This "no winter maintenance" road is one I discovered west of Milverton. Dirt roads like this are much used by the Amish as a way of staying off the normal higher traffic roads.

There are still quite a few unpaved and rarely maintained roads like this in the Amish area of Perth County. I thought this spring road with the subtle almost watercolour-like colours a subject that I couldn't pass. It is difficult for me to rein myself in when I drive through the countryside, any countryside, and see the many subjects just waiting for me to paint. The opportunities are endless.

Sunlight filtering through the trees, dapple the lane into the bush near Paradise Lake.

This sun-splashed scene has a fairytale quality to it. A little farther down this lane there is a small old wooden building and contemplated adding it to this scene but I decided that the cascading shafts of light on the foliage and the lane were enough. It is often a temptation to over egg the custard.

Sunlight filtering through the trees beside Boomer Creek provides a tranquil, private moment only 50 feet from the road. The stony edge of the bank offers a lovely fleeting pattern.

There is privacy with the arms of the trees lining this creek that languidly winds through Mennonite country. I wanted this light-touched treatment to convey that fleeting moment.

This summer cottage, west of Hawkesville, is in a farmer's field next to Boomer Creek, across the road from Smithside school. It has been there as long as I can remember.

I can think of only a few cottages that survive on farms in Mennonite country. Usually placed next to rivers, these simple dwellings are not habitable in the winter. I assume that only their granddaddy status preserves them.

Winter sun illuminates a piece of bushland in Bechtel Park in Waterloo. Located near a housing area, this recreation area is much used for dog walking.

This painting comes directly from correspondence with a lady on Painting Doctor. It is most unusual for me to use someone else's photo as the base for a painting, but as I worked through this piece with her I saw possibilities that I quite admired.

I am always fascinated by sunlight, this time on the random way that slivers of light graze branches in a forest.

I used an especially rough ground as I try to find the ideal amount of tooth to make for "a come and go light" ... broken light if you wish, not unlike the impressionists' approach. The impressionists broke the pigment and I am trying to get the ground to break the colour while at the same time layering the colours like in tapestry. I think this is quite successful.

This Kitchener neighbourhood provides a view back to my childhood, having grown up in a similar area where homemade structures such as garages, fences and lean-tos were common. Changes were made to properties before the days of building permits and other rules. This speaks to me of a time when kids roamed freely around their neighbourhood.

This painting originated from one of my older photos, and quite honestly, I cannot remember precisely where it was that I took this shot, although I know it was in Kitchener.

Using several winter photos of this back lane from my files, I created this view just off Peter Street in Kitchener. Freshly ploughed snow covers up any abandoned bits and pieces so common in such an area.

When I was an art student in Toronto in the 1960s, the back lanes around the art college became my studio, providing endless subjects for required projects. I developed a real affection for those out of the way lanes.

This painting, one of six produced for the Rogers Television Cable 20 series My View, was I think my favourite.

From this angle I can almost see the bottom side of the covered bridge at West Montrose. The reflection in the Grand River really does show its under structure. The end of the day sun slanting across this ancient bridge adds a dramatic element to this everyday structure. Although I have painted this historic bridge many times, this is the first try at an up close and personal view.

This painting is part of the series, My View, that I created for Rogers T.V., Cable 20.