Table of Contents

• June 2025 Art, EAB and Pool adventures

• Exhibitions

• Major Works

• Growing in 2025

June 2025 Art, EAB and Pool adventures

Happy belated Canada Day to you all! Although I started this letter on Canada Day it has taken me a few weeks to finish it, so I am sorry for the delay.

June has been an interesting month. It all started with the slow budding of the last two trees in our yard. There is a slow progression to these things. First come the maples, then the magnolias and fruit tree flowers and leaves, then the birch and finally the ash trees. We have two big ones and probably 30 or so saplings clustered around our back yard between us and the highway bridge near to us. We look forward to these trees leafing out each year because they help to reduce the highway noise in our yard. We had noticed discolouration in the bark of one of the trees earlier this spring, but had no clue what that meant. When the ash started to leaf out, we noticed that tree was a week behind the other ash in our yard and worse yet only 10% of the branches leafed out. What was going on? It took us two weeks to find out Emerald Ash Borer. EAB has been in NS since 2018 when it was first observed in Bedford, but it has been spreading, including up the Waverley Road. So the tree is all but dead and needs to come down. The other one can be treated… so June was filled with Visits from arborists, NS Department of Natural Resources and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for diagnosis and treatment options. So one tree to remove and one to treat. So sad.

June is also pool opening month. Usually we open our pool in the second week of June. This year started differently. The first task is always reconnecting the equipment, and the first connection is the inlet and outlet for the pool heater. Now for context, the pool turns 21 this year and it has given us stellar service. But, some of the components are older… so in connecting the hoses to the heater inlet and outlet, I managed to crack the plastic nut holding the fittings together. Not great I thought, but nothing that can’t be fixed with a visit to our local pool supply shop. Wrong! It turns out that when Hayward bought out Summit, the manufacturer of our pool heater, they made a slight change to the design, affecting the inlet and outlet connections. The new heaters feature a fine thread connection instead of the coarse thread connection originally in use, and they stopped making the part. Not good news, the heater can’t be retrofitted and for lack of a $50 part, it looked like I’d be forced to replace a $3,000 US heater. Well God love modern technology, my partner Sue mused whether or not we could get it 3D printed, and lo and behold after two tries I had a new nut for $160 and the ability to print more on demand! Sweet, crisis averted. In the meantime I had to re-jig the return side of the plumbing to bypass the heater, so I could open the pool.

In terms of painting I have been more productive, completing a dozen paintings, all but one in plein air. I painted on my own, with Halifax Urban Sketchers, Plein Air Artists HRM and at the Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival as well as participating in the Ipaintedthat challenge. I also painted in watercolour and ink, watercolour pencil and acrylic this month. Most of my painting was done in the first two weeks of the month. I was focussed on painting more loosely and improving my perspective as well as figuring out what gear I was going to take to Parrsboro and then Peggy’s Cove later in July.

Exhibitions

In June I got my two watercolours from PIPAF displayed for two hours during the judging period. It was interesting to hear what some of the Artists there thought of my work and to be able to compare it to so many different styles!

• 11-13 July Paint Peggy’s Cove see next months newsletter for details!

• 10 - 16 Aug painting in the Paper Mill Lake area Bedford for palettes and pigments

• 17 - 23 Aug Scott Manor Palettes and Pigments (art show and sale)

• 13-14 Sep 14 Bells Gallery 5523B Young STM, Halifax Saturday 10 - 5pm Sunday 12 - 4pm Part of the proceeds go to support Brigadoon Village 

Major Works

The paint for the garage door project has been purchased, painting starts in July!

Growing in 2025

I worked to improve my sketching and watercolour skills as well as trying to be looser in my acrylic painting. I also spent time thinking about how to get ready for Peggy’s Cove a three day painting excursion and art sale.

See you in July!