Viewed across the spring fields this St. Jacobs area Mennonite farmhouse looks almost like a small village with so many small buildings cobbled together.

This farmhouse is across the road from the vast Home Hardware warehouses. I was attracted by these buildings that have not yet been "modernized". The patches of so many colours put me in mind of a quilt.

On a muddy spring day, I found these buggies parked at a Mennonite farm west of Linwood.

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.

The low concrete bridge, built by the Old Order Mennonite farmers, slithers across the Conestogo River at Hawkesville.

Memory is a funny thing. This piece of the side stream of the Conestogo River reminds me of a tributary of the Loire River in France. We stayed at a hotel there that was called the Domaine de la Tortiniere, the area of the twisting river or cork screw...my translation. This same twisting and turning occurs at Hawkesville, downstream from the low bridge.

The Conestogo River follows through parts of Mennonite country. This peaceful spring scene is west of St. Jacobs.

I often drive on the river road from Hawkesville towards St. Jacobs. This serene landscape, next to a Snyder farm, reminds me of the work of Homer Watson.

This stone house peeks out from behind a screen of trees along the Eramosa River in Eden Mills in this spring view.

During my time with the Grand Valley Conservation Foundation I had a good chance to poke along the waterways in this area. It was great fun and made me familiar with many small villages that I would never have visited.

A girl works at the grill in a Waterloo landmark, Harmony Lunch, cooking hamburgers and fried onions. This lunch counter is unchanged from my childhood and will stay pretty much in this interior style as this family owns it. This piece is part of the series, My View, painted for T.V. on Rogers Cable 20.

My childhood home was only a block away from this lunch counter and so is most familiar to me. We included this subject in an attempt to deal with a wide variety of subjects in Waterloo Region.

This old gent, a Canadian veteran of World War II, was part of our group as we visited Holland to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Canada's liberation of the Netherlands. Much decorated, this man, like so many others, is only recognized when he wears his medals.