Return to Kananaskis Country

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Sunrise at The Fortress

Watercolour, crayon and CP

©2014 Charlene Brown

I’m not implying that I’ve spent a lot of time in Kananaskis Country by using the word ‘return’ in the title. I've written blog posts here and here about a couple of paintings I did at Rawson Lake, and another about the view of Kananaskis Country from just outside its eastern boundary and I’ve flown over it lots of times. But – I’ve actually gone into the park only about five times – odd, considering I grew up in Banff National Park, which is right next to it! Of course Kananaskis Country is very new – created in 1976 – compared to Banff, at almost 130 years, one of the oldest national parks in the world. I don’t think there was what you’d call a drivable road into Kananaskis when I lived in Banff.

Victoria Flower Arrangers Guild Christmas Show

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This is Victoria (It is so!)

Watercolour, marker and Photoshop™

We enjoyed the Christmas Show put on by Victoria floral designers last weekend, well ahead of the holidays so we’d have time to organize supplies and put to good use some of what we learned about decorating with combinations of evergreens, flowers and – would you believe – strips of arbutus bark. I probably won’t even try, but painting some of what we saw appealed to me.

Attempting to copy exactly all the details and nuances of any one of the truly splendid designs on display didn’t seem right (or even possible) but I decided that an incorporation of some of my favourites into a ‘landscape’ painting of Victoria could be an appropriate way to interpret this wonderful show. The picture includes the Provincial Legislature (which is in fact completely outlined with hundreds of lights) on the left, the city gardens for which Victoria is famous, a couple of boats on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, in the distance, the base of the mountains on the Olympic peninsula. 

Virtual Paintout in Luxembourg

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L'hôtel de ville, Wiltz

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2014 Charlene Brown

The Virtual Paintout is in Luxembourg this month. As you may have noticed, I often go in search of mountains for my Virtual Paintout pictures...

This didn’t seem promising in Luxembourg, so I sought out nice-looking castles instead – specifically, the Château de Wiltz. After quite a bit of cruising about trying to find a good Streetview of it, I came across this architectural gem, the Wiltz City Hall. Here is a link to the Google Streetview of it.  In the background, a corner of the Château can be seen.  I think this is about as close as the Google camera got to it.