A glimpse of the back alley.

The sun came out only briefly early in the afternoon. Excited by the sight of the sunny blue sky , I came out to paint  only to be disappointed by the quick retreat of any sunlight. Plus, it was rather cold and my acrylic paint  started to get frozen solid before I was able to finish this painting.

Snow-covered hedges

It started to snow again, gently and quietly , silencing every sound in the air. A quick acrylic sketch in the morning before breakfast.

Backyard filled with snow

Partially cloudy, and very cold. Looking out of the window, really liked the long shadows casted by the junipers in our backyard over the surface of the snow . A quick acrylic sketch for today.

In the brilliant sunlight of winter

I could not possibly leaving the window without painting another view of the beautiful winter morning through our living room window before getting ready to work an 8 hour overtime shift early in the afternoon.

Another window view

After a few minutes of breakfast break, I came back to my easel, still  excited over the bedroom window view. Suddenly on CBC radio 2, it came Bach's Cello Suite. It could not come at the most fitting moment somehow for me emotionally! With the sight and sound, I found myself totally engulfed by a magnificent torrent of emotions no words could possibly describe! Putting a new piece  of canvas on my easel, and with Bach's cello suite  in the air , and with my heart pounding and my tear welling up in my eyes, I dragged and dashed my brush over the canvas.

Sunrise in the morning after an overnight snow storm

What a contrast when I pulled up the curtain this morning and looked out of the bedroom window! Talking about prairie weather and its unpredictable nature. Here is my visual proof! I was so excited with what was unfolding before me that  I lost not time setting up my easel and painted this quick acrylic sketch before serving myself a cup of coffee and a bagel.

Raging snow storm outside

What a raging snowstorm! With howling wind and plummeting temperature, it is such a bleak picture of misery outside the house. Yet, visually it does provides me with  a drama of dramatical,whimsical and unpredictable prairie winter weather. Like it or not, it is part of our collective memory of this part of the world. Believe it or not, we will miss it if someday we suddenly find it a distant memory.

At my painting class

I teach once a week an introductory painting class at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba . This is an acrylic sketch of two students engaged in painting a portraiture and a figure at the evening class.

On a winter night when street light is on

I always enjoy looking out of our bedroom window on a winter night. There is a sort of tenderness and cosiness about the somber wintry night scene when the street light was on injecting into the cold darkness of the night a sense of endearing warm feeling in the core of my heart. Painted this view in acrylic with the help of a flashlight.

Standing against dark, cold wintry sky

The bare branches of the trees in our back alley soaring against the dark cold sky are like a silent  sentry guarding the entrance to the back alley on Balmoral Bay. A quick acrylic sketch before supper.

A glimpse over the hedges

Again cold and snowy, and again another day without sunlight! Welcome to the dreary Manitoban winter !

A glimpse of our snowy backyard

A bleak view of the partially snow covered backyard. A quick acrylic sketch before supper.

Cold , cloudy and snowy

My hands numb with cold and so my feet after painting this view for half an hour standing outdoor outside  our house. Snow flakes started to fall gently and silently. Nevertheless it is always such a mesmerizing experience to paint in weather like this.

Snowy but sunny , a view from our door in late afternoon

Trying to rush against the fast fading light , I did this quick acrylic sketch standing at the door.

Our backyard transformed by the first fall of snow

It is a marvel that snow could  visually transfigure anything so mundane into something so ethereal!  To quote British  author J. B Prestley ,"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? " 

After the first snow when the sun started to come out of the clouds

Nothing visually is more exciting than the first snow lit up by the warm wash of slanting sun in the wintry sky. Standing on our front yard to paint this visual experience  is ecstasy at its most intense moment,  it is a pure surge of joy through the deep core of my heart, and it is almost  as good as a visual metaphysical encounter with the realm of god. The  world around me ironically seems to have vanished  leaving behind just my pounding heart at the first sight  of something as if I have never encountered in my life!

First snow in the morning

A wintry prelude

Fengping making supper

On a foggy morning

What a foggy morning, upon opening my door, I saw! I had only 20 minutes to spare before going to work in the morning. Quickly I set up my easel at the door, painting with my heart still in aw! 15 minutes of a quick acrylic sketch for the day.

In the last light

With the change of summer time into winter time, I am deprived an hour of day light opportunity to paint now after work. Had to do my best to waste no time to paint whatever came to my eyes. The last garbage bag of fallen leaves leaning against the leafless hedges in the last glow of the day was my subject for today. 

An Ukrainian authodox church in Brandon

was driving around with CBC Radio 2 on, trying to find some view to paint. CBC was playing one of Rachmaninoff piano concertos when I suddenly found myself in front of this church on the northern part of Brandon, and decided to do a quick oil sketch of it.

Towards evening in the last glow of slanting sunlight

O, I just could not stop painting trying to savor every moment of what could  be very likely the last warm weekend for this year! A quick oil sketch of the view from the northern side of our house with our shed and hedges and the big poplar tree lit up by the last glow of the day.

Looking across the front yard at noon

A warm finale of Autumn

What a beautiful morning. If this is the finale of an autumn, it must be a triumphantly jubilant one. I can feel the warm sunlight washing  over me while standing painting in our front yard this morning.

The back alley on Balmoral Bay with the old willow trees

A glimpse of the back alley on Balmoral Bay. Still quite warm. Can feel the warm afternoon sun beating down my neck while standing there painting this view in acrylic this afternoon.

Our empty patio

How quickly another year is reaching its finale! The empty table with empty flower pots standing on the empty patio in fading afternoon sunlight always makes one feel a little bit  melancholy somehow. A quick acrylic sketch for today.

In the fast fading light

In a blink of an eye, the light faded away, leaving darkness and shadow behind. A quick acrylic sketch from the bedroom window.

In the last glow of the day

Standing on the path leading from Balmoral Bay to Macleod Drive, I am captivated by the warm glow of the color of the hedges in the sun. A quick acrylic sketch for the day.

In the receding sunlight at a back alley on Balmoral Bay

It was such a joy to paint this view standing in the  warm sunlight even though it was already in November. A quick acrylic sketch before sunset.