2010 had plenty of challenges and some exciting new adventures (sometimes those were both one and the same!). The Cape Mudge Boatworks on Quadra commissioned me to create a painting for their annual Christmas card.  I kept waiting for a boat to be pulled into the cradle, but the winter weather intervened.  The solution was to create more of a winter scene and if you look closely (click on an image to view it larger), you can see a bit of snow here and there.  Our island isn't known for its heavy snowfalls, but I'm getting good at painting puddles.

     This summer, several of my students were interested in painting with gouache (similar to watercolor, but opaque).  I particularly like the medium because one can lay in transparent, sloppy, wet background washes for the sky and sea, and then use a thicker version of the paint for the foreground details. "Purple Haze" is included in a 32 piece show "On Location-Field Sketches" hanging at the Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra until mid January.

      In June, I was invited to join 9 landscape artists for a week at the Hakai Beach Institute located on Calvert Island on the British Columbia Central Coast.  Exquisite views, over the top food, the camaraderie of some very talented artists, and nothing required of us, what-so-ever!  We painted like demons.  I came home with about 20 pieces in various stages of competition.  "Float Boat" was nestled in the grass near the main lodge and I took advantage of the one warm spot on the island.   "Hakai Sky" was painted huddled on the dock at the entrance to the harbor.  The cloud level would rise and descend multiple times each day, so one had to paint fast and furiously to capture any given moment.

     "Perch at Dusk," records one of the birds we see regularly on our island.  These spruce hen are exceedingly dumb and often freeze in the middle of the road, or lead out their chicks just as we're coming around a corner.  I've learned to wait for the stragglers to invariably dash across a minute later.  We even have a pear tree and this hen was actually perched on one of its branches.  I know, I know, it should have been my Christmas card!  Prior to the holidays, I had several requests about prints.  Any of the images you see here and most of what is on my website is available as archival prints for sale.  Some of the originals are also for sale. 

Hope you all had a memorable holiday and celebrate the New Year in style,  Perri