Walking her dog in the street light on a cold summer night

A glimpse of our garden in the drizzle of rain

the Harvest Moon

Migraine headache forced me to lie down after supper in bed until about 9:30 p.m  When I got out of bed and looked out of my bedroom window , the thick clouds had dissipated in the sky revealing the harvest moon in the sky so bright that I grabbed my pochade box and did this quick oil sketch. It was Neil Young's Harvest Moon that came  to my mind now. Here is Neil Young's Harvest Moon .

My full moon night

My full moon night --- a quick oil sketch at 8 p.m today when the full moon was rising to mark Chinese Mid-Autumn festival today in China. In China today it is the annual traditional holiday of Mid-Autumn Festival when the whole family should get together to feel complete just like the full moon implies. We will eat moon cakes and share a cup of rice wine over a full sumptuous dinner. However, it is certainly not possible for me to complete the circle now for my family back in China when they realize I am alone and far away. When I called my wife in China, she reminded me that there is a box of moon cakes in the deep freezer, and do not forget to help myself to it. I did not feel like eating it, instead, I took my easel outdoor and watched the full moon rising and did this quick oil sketch: the full moon was rising, and the lights from the windows across the street were on and so was the street light. I always love the tenderness of this time of the day let alone when the full moon was rising now. I have two brothers and one sister in my family. My two brothers were raised by my maternal grandmother alone from when they were babies, in the far east of China while my sister and I were raised by my parents in the far west China. My parents did not want raising kids tamper their revolutionary fervor therefore sending my two brothers off to be raised by grandmother. We therefore were separated so far apart, and we managed to get together in china only twice our life time before I moved to Canada. My parents always dreamed of getting us all together as a family, sadly it never happened. Now it is even impossible with four of us sibling three different nationalities now. Always on this occasion it the poem by Chinese Tang Dynasty poet Li Po that always came to my mind ：

静夜思

床 前 明 月 光，

疑 是 地 上 霜。

举 头 望 明 月，

低 头 思 故 乡。

And also this traditional Chinese tune: Full Moon Reflected in the spring water , here is the vocal version by Chinese Central Choir

In the last light

A quick oil sketch from our driveway looking at Irene's house steeped in the last sunlight of the day.

Blooming geranium

A quick oil sketch looking out of the kitchen window late in the afternoon

An ordinary old house on Lorne Avenue East

Parkland Building of the former Brandon Mental Health Centre

Parkland Building of the former Brandon Mental Health Center in the morning sunlight 3 feet by 2 feet on stretched canvas For plein air painting , this is quite a big sized one. I normally do not paint on canvas of this dimension. However, since there is the annual special event Thrill on the Hills going on in ACC 's Northern campus and there are so many visitors there that the chance of me being not allowed to paint there is minimal. I have not been back painting there for many years now since the last time when I was asked to leave without a written painting permit by a security guard there. It took me three and half hours from start to finish which is very long time by my own standard. It was a very exciting painting experience, nevertheless, since I came across people whom I have not seen for a long time and also lots of people whom I had never met before. Quite a few people came to take pictures of me painting. Lots of kids there and they seemed to be quite impressed when they caught a glimpse of me painting there and will always lavish their complements onto me.

"Tender is the night"

Tender is the night   Just stepped outside and came back with this oil sketch: the moon was rising almost a full moon night, realizing there will soon be Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. The street light was on ans so were lights from windows across the street. How tender is the night. A quick 20 minute oil sketch, and then stepped in , how fitting! there came Schubert's impromptu. How sublime and how tender is always Schubert's music and this one is exceptionally so always brings tears to my eyes! Close your eyes and listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAxz16D4BlE

A quick oil sketch of neighbour's houses across the bay at 4 p.m

A cloudy sky followed by a brief sunny moment in the afternoon

 Two pochade sketches looking out of the same window half an hour apart

A Brandon Skyline viewed from the other side of the railways tracks

It was hot , and the dazzling light made it hard for me to see in the afternoon. I finished this painting feeling very  exhausted and dehydrated almost.

In the early morning sun on Balmoral Bay

Savoring every minute of my last carefree summer days before going back to high school classroom tomorrow resuming my 15-year routine of helping students struggling with mathematics.

My old fashioned Selfie

My old fashioned selfie since I do not have a cell phone so I have to paint one old fashioned selfie.

In the shaft of early morning sun ---- a glimpse of my wife's flowerbed in our backyard painted while listing to Dvorak's 9th symphony From the New World

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.