Table of Contents

• March 2025 Goings on

• Exhibitions

• Major Works

• Growing in 2025

March 2025 Goings on

March began with a visit to Kingston to visit my daughter. Sue and I had a good visit and I did some sketching and took reference photos for future work. I have always been fascinated with the limestone city and took the opportunity to begin a series of sketches about the Limestone houses of Kingston.

I continued to sketch all month although not every day. I did sketch most Sundays, although not always with the Halifax Urban sketchers.

After getting home from Kingston Sue and I went to revisit Peggy’s Cove and while there I took some photos and had a look at the cove to get ideas for the 2025 edition of Paint Peggy’s Cove.

I also began gardening this month planting some cool weather vegetables in our two cold frames and starting the spring pruning tasks for our cherry tree, raspberries and blackberries. Other than that I have been working on a new project, but more on that below.

Exhibitions

The INVICTUS Games exhibitions closed in mid February and the paintings finally made their way back here mid month. Thanks again to the Veterans Artist Collective for curating the shows and The Gallery George and Arts Whistler for hosting them. It’s was an amazing opportunity to be part of these shows with other amazing artist veterans.

Major Works

This month saw me start a new major project. When we bought our house 9 years ago the fuse panels, internet hardware and coax and audio distribution systems were behind a four foot by six foot abstract print on canvas. We never did like the print but didn’t have the energy nor will to do much about it. Sue kept seeing dogs and horns in the print, so we turned it upside down and that seemed to work for a while. However it was still an irritant. When we repainted our basement in two-tone the top colour was even chosen to match the dominant colour of the painting.

Sue proposed that I paint a landscape over it so I did some research about paint compatibility, and then two coats of gesso later and a coat of acrylic house paint as a base paint to tie it into the surrounding wall and I had a blank canvas. So what to paint on it? We wanted a local scene but we also wanted it to fit the basement space. Luckily our trip to Peggy’s Cove gave us a great reference picture that we both loved. And so it began. By the end of the month I was 17h40m into this project.

Growing in 2025

I continue to work to grow as an artist. I sketch as often as I can, joining the Halifax Urban Sketchers most Sundays, and I am waiting for the plain air group to start in May. I am continuing with classes and workshops. Of most interest this month is taking the time to dive into colour theory with Tracy Holmes at https://www.breakthroughcolour.com/. It has been particularly useful as I work on “Peggy’s Light in the sun”, as I am strictly adhering to the CMYK colour scheme and only using Primary magenta, cyan and yellow along with titanium white and zinc white. I joined the BTC 125 group in late February and am beginning to understand how the system works.

I will be completing two large projects - Finishing Peggy’s Light and starting my painting my Garage Door probably in June - Want to know more about that project? Come back then!

I am growing my Brand. I continue to publish my newsletter. I am still working on participating in local art shows and sales - follow me to know where I’ll be and I aim to get my art in local display spaces like the Cole Harbour Public Library, and other places.

I have decided to attend the:

• Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival (Jun) (quick draw only)

• Paint Peggy’s Cove (Jul), Application starts 14 April

• Scott Manor Palettes and Pigments (Aug) (Applying in May.). My artist profile will likely be published on their site in April.

• Paint the Hydrostone (Sep)

See you in April!