Amazing place

Hi,

We just got back this evening from an inspiring trip
to Ottawa and Gatineau QC. Wow! What gorgeous cities and the surrounding countryside is lovely. I
was up there for work, and the meeting went extremely well, but I also enjoyed fun filled visits with my mother and my brother. Both of them live on rivers and enjoy magnificent views. The city of Ottawa is intelligently designed to highlight its rivers, with lush parkland, stunning flowering trees in huge plantings, so you see wide, wide swaths of the deep rose crab apples at this time of year, massive beds
of daffodils, running up hillsides of bright green grass, and public gardens filled with tulips everywhere. I was dazzled and felt like celebrating every time I had to drive anywhere, and filled with grateful joy every time I looked out a window.

Today we made our way back to Toronto, via Smith Falls and
Kingston and finally to Toronto. The entire drive was
breathtaking. The light held until 9:15, a sure sign that summer is
coming. As the sun slipped behind the trees along the highway
we drove past long vistas of black silhouettes of barns, farm
houses and spring trees set against a brilliant yellow/peach
coloured sky that deepened to a manganese blue cut with
ultramarine as we rolled into town.
Beautiful.

This is the painting of Elizabeth almost finished. Steven
photographed it in the kitchen, away from the easel,
in this image I'm touching it up. I don't usually use small
brushes until the end of a painting, because I like the
way a larger brush forces me to paint. You can see that
I've painted in her necklace and gilded it with sterling
silver leaf. If you use the silver leaf, which adds a luxurious
touch, be sure to glaze it over with a protective
coating of gel medium, to keep it from oxidizing and
turning black! Not a great surprise for your clients a
couple of months later.

Well I'm tired now. I love travelling, and meeting
new people, I had a marvelous four days, and I'm
glad to be home.

Have a day off!