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.

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.

I wanted to create an historical neighbourhood themed Christmas painting. What can be more Canadian than shovelling snow. Including the little guys on the porch added to the idea of the community joyfully working together.

This painting for December was the final painting for the series that I created for KidsAbility. Using as a starting point a photo from The Record archives, I tried to develop a neighbourhood feeling. Adding the little dog was the final step.

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.

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 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.