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.

I spotted these beef animals in a field near Hawkesville.

When I saw these animals I thought of a story told by the artist, Robert Lougheed. He said that he was painting a cow in a field in Quebec and when the farmer came upon him, the farmer exclaimed, "La vache rouge" (the red cow). Although these cattle are not quite red, I was struck by their wonderful colour.

To produce this view of a west country village in England, this mixed media painting blurs the edges to force a focus to the buildings in the centre. The idea of forced focus is an idea that I wish to pursue.

The Morris dancing tradition goes back to the 15th century. Handkerchiefs, bells and sticks are part of this rhythmic folk dance. We saw these dancers in Brighton, but we have seen other Morris dancers all over the U.K.

This historic steam engine stands at the Waterloo Region Museum in Kitchener. I created a story line with the mother and kids to take away from just a stark rendering of a train. This painting is part of a group of paintings created for the television series, My View, which was developed by Rogers Cable 20 in Kitchener.

My concern in this piece was the warmth of the Italian sun. This courtyard in Florence was near the hotel in which we stayed.

Kitchen utensils are the main feature of the fence surrounding this Victorian shop in La Conner, Washington.

After touring the Lindisfarne Castle on the north-east coast of England, we walked around this fortress. It is easy to see why this rock, also called Holy Island, was chosen as a defendable position. Now only facing the sea, the site is picturesque.

Coastlines change and as a result this castle is no longer on an island. There is a small garden created by Gertrude Jekyll which lies to the west of the great rock. The subject of many artists, from Turner to Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this site is well known and is now in the hands of the National Trust.

One of a pair of paintings of decorative fantasy ancient ruins created for a generous local interior designer who helped me while I was in art college by buying or commissioning pieces from me.

See also Ruins #1 Image # R0002.

One of two decorative pieces or imagined ruins, which I painted for a kindly local decorator when I was still in art school. This was his way of helping me along and I did, and still do, appreciate his generosity of spirit. His widow returned them to me after they closed their business doors many years later.

I had done some window dressing for this small shop while I was still in high school. When I consider now all the support and opportunities that came my way from local merchants to display my work, I realize my enormous good fortune.