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