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.

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.

Near Huntsville in Muskoka, Ontario

Shoreline series Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada