12″X12″ Oil on canvas
Niagara is still full of fruit farms, although they are fast being replaced by vineyards.
I can’t remember what sort of trees these were. In the winter they all bear the same fruit.
Category: General
Smugglers’ Cove (again)
12″X12″ Oil on canvas
I painted this in a smaller format a few years ago, all of these pieces are based on smaller oil sketches..
This is one of those almost secret spots in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tucked down a steep path, on the bank of the river, there is a small marina here. From the name we can assume it was used for more nefarious purposed at one time. The far bank is Youngstown NY.
A Long View from Short Hills
12”X12” Oil on canvas
Here is another “LP sized” painting.
Short Hills is a Provincial Park located between St. Catharines and Pelham (in the Niagara Region). It is especially spectacular in the Fall
Related Images:
Whirligigs
I’m back (maybe)
12″X12″ Oil on canvas
I finally have some time on my hands and am able to paint again with some regularity, so perhaps I can post a little more frequently too.
Every April, NAC (Niagara Artists Centre) hold a fund-raiser called “Small Feats”. I have posted about it before but I haven’t submitted anything for a couple of years. Over the past couple of weeks I have painted 7 square foot paintings with a view to choosing 3 to submit for consideration. I think I already know which ones I will submit, but I will post them all here anyway. They all have a Niagara theme, as do most of my paintings.
This one shows a couple of the wind machines that guard our vineyards against late and early frost. Everywhere else in the world a windmill usually generates electricity, here in wine country they actually require propane to run.
WordPress 2019
I am experimenting with the new theme and block editor in WordPress. This site might look a little odd for a few days.
Valentines Day
I am trying again with Ebay and listing a few small paintings. Just in time for Valentines Day, why not give something a little more permanent this year?these small paintings (5″x7″) are all signed but unframed, oil on board. Fresh flowers wilt, chocolates are soon consumed but these will last a lifetime (or more)
Related Images:
Starting from scratch
I have been having constant problems with this website.
As well as some native posts, I was cross-posting all my splynch.blogspot.com posts here. This seems to have been a mistake, resulting in constant out-of memory errors, problems with my back-ups and finally total breakdown of the site.
I have rebuilt the site from the ground up and have decided not to continue to cross-post. However, there were a few native posts on my old site that proved quite popular, so I have imported those onto this new platform. In doing so I had to relink all my images, so I hope that everything is working properly.
Orchid
This tiny orchid traveled back with me from Puerto Rico. I pulled it off an orange tree and it was in a pocket of my shorts. I have been nurturing it for four months and it has finally repaid me with this delightful little flower, only a centimetre or so across. The pencil gives some idea of the scale.
Paperwhites
Who says you can’t grow paperwhites outside in Ontario? They look like paperwhites, they smell like paperwhites, I think they are paperwhites. I must have planted them by accident last year, there were a bunch of left-over bulbs in the shed that I thought I might as well throw in somewhere, and look what I got.
Canada Hair Cloth Building – St. Catharines
Hugh and James McSloy established the Canada Hair Cloth Company in 1884. In 1888 they bought a parcel of land behind St. Paul Street from the Dolphin Paint Company and built a 3 storey brick building. The site was ideal because it was next to a mill-race where water wheels provided the power to run the machines. Within a few years they bought an electrical generator which used the mill wheel as its turbine making it the first company in St. Catharines to use electricity. The Canada Hair Cloth business stayed in the family until sold in 1996.
The Welland Canal was the first Canadian canal built for both transportation and waterpower (1824 & 1833). St. Catharines was one of the main water-powered industrial centers along the canal. Remains of the raceways can still be seen behind the Canada Hair Cloth building and the name Race Street reminds us of the city’s hydraulic heritage.
Sources: