We arrived back in St. Albert yesterday evening. The driving conditions for the most part were excellent on the return trip, though it was certainly important to watch the speed signs!!!!! It, was fun seeing mountains that had been in our rearview mirrors, the most impressive being Mt. Robson in Jasper Park, no wonder Lawren Harris painted it!
My little car has seen me from Sydney, NS to Prince Rupert, BC. I think it deserves to be included in a painting, not in this series, but as a great visual memory for me. I look forward to returning to Saskatoon and beginning the British Columbia part of our project.
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We left Smithers this morning around 8:15 am trying to capture the rising sun at our first stop. It was -30˚ and we were bundled up with long john's, scarves, snow pants etc. The roads weren't totally clear and I had been warned about black ice. Not being confident at the curves, I slowed down to go around them, even pulling over to let others pass. I was fine, the car was fine, I just knew I had lots of time to capture the needed photos, so why worry about things I didn't need to.
British Columbia is GORGEOUS! The scenery changes around every corner. I wonder if people living in British Columbia actually see the mountains, or if they are just a backdrop to their lives. For us, they are magical. I became intrigued with the sun catching the tips of the mountains while the rest of the mountain, and us, were in the shadows of our surroundings. At one point, we were not much more than a car width from a CN train - THAT WAS FUN! We experienced a 30˚ difference during a 4.5 hour drive - from Smithers BC to Prince Rupert, BC. I have to say, it was lovely to gas up in Prince Rupert and not have my hands freeze while holding the nozzle! We are now in Terrace, BC on our way back to Edmonton, then Saskatoon. The drive through B.C. on Highway #16 offers many breathtaking moments, many "Angel Choir singing" moments. I am excited that we made the trip during December and appreciate that Mother Nature was kind to us. I think I have many exciting paintings from this trip and look forward to beginning one when I return home to Saskatoon! Tomorrow, December 29th will see us back in Prince George and on December 30th we will be back at my daughter's to enjoy our grandchildren and New Years. This has been a fabulous adventure! WELL! Day two was filled with oooooh's and aaaah's, and angel choirs singing, or at least my rendition of how that choir might sound. The scenery between McBride and Smithers is ASTOUNDING!! I wanted classical music to be blaring out of the radio to accompany what we were seeing. It is NOT a highway to be driven in poor weather, with a half tank of gas, or at night, but if you are prepared and have good company then it is a magnificent experience. We were thrilled to drive this in the winter rather than the summer, for the scenery like the snow covered trees and the colours reflected onto the snow, throughout the day, enthralled us. We finished the day off with a fabulous meal at "Noir" at The Prestige Hudson Bay Hotel in Smithers.
Tomorrow, we will drive to Prince Rupert and the Pacific Ocean before turning around and heading back to Edmonton and then Saskatoon. Mark your calendars! While Alison is in BC traveling the Yellowhead Highway arm of the Trans-Can, word has just come in that the Trans-Can 150 x Two project will be featured on the new CBC TV series, 100 Percent Local, scheduled for air on March 11, 2018. In case you missed it, the project was also featured on the CBC What's Your Story website earlier this year. Check it out!
http://www.cbc.ca/2017/two-artists-are-painting-pictures-of-canada-every-150-km-of-the-trans-canada-1.4295487 Today we started our journey westward at the decent time of 8:30 am. The pink on the snow as the sun was rising was beautiful to see, I am hoping to capture that tomorrow! The day was fabulous, it was cold, as in -30˚ cold, but that means it's too cold to snow. The roads were dry and travelling was easy. Tonight, we are staying in McBride, a town of 500.
I hope the weather holds for us and the rest of the journey is as easy as today.
blue prairie sky I have come to know and love!!
This particular image from Km 450 intrigued me as all the interest is in the top half of the painting. The creative problem became how to deal with the lower half of the canvas. This perplexed me for weeks. Hopefully, I have done the view justice.
Now, with all the paintings, except for British Columbia complete, I will go back into some of my earlier works and tweak them. Having painted on this project for seventeen or eighteen months, it is interesting to see how our styles and interests have changed. Next week, just after Christmas, I will head out to photograph British Columbia's northern Trans Canada route. I am looking forward to the mountains and the winter scenery! I had time to finish off a few pieces this week that have been in progress for a while. It feels good to be able to check these off of the to-do list! And I got started on another Newfoundland piece: Km 600. I plan to spend as much time as possible in the studio over the Christmas school break. I have several of the BC scenes planned out and am itching to get going on them. When I'm not visiting relatives and doing other seasonal things, of course! Carol
I decided to take these 16 pieces to the Olympic Frames yesterday. They've been collecting in the living room for a while now and it's a large enough set to make the trip worthwhile, yet not too overwhelming for Telly and Peter to deal with in one shot. Not to mention getting them into the car and back home after framing in a single trip! Carol
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Carol Loeb
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