autumn heat wave

"I must go down to the seas again!"

On a hot day it's nice to be near a water source, be it the ocean, the sea, a lake, a river, a creek!  As I walked along, the clouds put on a performance.  I believe they were still feeling the music from the other day.  The trail ahead was calling me, I liked what I saw and I aimed for it.  I walked and walked and walked in the direction of the horizon before me.  It looked inviting and it looked refreshing on this hot morning.  I walked and walked and walked, that blueish turquoise never got closer.  You see, that's not the horizon, that is not a body of water!  That long line of cloud is a chinook cloud and underneath it is the sky!  The only water source along todays eight kilometre walk was Nose Creek!  

 in celebration of the Larix lyallii (Alpine Larch Tree)

While the heat was waving outside, I reflected back on Saturday which meant my thoughts turned to snow that needed to be added to this watercolour painting.  In the past I attempted to sketch larch trees with coloured pencils and paint them with watercolours but never really felt totally pleased with the outcome.  I was ready to make another attempt. Before painting anything, I had to place masking fluid on every single branch and needle to preserve the space.  The tree was the last thing I painted and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it come to life.  It consists of a few layers of paint, starting with a beige then yellow then gold then orange. I wish I could attach to this blog post the feel of a larch tree, the needles are so very soft. Below the paining are my reference photos which I took on Saturday. I call this a success! 

cityscape escape

A cityscape style of escape was not my intention as I drove down the "speedway 500" in rush hour traffic but a six car pile up in a construction zone brought me consternation and I had to "save the day"!  I gingerly worked my way to an earlier exit, parked at Bottomlands and went on my merry way covering kilometres with views of city centre and such.  I knew I had to make it "merry" to "save the day".  So I savoured the sights, the warm breeze and being near water during this heat wave.  Once again the clouds were captivating!  They added a top frame to The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland.  The Sunflowers were demanding attention in the East Village Gardens.  There's the city centre cityscape! Two wire fences and a narrow road separated me from the beautiful Cinnamon Black Bear! After covering eleven kilometres, I felt content that I found a way to "save the day" and was ready to head on home.