Sunset moment --- a quick oil sketch while looking out of our window into the backyard yesterday evening

How instantly the evening light could transfigure something mundane into something almost divine. It certainly made me feel so when I looked out of the window at sunset moment yesterday evening.

A glimpse of evening sky at 8 p.m. today

Same mundane window views an hour apart with totally different mood from my humble home in Brandon and heavenly music from the bygone years of Vienna

 Got up early and could not sleep any more. It was still drizzling outside with nonstop rain. Sarah was at Edmonton airport and was aboard flight to Vancouver already when some engine problem forced delay first , followed by cancellation of her flight to Vancouver, which means she will miss her flight from Vancouver to Shanghai today. I had to stay with the phone to be updated about her flight change to relay the message to China to keep family in China informed. It was a long agonizing waiting before she was re-booked for tomorrow. Anyway, instead of waiting anxiously, I set up my easel in our living room, turned on CBC Radio 2. As soon as I started to paint , and as soon as CBC Radio 2 start

the special show about Viennese music , my mood drastically changed just like the weather outside as reflected by the two different mood in my two oil sketches today.  Music from Strauss ,  Mozart , Beethoven,Haydn, to Schubert, Malher all my favorites , all capable of reducing me to tears  filled up the air  one after another . I was so elated that I got  breathless with joy, making me fall in love deeply  with Vienna from  those bygone years ! Just a sample of list of the music that came to the air today. Malher symphony number 4. Beethoven symphony number 8, Schubert piano sonata, and Schubert fantasia for 4 hands, Mozart's piano concerto no. 20 and 21 and of course Strauss's Blue Danube waltz etc. What an emotional roller coast ride!

A heritage house on the corner of 13th Street and Lorne Avenue of Brandon

Again with the intention of painting something else , instead, I stopped here when I saw this heritage house in the morning sunlight. The current owner has painstakingly taken so many years now trying to restore the house to its original glory. Notice that after the owner came over to greet me, I painted him into the painting as he walked away into his backyard.

In the path of dazzling morning sunlight---- a few pots of cherry tomato remaining from the season

A quick oil sketch early in the morning as I glimpse out of the window into our backyard.

Souris , the Swinging Bridge , Gabriel Faure's music and my enchanting painting excursion

Always enjoy French composer Gabriel Faure’s music, especially his Pavane . Yesterday on my way to Souris, there swirling from CBC Radio 2 is his Pavane on the air. There is something enchanting about his music, so is my afternoon painting excursion in the beautiful town of Souris. It is no wonder that the melody from his Pavane just refused to leave me throughout the afternoon and all the way through the evening. My very first visit to Souris was on a beautiful fall morning of 1993. I remember how enchanting the town appeared to be at my first sight! The Souris river flanked by groves of oak trees , the golden blankets of fallen leaves dazzling in the morning sunshine, and  of course the swinging bridge that strikes its graceful profile across the river like a bow of string  across a mellow cello. I cannot believe that was already more than 20 years ago. After the new bridge was constructed last summer, I attempted to go there to paint but it did not work out. So a few weeks back when Kim asked me if I would like to come to paint the bridge again, of course I could not wait to make it happen before school starts in a few days and I will have to be back working in the classroom again.  After a shower of rain in the morning, the sunlight came back with blue sky in the early afternoon. As I set up my easel, standing there on the bank of the river, enchanted by the view in front of me, I could almost visualize the melody from Faure’s Pavane in oil colours. It did not take me long to finish my plein air of Souris swinging bridge, accepting her kind invitation, I stayed for supper at Kim’s home. At 8 in the evening on my way back to Brandon, from its palette the magic hand of nature had imbued prairie land and sky with such glorious rosy hues  that I could almost see Gabriel Faure  start to dance  away with his Pavane. If you have never listened to Faure's Pavane, here is the link .

A glimpse out of the kitchen window at 7 p.m

While doing dishes after supper, saw through kitchen window  how the pot of geranium is turning burning red in the last sunlight  on our patio. Putting down dishes, I grabbed my pochade box and did this quick oil sketch before the sunlight started to fade away.

