After One...Canada 1, USA 0

I have a few minutes after the first, so here it goes!

I did a painting from the boat launch at 1:30, just as the tide was on the way out. The visibility was about 300 metres, and so Maine was invisible today. It continues to be crazy-warm, and freezing paint is not a problem.




There were a few boats in the harbour today as it was too foggy to be out dragging for scallops.


Actually, everyone is watching the Good ol' Hockey Game... and so am I!!!


Later
Geoff

Nor'easter

So I started the day with a trip out to the point to check out the waves. A strong wind was blowing from the northeast, and that makes for some cool surf, especially at high tide. I found that I could shelter myself from the wind and spray with the van tailgate up, so I stood there and did a painting.



Looking at it this evening, I think it captures the feeling of the storm this morning quite well!

Afterwards, I went to the gym at the Algonquin for my physical fix, then lunch, and back out to paint some more in the early afternoon.

This time, I set up in the same area at the point, but facing the other way... towards Maine.
The rain had stopped at this point, and the tide was on the way out. A thin grey mist was hanging out over the water, making the coastlines of Maine and Canada both appear, and then disappear. I chose the show them faintly, as that is the way they were most of the time. A lot of water had fallen from the sky, and was washed up on shore with the winds at high tide. I stood in salty puddles to do the painting. I love the colours in this painting; all in all, quite effective.



It started to snow at about 5pm. The good news is that if it sticks, I can go skiing; the bad news is that the snow makes the satellite ineffective, so no Canada hockey game.


I'd rather ski anyway... :)

Geoff

A New Look

So today I took my daughter with me up to the High School to talk with some Board of Ed people about the ArtsSmarts program that they have involved me in. The kid fit in very well at the school, even though she is barely 16 months. Such a social girl for her age... she didn't find it intimidating in the least.

Anyway, it turns out that there is a shift in the way educators want students to learn, and SJDA is a pilot school for these concepts. I started to dig in to the "why" the evening before. The short story is, that the "Information Age" has changed the grounds that institutions of higher learning have been standing on for the last 200 years. No longer are "facts" a saleable commodity. Since the coming of the info age, facts are free. For schools to remain relevant in this new age, they must adapt, and quickly.



The answer, of course, is creativity!



Speaking of creativity, after some lunch I went out to do a painting. I decided to head down to the waterfront, and went down the boat-launch because it was low tide, and out of the wind. There I painted a nice little painting of the entrance to the harbour at low tide. I left the steel tower channel marker until last, and when I got home I realized that I left it right out! I'll have to go back tomorrow when the tide is right, and paint it in.



All for now,
Geoff

A Quick One!

Just a quick update on the day...

I spent the morning up at SJDA, working with the students who have signed up for some "Project-Based Learning", and we had a productive morning. You can follow the progress of the newly created St Andrews Festival Fundraiser called "Rock 'n' Ride, at sjda-racefordignity.blogspot.com

After lunch I went out to the end of Bar Road, and did a painting of the view to the north. As can be seen, we had another mild day, grey skies, but good light. The mountain with the tower is Greenlaw Mtn, next in line is Chamcook Mtn and then Grimmers Mtn fades off to the right.

I got in a 10km ski in the late afternoon, but the trails are breaking down quickly at this point. I'll be lucky to get a couple more days in... bummer!

Canada plays Germany tonight. Boring!

Good night for early bed.

Geoff

The Start of a New Week

Another mild day for February... about 4 degrees and cloudy.

Taking advantage of the warm weather, I headed out to "the point" for a painting this morning. I set myself up looking north, towards Ministers Island. The tide was almost all the way out, exposing a lot of the ocean floor. Grey skies had rolled in, but in the distance some slivers of blue sky could be seen peaking through. These unusual light conditions usually create some pretty cool colours on snow at this time of year, but since we have none, it is interesting to see the effects light has on barren February ground. I especially like the yellow ochre fields on Minister's Island, and the purple coastline in the distance; they compliment each other very well.



Next on the list was the pyrography course I'm teaching at Sunbury Shores. The class today began to transfer their images of themselves onto their wood planks. By next week, they should have "burnt faces".

After some lunch, it was time for another painting. I decided to paint at Pottery Creek, a beautiful spot in town that I haven't painted in a while. The spot I chose to set up looked straight out to the south-east, with views of Navy Island and the coast of Maine. A lot of light was poking through the grey-blue clouds, creating nice conditions for painting. The tide was on the way back in, but most of the interesting features, that reveal themselves at low tide, were still showing. All-in-all, a nice painting!



In the late afternoon, I decided to check out the trails for a ski. I went to the north end of Chamcook Lake via the Bayside Port road, and started skiing from the rail line north. I went all the way to Hwy 1, and am again amazed at the good quality of the trails, despite the warm weather. If trails can hold up this well in such mild conditions, I can't wait to see what can be done with some cold weather and a few feet of snow!

Tune in tomorrow...

Slats

Lovin' XC

Today the artwork was indoors... the painting of two Chickadees on the mural for Groom Insurance. They add a little something to the background; a little treat if you look long enough!



I think I'll seal it up now. It's in the can.



