Wellington Chronicles #2

For IQ. The Indian Quarterly

My illustration leading up to the final spreads in the magazine.

Travels in 2013, show at the Tranzac, Toronto.

I will be showing my watercolours of my travels this year, for just one night at the Tranzac, Toronto on the 4th December. Watercolours from Kashmir, Andamans, Kerala, Switzerland, and also postcards and screen prints from my artists residency to help me on my next journey. Or simply come by for a pint!

Wellington Chronicles #1

Lake Ontario this morning.

Norman Hardie Winery

Last night we were invited to the Norman Hardie winery in the County, where Norman cooked up a storm. I did this quick watercolour when he was sitting next to me, while drinking his wine!

A little study of Richard at the end of the table.

Architecture in Wellington, ON

I've been attempting to paint outside while I still can! So I worked on some architectural watercolours today. Needless to say, my fingers and toes were frozen by the end of it! It's 0 degrees C right now.

Ice painting!

So I've been doing a watercolour of Lake Ontario from Wellington beach every day. I got to the beach just after the sun had set yesterday. There was still some gorgeous light, so I proceeded to work on my watercolour. I had to work really quickly as the light was changing rapidly. While laying down my washes, I realised that interesting patterns began to appear on my paper and paint, and then I figured that my painting was freezing over, while I was working on it! These are my first ice paintings ever!

Wellington Beach, Ontario.

It was so windy out on Wellington beach, that my watercolour set flew off the table!

Tall Poppy sketches and angry lake

Portraits at the Tall Poppy cafe while drinking cappuccinos here in Wellington, Ontario

I cooked up an Indian feast on Sunday night, and sampled some local wine from the county.

And a wild angry Lake Ontario, while a storm blew in.

Stormy weather

Lake Ontario was gorgeous. I had to venture out twice to the beach in Wellington to document the raging madness that was unfolding in nature. There was such magnificent power and energy in the lake that I was moved to do 2 watercolours....one with just a band of yellow light above the horizon and later when the clouds cleared. The water was a constant barrage of continuous frenzy and now there is quite a storm brewing with wild winds and a full moon. All too inspiring!

A commission from Bombay

Swati commissioned me to do 4 watercolours for her husband Anckur's 40th birthday. She wanted a watercolour to chronicle each decade of his life. The first one being his fascination with reading comics in his hometown Cochin, then going scuba diving in his teens which blew his mind! In his twenties Anckur got a Corvette which he drives on the sea link in Bombay, and now he practices Aikido and is quite a foodie! I incorporated all these points into these watercolours, that Anckur proudly sits in front of, in their study. Thank you for this exciting project!

Artist residency in Prince Edward County

I've been invited by Rebecca and Stew to their residence/studio in Wellington, Ontario, for a couple of weeks to paint and do my thing. It's gorgeous here and wonderful to catch up with my old friends from Toronto, who were the first ones to invite me to exhibit my work at their group shows downtown more than 10 years ago!

This is their house and Studio House, which is where Stew paints and exhibits his work.

A morning cappuccino with Stew at the Tall Poppy.

I walked to the beach and stopped to do a watercolour there. It was a beautiful warm day for the 16th of November by Lake Ontario!

Last night we walked to the lake by the light of the moon. Rather magical!

Here's Stewart Jones with his latest painting.

Last days in the city

Here are a few pages of my last few days in Toronto.

One week later...

At the Commie dot. Toronto.