Youth for Christ building in Brandon

Stood on an back alley to paint this commissioned piece around 10  this morning. It was very hot today fortunately, I was in the shaded spot and was not totally exhausted.

St Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church of Brandon in the early morning sun

Left home this morning with the intention to paint a commissioned work on 5th Street. It did not work out. Instead, I found myself on the other side of the railway track painting this view of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

St. Matthew's Cathedral Church of Brandon

St. Matthew’s Cathedral Church of Brandon this morning. Each day when I leave with my easel deciding what I would like to paint, I normally have no idea what I will bring home. It is always a spurt of moment decision. Today, while driving down the 13th Street at 10 this morning, I saw St Mathew Anglican church building steeped in the morning sunshine , I pulled up my car and went across the street, and spent about 2 hours painting to my heart content. The sight of this church always brings back some fond memory of my early years in Brandon. I remember receiving my first Christmas hamper filled up with donated food items indented for the less fortunate as a poor student from China then II was naturally considered qualified for a hamper then. It certainly brightened up my holidays during those difficulty years of my life. I remember I found a tape cassette recorder among the food of BU music conservatory Choir's Christmas carols, I remember how fond of the music I was , and how home sick I got thinking of my wife and two year old daughter whom I would not be able to see for the next five years. Each day I would pray for their safety and health as the snail mail then would take half a month to reach China and another half month for a return mail. There was no private telephone in China then. What a changed world we are living now!

A rare foggy moment early this morning

A rare foggy moment early this morning at 7:30 when I looked out of my window. The fog patches dissipated soon and I finished this oil sketch just in time.

A moment of sunshine

 Today very late around 7 p.m , the late sunlight suddenly came out of the sky briefly lighting up the trees across the street, I dashed outside and set up my easel trying to capture the moment in oil before the light went out in 10 minutes.

last roses in the summer in the last light of the day

A quick oil sketch of the flower bed with the last blooming roses when the sun came out  towards the end of the day in our backyard.

St. Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church of Brandon

Stopped in front of the church when the sunlight started to radiate through the thick clouds at 11  this morning. The light was rather dazzling making it difficult for me to see without squinting my eyes as hard as possible. A family of three came to check on what I was doing , asking if it is ok to take a picture of me painting. Of course, I am always ok to the request like that.  They then were on their way to the church. I brushed in the three of them at the bottom of my canvas to give a visual reference as to how high this Roman Catholic church building was. I remember the church was one of the very first architectures that  I  spotted through the  window of the house where I first stayed 23 years ago on the corner of 15th Street and Lorne Avenue.

A window view

Nothing so special about the window view which I have been painting in my solitude state alone by myself in my empty house today. It was cloudy with drizzle of rain every now and then just like the past few days. There is a repressive monotonousness about the view which was occasionally broken by the sudden appearance of a young lady in red walking her dog, and by the sudden switch on of the light at the house across the street. I have been painting the same window views counter less times over the past 10 years day after day season after season and year after year. The view was not getting more exciting as the years are gone by, no, and as a matter of fact it was getting less and less exciting to the viewers, especially after the July 6 strong storm which decimated most of the big trees in our Balmoral Bay neighborhood. Looking out of the window now, you do not see my 10 year old Ford Taurus car parking there anymore. It was crushed by a fallen tree over the hedges on that night. Instead, you see our new Honda Civic taking the front stage. You do not see the juniper brushes any more they are dead and had to be cleared out. Instead, you see the dark patches of dirt where they used to stand. You do not see the big ash tree anymore which we had to cut it down due to the damage by the wind and storm, instead, you see a small mountain ash tree start to grow. I ask myself why, despite of its not so exciting appearance, am I still so attracted to the view with my brush ready and French easel set up. I have no answer. However, deep in me I can feel the view is a sort of metaphor: a view rolling out your own passage of life for you to review and to contemplate, perhaps. You can reminiscent about your past, watch passively the stream of your life flowing past right in front of you, and also speculate about your future. Each time as my brush moves across the canvas with my eyes locked onto the view, I frequently find my mind would drift away, far away. In the far northwestern China, facing my childhood bedroom window, was the view of the distant snow capped Altay Mountains. During the turbulent years of China’s Cultural Revolution in the 60s, the never changing view of Altay Mountain was such a comfort to me as a child. I remember picking up paint brush doing water color sketch of the view so many times. Maybe, the  sense of  geographical isolation compounded by the sense of political repression  in my teen years prompted me to seek a new distant view for my life : I did not know why on that particular dreary day, I drifted into a local book store, and bought an English language text book. That was a spring day in the year of 1978.  On that day I gave up my paint brushes, and instead I picked up the task of teaching myself English in a place where no one understood a word of English.   You would not believe it how hard I worked at it, and how impossible you could teach yourself English in that kind of environment. However, only after a few years I found myself start to read Charles Dickens , charlotte and  Emily Bronte, Thomas  Hardy, Jane Austin, and even Shakespeare!  all in English originals. Armed with a new language, I found the course of my life started to change so dramatically. A new horizon appeared which eventually lead me through the narrow valley of my birthplace across the Gobi desert of Northwestern China. I never would dream that one day, I would eventually find myself in Canada Starting a new life with ever changing window views.  So in the summer of 2003 looking out of the window of a cottage near the Lake of the Woods in Western Ontario , I picked up my paint brushes again.  