After lunch, I decided to go out and see how the trails were holding up. I decided to skip Chamcook Lake, and use my friend Kurt's access road to his lakefront cottage. Good choice - his road is still great to ski down, and the rail line trail is still holding up well. I'm just lovin' the XC skiing; in particular, skate skiing.

Today I skied out to Lineburner Lake - the last lake on the rail line before Highway 1. The Tidd family with some friends were into some pond hockey, and so I snapped some shots of the game. They were having "some kind of fun", as they say in these parts!




It was warm enough to ski in a t-shirt today, something pretty rare on February 21 in these parts. On the way back, it started to snow a bit, but as I look out the window here at 5pm, it has all stopped and looks wet and mild.

Tomorrow I'll be back to painting outside, which I'm looking forward to!

Geoff

Water Ski

Another mild day today; about plus 4 when all was said and done. I started my day off by doing a painting out at the end of Bar Road.

The tide was out, and although it was again overcast, the light was good. I placed myself out of the wind, up near a big cedar bush, and focused the work on the gravel bar that leads over to Ministers Island.

The remaining snow on the island can be seen in the open field above the bar. It is the dark side of the island this time of year, and so a little snow lingers, despite the warm spell. Also, a little ice can be seen on the edge of the turn-around at the end of bar road.

A nice part of the image is the coloured rocks that line the road at the end of the bar.



After the painting, and some lunch, I went for a ski. I started at Chamcook lake again, but with all the rain, some deep puddles are sitting on top of the 2 foot thick ice. You go from fast skate-skiing one minute, to waterskiing the next! The trails beyond Chamcook Lake are still holding up, but I only give them a few more days in these mild conditions. I think I'm done with the lake until it gets cooler as well. I didn't like the wet feet!

Had a nice walk with the family later on in the afternoon, and finished things off with Youth Centre hockey.






All in all, a pretty full day.

C YA,
Geoff

February Rain

It rained all day today... bit of a bummer if you like snow. On the other hand, I think that tomorrow I'll go out painting on the mountain bike.

I tried to find a bit of snow to paint today, and the only place it exists in town anymore is north of the Algonquin Hotel, in the ditches and dark spots of the forest. The road down to the subdivision, behind our famous hotel, has some not-so-straight service poles that always catch my eye when I go by, so today was their day!

What little snow that was there at 11am was totally gone when I went past again at 4pm. The nice browns and rusty-reds of the trees and undergrowth at this time of year, played well with the green of the pressure-treated poles. Throw in some rainy skies, and a wet asphalt road, and voila - February 18th, 2010 in St Andrews NB!

I'm also finishing up a small mural for Groom Insurance that will jazz up the small fence that blocks the alley between them and Tradewinds. I should complete the painting tonight, and have it ready to be sealed up with varathane tomorrow. If the nice weather holds, I'll install it early next week.

All for now.

Peace,
Geoff

ArtsSmarts

I started out my day with a trip up to the high school for a meeting with local music guru, and all-round great teacher and mentor, Shawn Corey. Shawn has kindly included me in an innovative program called ArtsSmarts, a collaboration that brings artists in the classroom to help students to "think outside the box" a bit. Some of the students have offered up some good ideas for creative projects to work on together, so I'm sure I'll have some cool entries to make in the weeks to come.

With that well on the way, I headed up to the golf course to do a painting of town. It was a grey day today, but very mild, so freezing paint wasn't a problem. The lack of sun made some of the colours of the leafless trees really "pop". I also love the colour of the exposed grass, and how it contrasts with the battleship grey of the sky and water.




After some lunch, I picked up fellow artist Cedar Sky, and we went out to Chamcook for some XC skiing. We put in about 20 km, skiing out to hwy 1 before turning around. The trails continue to hold up well, despite the mild weather; and the lake continues to be perfect for skate skiing.


That done, I dropped Cedar off and headed out to the salt-water marsh to do another painting. The afternoon light from the west made for perfect painting conditions, even though things were still overcast. The February colours of the area popped with great clarity, and I think I captured them at just the right time of day.



All in all, another productive day!

Back soon...

Geoff

Breaking out of the Studio Blues

I've been spending a lot of time in the studio these days, preparing a new body of work for an upcoming show. The work is all graphite... or black and white, with a touch of red as a point of interest. The show will be called "InspiRED St Andrews", and all the pieces are - you guessed it - of St Andrews and area.

The absence of colour was getting to me, and so today I changed things up... I painted outside with watercolour. Normally, I do this in the warmer months of the year because of the challenges with the paint freezing. But today I just let the paint freeze on the paper, and took my chances on what it would look like when it thawed. I gotta say, I'm pretty happy with the results.


I also took the time to do a couple laps of Chamcook Lake on the skate skis. I've really taken to XC skiing this winter, and am finding it a great way to keep my fitness peakin'!!
My health continues to be great. I've introduced whole grain rice to my diet (specific carbohydrate diet) in small amounts, with no ill-effect. Also, I've tried small amounts of potatoes, and rye-crackers. So far so good... I'll keep everyone posted as to how I make out!

Olympic Men's Hockey begins tonight; they'll hammer Norway, but it will be interesting to see the team for the first time.

Go Canada!

Geoff