In the morning light

The intense morning sunlight lighting up everything in its path was the subject of my first morning oil sketch for the day.

After a downpour of rain

After a downpour of rain, the sun came out. I was struck by the visual effect the wet street created in the intense sunlight.

The same corner

About 8:30 pm after coming back from students' art exhibition , the sun came out of the clouds transfiguring the whole view instantly.

A corner of our backyard

A small oil sketch made while looking out of the window from the dinner table shortly before supper when it was cloudy and rainy outside.

A window view on an early morning when rain stops and sun comes out

Again I found myself standing before the window spellbound by the view outside. It was so quiet early in the morning when the rain stopped overnight and the sun came out of the clouds briefly lighting up the rain soaked street and the new leaves on the trees. A lone teenage boy was walking by whose shadow was being reflected onto the wet surface of our driveway. After an hour and half, here was my painting for the day.

A brief moment when the sun light broke out of the clouds.

The curtain of evening was falling over our neighbourhood with the last light of the day briefly breaking out of the clouds lighting up the trees and part of the street. I found myself sinking so deeply into the view oblivious to the evening that was encroaching upon me.

A window view on a rainy spring afternoon

A window view in the afternoon out of our living room. It is still raining outside when I start this painting. Everthing in sight look so fresh and green. After a long and cold winter here in Manitoba, the color of green is such a welcome relief.

Blooming over the hedges

Wet and cold, the lone tree behind our hedges blooms profusely over our flower bed where a few dark red peonies start their brief annual blossoms.

Cloudy spring morning

My sense of the season is always sharpened by the timely rain which seems to have a cleansing power with it washing away the dirt and grime from a long and cold winter. In this part of Canada as in the far Northwestern China where I was born and grew up, spring always comes so late. I remember how Robert Browning's poem Home thought abroad helped me live vicariously with a British spring in the far and cold northwestern China. Here is the poem which I still can recall from my memory.
Home Thoughts, from Abroad

O, TO be in EnglandNow that April 's there,And whoever wakes in EnglandSees, some morning, unaware,That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheafRound the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,While the chaffinch sings on the orchard boughIn England—now!
And after April, when May follows,And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedgeLeans to the field and scatters on the cloverBlossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray's edge—That 's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,Lest you should think he never could recaptureThe first fine careless rapture!And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,All will be gay when noontide wakes anewThe buttercups, the little children's dower—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

A busy street

Towards the end of the day, Academy Road was jammed with traffic and pedestrians, and there are people everywhere. I try to capture the mood of a busy street and the cheerfulness flowing down the street.

Alive with music

It is quite exciting to paint right on Academy Road on Academy Alive day when certainly there is an air of festivity all over the street. With a two -person band playing away right at the door of Woodlands Gallery I start to paint the first scene. It is also exciting to see my works being displayed in the gallery with beautiful frames and chat with people who have purchased my paintings before. There is certainly a sense of rewarding and accomplishment when people tell you how they enjoy your art works. It is a bit cloudy with the sunlight showing up briefly every now and then. Weatherwise, It is overall a very pleasant day to paint, for I do not feel tired at all.

A glimpse of spring light and color from under our doorway

A flicker of light--------- in memory of those who died 20 years ago

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre. What happened today twenty years ago will be forever seared into memory of people like you and me whose lives have been profoundly impacted upon by the event.

While listening to Johannes Brahms 'A German Requiem, I just want to pray for those Tiananmen mothers who lost their sons and daughters in the massacre and whose cry for justice have never been answered.

"Blessed are they that mourn,for they shall be comforted.They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.They that go forth and weep,bearing precious seed,shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,bringing their sheaves with them...." The stream of music flows , and the memory stays.

Looking across Maureen's front yard

Dazzling white blossoms

The white blossoms from the tree were suddenly caught in the setting sunlight which is dazzlingly beautiful. A quick oil sketch from our patio late in the afternoon.

