I was drawn to the sharp contrast in colour and light in this small restaurant, one of so many cafes and bars that stud the Greek island of Santorini. The people sitting and chatting by the doorway is so typical of the relaxed Greek lifestyle.

This island is a huge tourist trap. Stores and food outlets seem to pave the entire island. Although very pretty with the blue of the sea around it, I found it quite crowded and not really my cup of tea.

I was attracted by the floral colour and the clutter as the plants spilled out onto the sidewalk from a garden shop in Regensburg, Germany. I took a decidedly rougher, less organized, approach to the style of this work because I felt that it was appropriate.

Stepped up the hills along the Danube river in Austria, these romantic small holdings made me think of friends here in Canada who once lived amongst these vineyards. The colour of the homes adds to the picturesque quality of the landscape.

I have always been taken with the European style house with the ends of the roof "chopped off". This home in the wine-growing area beside the Danube in Austria looked straight out of a kid's storybook. To enhance the make-believe aspect of this painting, I combined transparent watercolour technique with my usual opaque acrylic approach.

This small church near Spitz, Germany, seemed perfect in its tranquility and quietness. From our view on a riverboat, this scene was temporary as we glided by. This was a make-believe moment.

We were on a riverboat from Budapest to Amsterdam. Although we made frequent stops, much of the landscape passed before us as in a movie. Each several minutes a new bit of intriguing foreign landscape came into view.

I was taken by the perpendicular architecture and the clutter of vehicles on a back street in Nuremberg. I somehow always imagine that if I lived there I would be in the top floor apartment, with sloping ceiling/walls.

I enjoyed seeing these young women from a nearby office, gossiping by this fountain with no sense of how attractive the whole scene was. This German town square, whose name has slipped my mind, is typical of the romantic views that so attract me to Europe. I wish that we had more wonderful sculpture here in Waterloo Region that would provide such a backdrop for the day.

The subject of this painting is a monument in Vorosmarty Square to the favourite poet Vorosmarty. Located only a block from the Danube on the Pest side of the city, this sculpture is a favourite of Hungarians and tourists.

I am drawn to the monumental sculpture that is so common and beloved in Europe. The celebration of poets and artists is commendable but the real appeal for me is the beautiful craftsmanship and the expertly created plastic form. The standard of work across Europe in this field is so high and here in North America so pathetic, so sad.

Barcelona, Spain

Mittenwald, Germany