Beachpoint

Beachpoint is in Rotary Frenchman's Bay West Park, Pickering. Along Beachpoint Promenade, there are small beaches where you can enjoy the scenery of Lake Ontario and see the birds flying.

From a distance, you can see Pickering Nuclear Generating Station Information Centre. The car entrance was close so everyone parked their cars on the street. After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the beach. Some people were enjoying the sunbath and listening to the sound of waves and birds.

Under a big tree, we have found a place to sit down. After sketching here, we walked along the beaches, smelled the breeze from the lake, and felt great that we have such a wonderful place to go.

Kleinburg

It has been a long time since I visited McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg. Kleinburg is a very pleasant and beautiful town with many small shops and restaurants. Most shops closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have stayed for a while to do a quick sketch here. Usually, it is very busy on the weekends. Summer is coming, I hope everything will be back to normal by then.

Sketching tools

I bought a box of Rembrandt watercolour metal basic set pans when I first started my plein air sketching. I love it very much. Then I bought a larger one after I finished some colours.

After a while, I wanted to make my own one which can carry more colours. I bought a cosmetic box and stuck more colours. I love this box very much, very light. For cleaning water, I use the bill plastic bottle. It won't leak.

Later, I used more and more colours so I bought a larger watercolour palette and put those pans in it.

After some years, I went back to a smaller size. I put some pans into a pill box which I bought from the drug store. You can put a short brush or more colours in another size.

For the easel, I made my own one with a camera tripod. These things are very light-weighted. The stool was available from an outdoor camping equipment store.

Markham Ribfest

It was near Markham Civic Centre and it moved to Downtown Markham this year. The parking is better. The weather was pretty lovely. Lots of sunshine with the breeze. It was so windy, the vendors with the tents had to hold it or the tent would be blown away.

There were long lines in front of the rib booths. We tried the deep fried onions and it was so yummy! I wanted to drink the beer. Well, I didn't because I didn't want to go the portable washrooms so often.

Toronto Botanical Garden

I don't remember how many times I have been to the Toronto Botanical Garden. However, today was the first time I saw so many flowers blooming!

The peonies bloom everywhere. There is a path with flowers. Some fellow artists were painting there. I also took many pictures there.

Another plein air painting day of DVAC, we met at the cafe where I always wanted to paint. Today I didn't have enough time to do a bigger painting. I just did a quick watercolour sketch. It was very nice to see people chatting and enjoying such a great weekend here. Everyone was so content. There are so many negative things and comments around us everyday. It is important to see people smile and enjoy their live.

I love the pattern on the ground. It is the shadow from the big trees. It led us to the group of people.

Berczy Park

The only cat in the fountain

There is a very beautiful and lovely fountain in Berczy Park. There are 27 water-spewing dogs on the new fountain. I always drive by the park on Front Street. The park had a traditional fountain before. It was smaller than the new one. The city redesigned the park and rebuilt the fountain. It is now bigger and more interesting with putting the ceramic dogs on the fountain. All are looking up to the top of the fountain where you can find a bone! Another interesting design is that there is ONE ceramic cat sitting there, and the cat is not looking up to the bone. It seems to say, "I am not liked all of you, I am special, who cares about the bone!" Actually, the cat has a mission which is to project streams of water towards a golden bone at the top.

The new fountain is protected with a fence without water. A fountain is not a fountain without water! Hence, I made it up.

A little bit more about the park:
Berczy Park is a small triangle-shaped (3,606 square metres) park in downtown Toronto. It is next to the Gooderham building on Front Street. The park is named after William Berczy, an architect and surveyor, who worked with John Graves Simcoe, the first Governor of Upper Canada.