Rosy Where My Heart Sings.

On a recent trip back home, I realized that the light is different there. It seems softer.

Maybe that’s because of all the dust in the air.

Down in southern Alberta, the wind regularly clock in at 18.3 Km/h with a record gust of 171 km/h. In 2011, Environment Canada called the city Canada’s second windiest area averaging higher than 40 km/h each year. The Chinook winds come from the west or southwest.

In John Carlson’s book, Guide to Landscape Painting ( https://www.amazon.ca/Carlsons-Guide-Landscape-Painting-Carlson/dp/0486229270) he refers to the atmospheric veils in the landscape. The particles in the atmosphere account for the graying down and bluish nature of objects further away in the picture plain. I have often wondered if this is an influence on the light down south.

Whenever I return home I try to go walking along the tops of the coulees. I spent lots of time doing that when I was a kid. It brings back a lot of happy childhood memories. I also learned how to paint in those hills. I packed up an easel and paint and tried to paint what I saw. With the wind, it sometimes was hard going.

On this last trip, I had my camera with me and there should be more of these types of paintings coming soon.

The one at the top of the page is an 18 x 24 acrylic painted on Cradled Birch Panel. It is of Waterton, “where the prairies meet the Mountains”. That slogan is an apt way to describe the landscape. Up closer to Calgary, there is a gradual movement through the foothills. Down south, the vertical change is more dramatic. That drama was further enhanced by the sun peeking through the clouds to highlight the grassy fields in front of this range.

This painting will be out to the gallery soon. But if you like it, for now it is available here on my website. If you live in Calgary, I can even deliver it to you free.