Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Plein Air, Dejardin Canal, Dundas

8x10 oil on canvas panel
With renovating and spending time with my mother, my studio time has suffered lately. So I'm taking the opportunity to use the small blocks of time to do some more plein air work. I think that working plein air helps our observation skills and teaches (forces?) us to say what we want to say in a faster more spontaneous fashion. I did this picture a couple of days ago on a breezy rainy day. I couldn't figure out why the paint wouldn't go on, and then realized the canvas was covered in a layer of water. Still struggling!
This is a piece of the Dejardin Canal that once connected Dundas to Lake Ontario. The canal was a great plan, and supposed to make Dundas the manufacturing centre in 1850, but then the railway came, and Hamilton took over the limelight.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Catherine...love the reflections!

Jan Yates, SCA said...

hey Catherine you really nailed the light and pallet of our region! beautiful movement and life in this one

Marie Theron said...

A nice piece of history included here, Catherine. You do so well with plein air! I feel the ozone above the water, you always seem to add so much atmosphere to a painting!