Another rainy evening !

A beautiful Cellist from the last night

I wish I had more time for my feeble attempt at this oil sketch of this beautiful Cellist last night. When she started to play time seems to have stood still : her music seems to have suddenly extract us from our mortal shells elevating  our souls heaven- bound closer and closer to something divine. I hold my breath as well as my paint brush while listening to her beautiful play fumbling my way through the painting just as the British poet Wordsworth remarked,

 "I listen’d, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
 Long after it was heard no more."

A heritage house on 11th Street and Louise Avenue in Brandon after the rain stops today

The Heritage house on 11^th Street and Louise Avenue in Brandon after the rain stopped this morning.

I just came back from my daily outdoor painting excursion. O, What a morning today! When you are painting on the street, you attract people’s attention and they tend to stop and chat with you! I am very used to it and actually quite enjoy painting and chatting simultaneously! However, today is exceptional; I have had so many interesting encounters and it is quite something that I finished my painting within two hours despite of so many chats with people whom I had never met!  First, a native teacher from the north came to chat with me talking about creativity and art education, second, I met an artist who had just moved here from Gimli, and I shared with him my painting trip to Gimli two summers before, third, I met a gentleman who recognized me from face book telling me that his wife had the same last name Zhao as mine!, wondering if by any chance his wife and I were related. I told him that Zhao is a very popular Chinese last name just like Smith in English, and the chance of us being related is zero. I then, asked him where in China his wife was from. He could not tell me right away, but gave me a hint about using melted snow for underground irrigation system from mountains. I told him it was Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far western China, and to his surprise I told him that was where I was born and grew up!Then , came a university graduate from Ontario who was originally from India and proudly showed me on his smart phone a picture of a magnificent looking new architecture of a Sikh Temple. And after that, a familiar face came on bike to stop and chat with me. A straight A student from Crocus Plains high school who came from China without any knowledge of English , and now after just a few years , not only did he finished all major high school courses with close to 100 percent but also finished all Advanced Placement courses with close to 100 percent!!! He is also outstanding in fine art painting brilliantly. He is ready for medical school now, and he is eager to share with me about painting and about how to get ready academically for medical school. While chatting, while painting, deep in me like a wedge which refused to dislodge itself is the beautiful first few notes from Schubert’s piano sonata in A major D664 which I heard from CBC Radio 2 at 10:40 am while driving to my painting spot.

In case you have not heard yet , please enjoy Kempff's interpretation here on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGg5dVoNB6c

A glimmer of light on a rainy evening

It was raining non stop towards evening, and looking out of the window, I did this quick oil sketch to mark the end of the gloomy day.

A stormy prairie sky at 6 p.m today

A quick oil sketch looking up at the sky from my backyard at 6 p.m today

Our house on Balmoral Bay with a more empty front yard now

After the July 6 storm which destroyed so many big trees in the neighborhood , we had to cut down our ash tree which was badly damaged and dig up the dying juniper shrubs, the front yard landscape has changed now without them. A quick oil sketch this afternoon to mark the changed landscape.

