Between cooking and surfing

a quick oil sketch of Fengping surfing on internet while a taking a short break from her cooking.

When the street light was on

a quick oil sketch through the bedroom window at 7 p.m.

A Brandon skyline

Drove across the 8th street bridge and came to a stop along the railway track painting a quick oil sketch of this  view of Brandon.

Before the sunset from our window

It always entices me to paint even though the sunset sky is so brief before it descends into sombre darkness so quickly.

a glimpse from our front yard late in the afternoon

The sun came out sunny and bright in the afternoon. However, it was rather cold outside. Braving the cold, I painted this quick oil sketch using my pochade box.

A brief sunny moment in the morning from our doorway

A quick oil sketch of the brief sunny moment from our doorway while listening to Brahms on   CBC Radio 2

Standing alone behind the hedges

A quick 20- minute oil sketch of the lone poplar tree behind our hedges standing in the receding light.

Late in the afternoon from our doorway

Again trying to capture the last moment of sunshine from our doorway before supper.

Standing in the receding sunlight

Trying to capture the last receding light with this pochade oil.

In the receding sunlight

a glimpse into sunset sky

a quick oil sketch of the window view at 4 p.m.

Through the kitchen window

a stroll in the snow

a quick oil sketch from our doorway on a snowy and cloudy morning

A glimpse out of Sarah's bedroom window

a glimpse of sunset moment through the window

In the warm wash of receding light. A window view

in the glare of sunshine at noon

a quick oil sketch of the window view at noon hour.

Moment before sunset

Under the warm street light

On a sunny afternoon

Fengping at her laptop

Cold and snowy -another window view

A moonless night

Another view from our bedroom window

A window view on a snowy morning

Cloudy and snowy outside. Listening to music on CBC Radio 2 while painting this view from our living room window.

A sunny backyard late in the afternoon

A quick oil sketch looking into our backyard late in the afternoon.

A glimpse of last glow

A quick oil sketch of the window view again when the sunset sky was quickly taken over by overcast of clouds.

a glimpse of a full moon morning sky

How ethereally beautiful to see a glimpse of the full moon morning sky while sitting at the table for breakfast. Grabbed my pochade box and did this quick oil sketch looking out  of the window.

A winter storm on its way

Suffered from a migraine attack , and stayed in bed until 3 p.m in the afternoon. When I pulled up the curtain it was dark , windy ,  cold and snowy outside.  The honeymoon of warm weather was obviously over!

A window view in the evening

Came home late and after supper it was too late to step out to paint. Did this quick oil sketch before Ping drove the car away for her church function.

Full moon in the sky

Never seems to have seen the moon so bright and shining as it was tonight  hanging aloft on the wintry sky. A quick oil sketch with the help of a flash light.

In the receding sun

Tried to capture the fleeting moment when the trees were lit by the last receding sunlight of the day around 5 p.m.

The moon light vs the street light

What a view when I looked out of the bedroom window seeing the dramatic contrast of a full moon with its silvery light and the street light with its warm  radiation on this January winter night.

In a snowy mood

A quick oil sketch before supper of the lone poplar tree standing behind the hedges without snow even at this time of the year.

A bright window view at noon

Painted this window view at noon  on this  beautifully warm and sunny day today.

Brewing with snow

It was snowy today. A glimpse out of the window into our backyard showed  that the snow was on its way.

Strolling under the rising moon

It was so warm that I could still stand outside painting even in the evening when the moon was shining brightly in the evening sky.

In the last light

Came back from Rivers after seeing Sarah off at the station. The sun was setting when the top of the trees over the hedges was bathed in the warm wash of the last light.

thawing on a unusually warm winter day

It was so  warm today that the snow start to melt away on our driveway. A quick oil sketch to mark the unusual sight. Had to take Sarah to Rivers to board on the train to Edmonton in the afternoon. Not in a mood to spend more time to complete this sketch.

Sunset sky from the backyard

The weather is simply too nice to pass. Standing in our backyard, I set up my easel again to paint the view which I face on a daily basis. Over the past decade fewer and fewer trees left standing there now due to age and the elements. I remember when we first moved here in 1998 there were so many more trees standing there behind the line of hedges making it almost impossible to get a glimpse of the houses there. Sarah is going back to school tomorrow,  and I always feel  a bit emptiness in my heart when she leaves. This Christmas is so special with her coming home with her friend , and with my sister and her family joining us after 8 years of their moving away from Brandon. Now  one by one they are gone again , leaving us with unforgettable memory, and  a sense of loneliness which will only dissipate with our daily busy self-engagement. The sun is setting again  drenching everything in view with a warm wash of light and colour.

Looking over the hedges

Painted this view from our patio looking into Maureen's backyard early in the afternoon

A sunny backyard in the morning

A quick oil sketch from our backyard early in the morning of our patio backlit by the morning sunshine.

a view from our back alley on Balmoral Bay

It was so mesmerizing to paint at this quiet corner behind our hedges

Our house on Balmoral Bay

A quick oil sketch of our house on Balmoral Bay viewed from across the street

A sunny view across the street in the morning

It was never so warm in January as far as I remember. Painting on such a warm winter morning is such a delightful experience. The view is such so enticingly beautiful.

another window view

a quick oil sketch of the window view around noon.

The moment when the sun started to rise

Tried to capture the moment when the sun started to rise breaking the silence of the dawn.

A quick oil sketch of the the window view when the full sunshine was shifting onto the junipers on our front yard late in the afternoon.

A glimpse into the backyard early in the morning

The window view  shows a totally  different mood when viewed at this time of the day. I do not get many opportunities to paint this view at this time of the day.

The moment when the street light came on

 I set up my easel in our bedroom to wait for the moment when the street light came on to paint this view from our bedroom window.

Balmoral Bay on a sunny winter afternoon

It was sunny but very windy when I started to paint this view. As a matter of fact, it was so windy that my palette was blown off my easel and fell to the ground !