Painting in BC

I spent most of the month of July painting in different parts of BC. My trip started out in Nelson, where I grew up. While I was there I taught a three day portrait painting workshop as well as painting a few friends and my sister. One of the paintings I did there was for sure the most hardcore painting session I've ever done in my life. Me and my sister, Jessica Rae Gordon (also an artist and illustrator), decided to hike up Crystal Creek, where I used to wander as a teenager, and actually where I was inspired to do my first painting (not counting all the childhood paintings I did;) But when we tried to get in there we discovered it's all fenced off now and hard to get to.





















Me in front of the fence with my painting box.

We (obviously) decided to ignore the fence, and went to walk around it along the creek. We did succeed in the end, but each rock or tree that we stepped on was totally, deliberately, coated in big hunks of grease, and we got a little covered in it (especially me). But we went on. Jessica and I are determined when we get together to paint. The trail was a little (actually a lot) more trecherous then I remember it being, and seemed to have mostly eroded into the creek, so we found ourselves risking our lives, rock climbing up a creek with all my painting gear (actually, it was like rock climbing up a waterfall in parts). Then when we got to my old fav. spot I decided a pose of her IN THE CREEK), which required me to also stand painting in the creek was the best angle. So we froze there in the creek for a couple hours, with barely any breaks at all. We knew we were too cold to go for long, so we had to just paint and pose as hard and fast as we could. On the way down, as we were approaching the part where we would have to rock climb DOWN the waterfall, I found a four leaf clover. And we lived to tell the tale (and finish the painting).






















Creek Wanderer, 10 x 8 inches, oil on panel

After my week in Nelson I spent a week painting on Savary Island. Again my incredible sister posed patiently for me, in the burning hot sun for hours. She complained about it less then I did. After finishing one of the paintings of her, I pretty much crumbled into a ball on the beach and crawled into the ocean (not an exaggeration actually).






















Woman in Sunhat with Coffee, 7 x 5 inches, oil on canvas























Woman on Rock, 10 x 8 inches, oil on panel

All these paintings will be included in my upcoming solo exhibition at Artguise Gallery in Ottawa. For more information please contact Brandon McVittie or Jason Vaughan at 613 238 3803 or info@artguise.ca