Ron and I visited the Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary over the Labour Day long weekend. This fellow graced us with his presence as he hunted in the grasslands. We saw many other species of birds but this great horned owl was the most impressive.

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. I guess this is me dreaming of a lovely beach vacation :). We saw many scenes like this during the 3 weeks we were on the beach in Japan this summer. Looks inviting!

.The North Saskatchewan River Valley is about 40 kilometres north of Lloydminster. It’s a lovely fall drive and we caught the height of the golden fall glory on an early evening drive. “Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree”. Emily Brontë

A fall drive always helps me get my head around the coming winter.  I enjoy the sights of farm equipment busily taking off a crop and the fall foliage that the countryside wears with such flair! 

I visit an alpaca farm near Hillmond, Saskatchewan at least once each summer. In addition to the adorable alpaca crias (babies), each July brings views like these. Lucky alpacas!

This painting was a challenge! There are so many wee details in the photo reference for this one that I was hard pressed to decide which were important and which I could simplify. These are my grandparents Victor and Clara Matson. I believe this was taken in the mid 50s. It was a bright sunny day so they’re both squinting as they smile. A treasure of a photo. Enjoy!

I spent some time today painting 4”x4” aluminum tiles for Lloydminster’s mosaic. It’s a huge project and I was fascinated to see how it all came together in just a few days. Hundreds of tilesnpainted by individuals in the community. The mural “train” runs clear across Canada. Lloydminster’s features our clock tower and all things lloyd (border markers, wheat, oil, business logos, pets, whatever people love. Here are a few of the photos I took today. I’ll post a photo of the installed mural in about 3 weeks at the celebration.

I’ll soon be in Japan again and I DARE NOT appear without a painting of Kole (6). He has made it abundantly clear via FaceTime that it’s not fair that his 3 siblings have grandma paintings and he does not. Sooo, this is my Kole painting. I think he will be happy with it :).

Today was the last day to enter our AWOB juried art show. It was a busy day 🙄. I used to work best under pressure but I’m going to have to rethink that strategy. The last item finished was my 8x10 monoprint of a Brewer’s blackbird which I called “My True Colours”. Shown second, “Gems of Kejimikujik” is an 18x24 oil painting, and my “Fierce” owl is an 11x14 acrylic. Friend and jewelry artist Kathy Dumouchel and I collaborated on the last image, a 16x20 3D work called “Autumn Fields” featuring copper cast wheat made by Kathy (so beautiful) mounted onto a barnwood oval with a painting and copper harvest moon in the background - so much fun!