My favourite time of year arrived! Lots of light, sunshine, gardens, blue skies, warm water and I can walk outside without a winter coat on. Towards the end of June I was invited, as a guest artist, to attend the Grand Opening of Killarney Lodge’s log Conference Centre, called Canada House. What a stunning building with magnificent views of the rocks, trees and water of Killarney. When I first was given a tour of the building under construction, I immediately texted my eldest son who lives in Espanola, to tell that I found the location for his wedding, even though he didn’t have a girlfriend yet! Here are a couple of photos of that fantastic day.
Here is a photo of me in the Conference Centre with my Summer Marsh painting:
On Sunday before I left, I was able to finally do the hike in Killarney Provincial Park called: The Crack. Here is a photo from the top of the hike:
On our drive home we stopped at the French River Visitor Centre to see a little display of some of my paintings. I feel very honoured as I have always loved this Visitor Centre. It has been a favourite stop of mine over the years while driving north on highway 69. Here is a photo of the display:
In the beginning of July I was invited to go camping on one of the 1000 Islands by a work colleague of mine. The island was part of a National Park and was very lovely. My friend Debbie took me out on her seadoo to give me a tour of the islands near Ivy Lea and Gananoque. I took photos for paintings references. There was a lot of flooding this year, with many docks and boat houses under water. Here are a couple:
Shortly after the camping trip I drove up to Saint Marguerite, Quebec to go to my annual art retreat with painter Gordon Harrison and Phil Emond. It always seems like a dream to me: Such a stunning location, creativity, wonderful people, fantastic food, swimming and hot tubbing. Here is a photo of me with Gordon and my 1000 Island Boat House painting
Here was another painting I worked on at the retreat from the Killarney Provincial Park hike I did called “The Crack.” 30” x 36”
In August, my husband and I are headed to Greece and Northern Macedonia for a 30th Wedding Anniversary trip. I have a feeling I may feel inspired to paint some of the Mediterranean scenes I come across. Enjoy your summer while it lasts!