Rain started to fall outside

Just a few hours later, it started to rain and did not stop for the remaining of the day.

As the sun rises early in the morning

A quick oil sketch looking out of the window early in the morning

In the receding sunlight

A quick oil sketch from our front yard. Notice how much the landscape has changed in our neighborhood of Balmoral Bay. Most of the trees that used to stand across the street are all gone revealing much more of the sky now.

Clean up across the street after cutting down the trees

The three big trees across the street which had appeared in so many of my oil sketches over the past 11 years were cut down yesterday due to the damage inflicted on by the summer storm in early July. Today the crew was here again to clean up. I set up my easel on our bare front yard and did this quick oil sketch.

In the morning light

A glimpse out of our window this morning at 8.

Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Winnipeg Assiniboine Park

A quiet spot from Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Winnipeg today

In the last light from our patio

The old MTS building then, and the Brandon General Museum and Archives building now

Stopped at Downtown Brandon to paint again on the corner of 9th Street and Rosser Ave looking north. Heard a guy asking another fellow who is about to get into his car to spare a quarter :" Hay, cowboy! Do you have a quarter to spare?" To my surprise that he did and handed it over to him. I brushed in the interaction at the bottom of my canvas. That is the joy of painting on site: there is no lack of interesting thing unfolding right  in front of you.

The ginger bread house on 15th Street in Brandon

The ginger bread house on 15th Street--- Stopped by Stanley Park this morning and noticed this house is on the market for sale. This is the first neighborhood I found myself in when I moved to Brandon from China 23 years ago where this unique house was located. Spent an hour painting there noticing some Chinese grandparents keeping eyes on their grand kids who were playing there. How much Brandon's demographic landscape has changed!

A house on 15th Street in Brandon

Painted around 11 a.m on  location today not far from where I first stayed when I first moved to Brandon 23 years ago.

Manitoba Provincal Exhibit Building --- A Brandon heritage building

Came to Keystone Grounds to paint towards noon hour where I found a shelter from scorching sunlight under a big tree at the edge of the parking lot. There must be some kind of big event going on there as there are so many vehicles parked there and occasional appearance of young ladies  on horse back.

My super moon night

A quick oil sketch using flash light lighting at midnight on Sunday

The old Brandon Raiway Station on Pacific Avenue

The old Brandon Railway Station then and the Westman Immigrant Services now on Pacific Avenue of Brandon------ How fitting it is to convert the old railway station of Brandon into an immigrant services center. Standing on Pacific Avenue and painting for two hours under the expansive prairie sky on this quiet Sunday afternoon , I could almost feel the pulse of the distant pioneers and the beating hearts of new immigrants as they make their very first steps on their life changing journey. Chatted with a lady who works for Immigrant Service Center and I put her figure their as she walked towards the doorway.

Another corner of our patio in late afternoon sun

a corner of our patio in the morning light

A glimpse of a backyard in the last light

From Stephen Street of the town of Morden upon my first visit

After lunch break at a local Subway, I came to the main street  in town to paint this landmark building which used to be a post office and is now a gift store and art gallery.

A charming house on Stephen Street in Morden upon my first ever visit to the town today

The sun came out briefly to give me some visual  reference to what I feel about this unique house in Morden and how I would like to paint it upon our first ever visit to the town today.

Downtown Brandon from Rossa Avenue and 9th Street

 A glimpse of busy Dowtown Brandon at noon hour today

a glimpse of Downtown Brandon from 10th Street and Pacific Ave

Downtown Brandon on a quiet Monday morning

a pot of mini rose from our patio embracing the late afternoon sun

A quick half an hour  oil sketch from our patio late in the afternoon yesterday.

On a hot summer afternoon - a window view from Crocus Cresent in Brandon

Brandon Lions Manor on Saturday morning

Stopped this morning at the intersection of Vitoria Ave and first Street and spent two hours painting this view.

First Presbyterian Church of Brandon

Brandon First Presbyterian Church in the morning sunlight
Stopped right in front of Colin Corneau's house and spent two hours painting this view with his two lovely cats keeping my company