point. I wish it was a real photo of all of us out for a walk.