Church in the Park

6 x 6 inches - oil on gessoboard This is the last of the Rondeau Park paintings. Since I just sold our cottage, it probably will be my last.

Beach in Autumn

8 x 8 inches - oil on linen board - Not many go to the beach after summer is over but this is often the most beautiful time of year.

Marsh Trail

8 x 10 inches - oil on gessoboard - Here is a trail going by the bay so that you can see the marsh.  Unfortunately there are large areas taken over by invasive plants. It just goes to show you that even if you try to preserve or restore the environment, nature always, always changes into something new.

Poplar

6 x 8 inches - oil on gessoboard - Rondeau Park has many of these trees. They are actually Eastern Cottonwood trees and they make a gentle rattling sound in the wind. It gives the area its characteristic sound.

Road Through The Woods

7 x 5 inches - oil on gessoboard - Rondeau Park has a scenic road through the woods. In the fall the colours are spectacular.

Beach View

5 x 7 inches - oil on gessoboard - The beach seems to go on as far as you can see. One of the best times is in the relative calm after a storm

Beach at the End of the Day

6 x 8 inches - oil on gessoboard - I like the long shadows at the end of the day. You sometimes have the beach to yourself after most people have gone home.

Cottage on the Bay

6 x 8 inches - oil on gessoboard - I like the way the sunset reflected off this cottage.

Sail Board

6 x 6 inches - oil on gessoboard - Rondeau Bay is shallow and sheltered from Lake Erie waves but it is open enough so that it can have a stiff breeze with only a light chop on the water. This is perfect for sailing and some days the board sailors show up in numbers and literally fly through the air. I am not sure why it doesn't just rip their arms off.

Getting Ready for the Race

6 x 8 inches - oil on gessoboard - It takes a while to get the sails set and everything in place for the race. Don't forget your life jacket.

Old Sailboat

7 x 5 inches - oil on gessoboard - Many years ago the preferred sailing craft on the shallow Rondeau Bay off Lake Erie was a handbuilt scow with a centre board. This is one of the few of them that survive.

Rounding the Mark

6 x 8  inches - oil on gessoboard -  In a stiff wind, these little boats flip over spilling the young sailors into the bay. They just stand on the keel and get back into the race, hoping that others have the same misfortune.  It appears to be lots of fun.

Sailing Home

6 x 6 inches - oil on gessoboard - Lately, I have been working on a new series related to Rondeau Provincial Park in Ontario. This sailor is returning to the yacht club from a race on Rondeau Bay off Lake Erie. The yacht club, or as my daughter used to call the yutz club (there must be a story but I never asked), is a small place where the children take swimming lessons and race small sailboats. This is where I learned to swim a long, long, long time ago.