Full bloom over the fence

What difference two days can make! The crab apple trees in John's garden are in full bloom now attracting lots of buzzing bees as well as birds with the air permeated with their perfume.

Looking across the street

The dazzling sunlight reflected off the wall of Irene's house across the street echoed by the bright pink blossoms from the tree on her front yard.

A quiet corner

The violet colored iris started to bloom in our flower bed. The little statuette of an angel was placed in the center ready for the summer.

Blooming crab apple tree

The two crab apple trees seemed to have burst into blossoms overnight in the Gross' backyard. It was such a beautiful view which my humble effort proved to be no match to.

On a leisurely afternoon

After the first painting done, I turned my easel around trying to capture the sweeping view of the green wood in the park with lots of people in the distance spending a pleasant afternoon.

A view from Dinsdale park on Assiniboine River

Local Chinese community organised an outdoor picnic gathering at Dinsdale Park with lots of families attending,bringing tons of food with them. I left the crowd and found myself a quiet corner on the bank of the river to paint. It was early in the afternoon with full sunlight beating down over my head.

In the morning light

Rarely did I have opportunity to paint in the early morning at this location. So I made an effort to come here as early as possible to try to paint this familiar view in the neighbourhood of Cornwallis Crescent next to Balmoral Bay. While I was just about to paint, a young lady suddenly came to me from behind, speaking incoherently and trying to grab my brush from me . She was apparently in a semi intoxicated state and seemingly very upset. Anyway, luckily she left without further incident, but this small interlude almost marred my mood compounded with occasional bursts of loud laughs from a house in the distance.

Against setting sunlight

Late in the afternoon after supper, Ping as usual could not wait to get her hands on her garden. Looking at our house from across the street I was so struck visually by the setting sunlight that I set up my easel in a hurry, and did a quick oil sketch with Ping working on her garden.

From the garden of the Eatons

Came to the Eatons' backyard to paint after work. David and Ann were sitting in their sun room to enjoy the weather. It was really windy and the blossoms from their plum trees would soon be blown away, which reminded me of Shakespeare's sonnet No.18, the only sonnet that I have ever committed to my memory.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date;Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. "

The path

After supper around 5:30 I found myself walking towards the path where I had painted so many times over the past 6 years. The sunlight was breaking out of clouds and the crab apple trees were being lit by the light while two ladies were walking their dog towards me. This was the moment I was trying to keep  in my memory as well as onto my canvas. 

Color of spring

I have lost track of how many times I have painted at this spot over the past 6 years! However, each time I found myself at this spot next to our line of hedges the urge to paint was strong as ever especially at the turn of the season. The vibrant and fresh color in spring was engulfing my every sense while I was painting away in the afternoon. 

Blooming Nanking Cherries

The blooming Nanking cherry brush on Maureen's property was so enticing that I simply could not pass by without getting it onto my canvas. Around noon when the sun was in and out of clouds every now and then, I tried to capture its cheerful and light spirit. 

Garage Sale at 42 Balmoral Bay

As before, the Gross always serves as the organizer of such a neighbourhood event. And they are so well organized. On top of that John's great sense of humour always adds to the cheer and joy of the moments. To me garage sale means more than a garage sale it serves kind of as a seasonal initiation and a ritual that marks the transit of  a long passage of winter into a hard earned summer season. After the first painting I trained my easel towards the Gross' front yard trying to capture the moment of such an event. 

Balmoral Bay in the morning

Early in the morning around 8 people gradually came to the bay to muti-family garage sale. Every year at this time  Balmoral Bay will hold its annual community garage sale which really attracts lots of people. This year with such beautiful weather finally there is no exception. It is not so often that I can set up my easel early in the morning to do some painting outdoor. I was totally captivated by the color and light in the morning. 

A long stretch of fences

A favorite spot of mine to paint across the seasons. While passing this location on my way home to work, I was attracted by the glow of the blossoming trees in the sun , and I  returned to it with my easel  to paint this view on this open space behind Cornwallis Crescent.