A watercolor painting series focusing on animals found in the Canadian or Northern climates, like the wetlands, grasslands, boreal forests, and tundra.
Magpie Nest
12″x18″ fantasical watercolor painting from 2023. Magpies are attracted to shiny objects and will collect them to beautify their nest.
Eurasian Red Squirrel and Apple Blossoms
15″x10″ watercolor, ink, and acrylgouache on watercolor paper. Painted in 2023.
This painting is accompanied by smaller studies of gray squirrels.
Snowy Owl in Wheat Field
22″x22″ mixed media watercolor painting. Snowy owl in wheat field over mammatus clouds. Painted in 2022.
Red and Blue Grosbeaks Cardinals
15″x22″ watercolor painting with ink and acrylgouache. Red cardinals and one blue grosbeak sitting on snowy spruce painted from an assortment of references. Painted in 2021.
This painting has two adjacent watercolor studies in the 9″x12″ size.
Red Velvet Antlers on Bull Moose
22″x30″ ink, acrylgouache, and watercolor painting on Arches watercolor paper. Painted in 2021.
Albino moose are sacred to aboriginal cultures in Canada because they are extremely rare. Velvetting in the process of growing antlers growing and shedding the velvet skin, leaving a layer blood that turns them red.
Toads on a Toadstool
18″x16″ watercolor painting of two toads sitting on Fly Agaric mushrooms on the forest floor. Painted in 2021.
Lineart done with acrylgauche. Based on references from the Reptile Expo in Montreal taken by the artist and found image.
Moonlight Flight
16″x16″ animal watercolor painting with acrylgauche lineart, painted in 2020.
A barn owl flying past a full moon in the night sky.
Three Red Robins
11″x12″ mixed media on Fabriano watercolor paper. Watercolor painting with ink & acrylic lineart, 2020. SOLD.
Painting created based on the watercolor texture rather than subject first.
Red Fox in Marsh
15″x15″ mixed media watercolor painting – ink, watercolor, acrylic on Fabriano paper, 2020.
Todd is one of the foxes at Save a Fox rescue shelter. Save a Fox let me use their images for reference photos. This painting is in honour of those to work to save animals.
Artist Statement
The Canadian landscape is a special climate overlooked because of its extreme or gloomy weather. The majority of Canadians live in a few small pockets of the country further towards the southern border to escape these weather extremes, yet the rest of our country is rich with wildlife and ancient forests hundreds of years old. From south to north, there are grasslands, marshes, temperate forests, boreal forests, and then tundra. We are lucky to have national parks, larger city parks, and nature reserves integrated into our urban lives.
I wanted to capture some of that wanderlust I get from hiking in Canada and the connection I feel to our local wildlife, which I feel is overlooked for not being as glamour as exotic lions, tigers, and birds of paradise. Also, I feel our landscape and a connection has an impact on our attitude towards life, how we handle conflict and stress, how we come together. I hope to capture this feeling of quiet resolve, endurance, wonder, and calm in these portraits of wild animals from our climate.
On an aesthetic level, this series explores combining watercolor painting with other mixed media techniques I learned over the years of trying many different mediums in hope of finding a happy middle ground and making a watercolor style distinctly my own.