WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE!

"SEE" FOOD DELIVERY

What a beautiful day to just paint all day long. This is a color study of one of my paintings in the making! I call this: "See" Food Delivery. What do you think the little seagull is thinking about?

BEHIND THE SCENES: CULTIVATE LOVE

And here is the culminating post of the project. Check out this 2 minute behind-the-scenes documentary I post-produced: 3 Artists bringing color and life to a wall in a basement parkade of a senior's home in Vancouver. Props to Dansonn Beats for permission to use his song, Carry On, which had just the perfect blend of rhythm, texture and crescendo that lets our story sing. As the name of the song goes, on to the next project!

Check out the talented artists whom I collabed with here: Art + Soul Creative Co. and Janelle Anakotta

MURAL PROJECT: CULTIVATE LOVE

                                
                                     "Work work work work work" - Rihanna

MURAL PROJECT: CULTIVATE LOVE

When lying down on the job is the rule and not the exception. Slow and steady but progressing quickly.

MURAL PROJECT: CULTIVATE LOVE

What's better than having a brush to paint with? Having 2 of course! I have joined forces with two talented artists, artandsoulcreatveco's Laura Uy and Janelle Anakota to paint this mural for the Seniors Baptist Home on 3rd and Commercial drive. This is a work in progress shot (which is why the colors are subdued for now) and I will slowly reveal the wall in its fulll glory as we get closer to the end.

PAINTING PRACTICE

I painted before I slept and painted when i woke up in the middle of the night. I'm trying a different style as my break in between projects, teaching myself a faster way to paint, figuring out how to do watercolor shorthand. It's like learning how to write. I will eventually find my own strokes and when i do, I sure hope it will turn out better than my penmanship!

STAIRWAY TO PAGODA

A watercolor sketch of a pagoda situated within a balanced landscape of hard and soft, rocks and plants, at the Sun Yat Sen Garden. It was a muggy chilly day but I still would have wanted to stay longer. Nevertheless, it was a welcome break from my studio painting. I had a bit of fresh air, was in the good company of the Vancouver Urban Sketchers and I walked away with a study I may come back to and develop later on.

SOLD!

A Beautiful Home in the Forest - SOLD! I am happy to say that its new home is now in New Zealand. (It got there before I ever would!) A new chapter has unfolded in the life of this painting and its story will continue to be told in the words of somebody else. It was one of my favourite pieces but I am not sad it has left my hands. Its message can now be seen and heard by more people. I bid you farewell my precious painting and Kia Ora New Zealand!

COMMISSION: BRENDA'S CAMINO

This painting was commissioned for my dear friend Brenda whom I met on my trip to the El Camino de Santiago.

This picture was my first day on the Camino and Brenda was among the first group of people I had met on my journey.

It was a secret birthday gift instigated by Wendy, involving Brenda's husband in Saskatchewan and her sister, Dee, as the accomplice, denying all knowledge of this in the making until right after the moment of revelation. 

This was when we all reunited for one night in Vancouver. It was a small get together of friends on the Camino. They were the only three I knew at the party but it was as if I knew everybody else. The spirit of the journey was still in each of us.

The figures in the painting are part of an installation found on top of a hill on the Camino called Mt. Forgiveness. This was a memorable spot for Brenda so I thought it would be even more meaningful to her if I painted her in it. The second figure you see in this painting is Brenda. 

Inscribed on the actual sculpture that this painting was based on reads: "Donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas": Where the paths of the wind and stars meet. I am turly honored to have been given the chance to paint this for her. Wendy, Dee, Brenda and I had been brought together again for one night only, creating another special occasion, another lasting memory, all because we took a long walk together some time ago, somewhere north of Spain.