Plein air painting - Niagara Falls to Quebec

Our last day of painting...
In the morning it was warm if you stayed in the sun, so we painted at the boardwalk. Nothing spectacular that caught my eye but, I did a little warm up painting.

From the boardwalk, we moved to a street of end to end cafes ,looking for the dramatic lighting...

At the end of the street, the sun was hitting the Ministry of Finance building and lighting up a maple tree on the sidewalk. it started to get colder, so this looked good to me. Brandy went off for lunch and I painted quickly to be able to move to a warmer location.

I was quite happy with this painting and when Brandy returned, we decide to go up to the fort for some full sun exposure - we did not think about the wind chill up on the hill. Though I started a painting, it was soon apparent that finishing it would be another matter...

We finally decided that our painting part of the trip was 'finis' and went back to Maison du Fort, where we warmed up with a hot cup of tea and a quick chat with Marielle.

I invited her to view our paintings before they were safely packed for the long trip back to Niagara Falls. She gave us a wonderful suggestion for dinner at a local restaurant called Condi's.

We were not disappointed! I had my raviolis again but, this time they were stuffed with lobster - wonderful! and baked french onion soup - well deserved after a cold day outside...

The next morning bright and early, after a send off by Marielle and her two friendly kittys, we were on the VIA rail first class car heading back to southern Ontario.

Breakfast on the train was very good (not like the faux eggs benedict we had the other day at a local restaurant for $20.00 each - when I remember the name, I'll post it to warn you - the hostess was so rude, telling us we could not bring our paintboxes in with us...)

It was good to sit and relax and be served.

I have a showing tomorrow locally in Niagara Falls at Niagara Square.If you're nearby drop in between 10 and 5.

Till next post...

http://www.jrbaldini.com/

Plein air painting - Niagara Falls to Quebec

The next morning the smell of wonderful pastries home baked by Marielle at the Maison du Fort, came wafting up to the second floor.
A great start to a long day of painting.
In the morning, I painted at Place Royale. I had painted there 4 years ago, and found it a difficult subject - too many doors- too many windows - I was painting in watercolor, this time I was using the M.Graham Oils. I picked a simple composition, choosing to leave out a statue bust of Louis XV standing in the middle of the square. Again, there was construction going on.

In the afternoon, walking around for hours, brought me to the le petite Champlain, a grouping of small quaint shops , not far from Place Royale. Chasing the sun, both to get warm and more dramatic lighting, was tiring and Brandy and I settled on this tiny alley and painted till the sun started to go down.

We then, had another great meal and hospitality at Primavera Restaurant. Just to keep up my strength, ;) I had 4 cheese ravioli and bruschetta.
From there, we headed down to do our last painting of the day.
The corner restaurant - Musee du Fort. The corner has a bit of lighting, and we were kept company by a local sax musician for most of the time we painted, along with many curious onlookers, who no doubt, do not see too many painters out at night.

This is one of my favorites from the trip.

Finis at 9:45 pm, we headed back to the hotel - tired but, feeling great about the day.

We missed another painter friend, Mario, who had come to the hotel to paint with us. We walked around so much, he could never have found us !

Original Oils on linen
All paintings available for purchase

to be continued...

http://www.jrbaldini.com/

Niagara Falls to Quebec-plein air painting

The evening we arrived in Quebec City, the temperature was wonderful. The spirit was willing but, after the twelve and a half hour train trip, we thought it best to get a fresh start in the morning.


Morning on the first day brought rain that continued steady, but, not heavy all day long.

The large gazebos lining the Rue des Carrieres, provided a wonderful view in any direction for plein air painting.

My morning painting included a brilliantly colored foliage tree, something I rarely paint.
I am working with M.Graham oil paints for the first time. Aside from the alkyd medium, to hopefully speed drying some for transport back, I am finding the consistency is working well for me and I don't need turps or other medium.

After a wonderful lunch at a nearby cafe' Relais Place D armes Ltee, we perused a number of galleries. One you may want to visit is Galerie Cimon-35 rue De Buade, and had a chat with Lillian who is very knowledgeable about local artists.

As the rain continued, we sought shelter on the large stone entrance to the Ontario Tourism building and I was able to complete this painting of Monseigneur De Laval, near Rue Port Dauphin.

We stayed at Maison du Fort on Ste. Genevieve', a wonderful little B&B/hotel hybrid, convenient to everything, with our charming hostess, Marielle.

to be continued...

http://www.jrbaldini.com/