Coneflowers

I've gotten stuck working on a larger painting that is just not going too well, so have not posted here lately. But last night I decided I needed to take a break from the larger work and go with something smaller and more accessible. So this one is from a photo I took in my garden, done on my usual Art Spectrum 9x12.

It seemed like a perfect painting to be part of my friend Michelle's 'Nature Notes' this week. This one was fun to do, and a change from my recent landscapes. Macro close-ups of things are also fun challenges.

Canadian Hayrolls

There just seems to be no end to my fascination with my Canadian pictures. Up where we have our summer place in New Brunswick there are still many working farms that face right on the bay, and I love the look of the hayrolls in the fields with the sparkling water behind them. The reference photo for this was taken along South Shore Rd. with the hayfield right on the edge of Baie Verte, and Nova Scotia across the way, on the other side of the bay.

Bridge over the Tantramar

I love the wide-open spaces of the Tantramar Marshes near Sackville, New Brunswick. Route 2, the Trans-Canada Highway, runs through the marsh and along the edge of Sackville, paralleled by large electric wires cutting across the landscape. But not far off the beaten path you run into a network of dirt roads that run through the marsh, connecting Upper Sackville to small towns like Jolicure and Point de Bute. 

It always amazes me that there is a real covered bridge still in use along the High Marsh Rd. from Upper Sackville, and it is still used daily primarily by the farmers in the area. I just enjoyed this view with the juxtaposition between an old-fashioned structure like a covered bridge, and the modern one of the high tension transmission lines that run through the area.