33 on 33 Route Map

The County of Prince Edward, Ontario

Following up on my previous post about my 33 on 33 plein air painting project (which begins this Saturday), I've included a map here, highlighting the route along Highway 33 –AKA Loyalist Parkway– that I'll be taking through PEC. The red pointer "A" indicates where Small Pond Arts is located.

Since moving here from Toronto three years ago, I have become more interested in, and my affection has grown for, my surrounding landscape, currently enjoying what seems like a County-wide burst of wonderfully fragrant lilac blossoms.

My decision to embark on this journey (see the "previous post" link above) has struck many (including myself) as weird and uncharacteristic of my normal painting habits; I'm normally a studio painter and I work from photographs I (mostly) take myself, and I've hardly ever gone outside to paint from life. However, working in the tradition of plein air painters, while enjoying the countryside of PEC along its main thoroughfare, seems to me the best way of celebrating the scenery of my new home, despite the challenges this poses to me. Of course, being challenged is something I don't shy away from, and I'm determined to learn a lot from this experience.

Regent Classics

8.5" x 11", digital, 2013

For about a year, now, I've been in charge of scheduling and screening the classic movies at The Regent Theatre in Picton, PEC, and it's been a blast. It started out as me taking over the classic movie matinées at the end of the month for seniors, but I soon created two streams, Vintage and Modern, so that I could also show movies in the evening to people who worked during the day without repeating myself. I have an arbitrary cut-off date for the separation of the two, but it's not carved in stone.

Of course, to help promote these, I've created posters incorporating the most striking versions of the movies' posters into my design which is minimal and easy to read (especially now that both screenings are on the same day), allowing the beauty of the studio posters to shine. That said, I've used the text-only teaser poster, rather than the gorgeous one masterfully illustrated by Bob Peak (below), for Star Trek II because I needed space to add the title card from "Space Seed," the Star Trek episode that The Wrath of Khan is a sequel to. I admit, I'm really, really excited to be able to screen these back-to-back.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
illustrated by Bob Peak

For a moment, I toyed with the idea of designing my own posters for the Classics at The Regent, but, with only one screening per film, that wouldn't be an effective use of my time, considering there are already great posters needing to be seen in public (and in theatres!) again.

learn

15" x 22", watercolour, 1996, private collection

This was the first painting on which I wrote using charcoal (the others are listed and linked to here). It was bold thing for me at the time, and I didn't know if I'd like the effect, but I wanted a word and charcoal seemed to be the best medium for writing on watercolour. Turns out I like it.

The woman in the painting is actor Fairuza Balk from a photo in a magazine. The close-up  distortion appealed to me. She already had the nose ring, but I added the Egyptian-like swirl under her eye, but I don't remember why...