In Synch with Summer

The prolonged seesaw battle between Winter and Spring has finally been resolved and out of that struggle... the coronation of Summer has finally begun. Our garden floral clock tells me so, but so too does the gradual arrival of the "summer folk" who annually migrate here to people the scattered island refuges.Their faces have been much missed and absent on the River and in the village since their sudden departure late last August and September.

Our Gallery is fully open and operational and we have finally begun to reap the rewards of our joint winter works programs created in our studio and en plein air. Our lines of cards are being well received at this point. Newly introduced products like my mouse pads and magnets... to our surprise have had to be reordered already. Very encouraging to us ... given the lateness of the natural world signs and the disorientation and hesitancy in the human world in response to the former condition.

We have worked long hours together to ready and spruce up the Gallery. Deb has completely rearranged the interior furniture and has created a more pleasing look and flow. The Gallery has been rehung in a fresh manner. Other product focus areas have been located strategically to create pauses in the flow which encourage thought and pondering. We have created new eye-catching features on our front lawn and on the facade of our renovated garage/gallery which displace any confusion in the viewer from the street's mind as to which function this structure serves. With our winter and spring goals addressed and met... I can now get back to my outdoor life of painting on location. I have greatly missed that... and look forward to totally immersing myself in that activity which gives me so much pleasure.

Here is a potpourri of photos and recent watercolour images to offer you some further insight into the above comments. I can smell turpentine... as I close this post! Let the (plein air) games... begin!

Welcome mat view for the Paint Box Gallery for summer 2014

View down "Plein Air Lane"

Deb's jewel box display

Take your pick Ladies! Let us give you a hand!

Another palette of Deb's Creations

New Magnets... looking for new Fridge door Homes!

Deb assembling our new box sets of my images for the four separate Rockport Cruise Line Tours

Window Art by Deb

A new artisan addition by a grade seven student from my past, Mark Roche of Brockville. Whimsical wooden "Churches and Cabins From My Mind".... crafted entirely from wood procured from weathered telephone poles! The detail is uncanny! They're hot sellers already! We plan to feature Mark and his work here at the gallery in July!

The card shop!.... Plain... and simply unique!

Below you can see the seven images that I created in late winter to present two more box sets each containing four images for the Rockport Cruise Lines. I now have created a box set for each of the tours that they offer. I truly enjoyed shifting gears out of my familiar oils to a watercolour and ink mode expressed in this jaunty souvenir format designed for card creation. Judging by their early popularity... they will receive the same attention and good sales that the earlier two enjoyed during last summer. Fingers crossed... but they are printed... available and the work is done!

The RCL "Chief Shingwauk"... the work horse off the cruise line on his eastern approach to the world famous Boldt Castle... crown jewel of The Thousand Islands!

The Boldt Castle Yacht House which holds a vast collection of classic wooden river craft... many owned by the original owner George Boldt.

A western pass of Heart Island and Bold Castle showing the Triumphal Arch of Honor on the left... The Castle sandwiched in the middle and the children's playhouse, Alster Tower on the right. A classic wooden runabout in the foreground leads the way to a Thousand Island experience and adventure!.

Here a A Great Blue Heron drifts lazily by the Power House on the island which is joined to the main island by a foot bridge. The power house never turned a volt of power on the island. But that's a story... for another day and post!

Stay tuned.....

Casa Blanca... a magnificent Victorian river home... once a private residence... now a high end guest home with a panoramic box seat on the International shipping channel. Elegant living from the Past... still offered to guests in the Present.

The House of the Seven Gables... once an opulent private river home... now a leadership training centre for world classed corporation executives.

This larger than life limestone statue perched high on a cliff in the Canadian Palisades. This unique sculptural attraction depicts Saint Lawrence... guarding over the River which  bears his name. In his hand can be seen a book. He is the patron saint of librarians. In the other hand he holds the brazier on which he was martyred by the Romans and was thereby elevated to sainthood for his act of fidelity and love of God.

These are but a few of the sites and reasons for making Rockport and Thousand Islands a possible vacation destination in your future travels. You could also make a visit to our Gallery and home... always... open to our Friends!

"Yours to discover... Ontario!" Come visit!

Good Painting... to ALL!!