The changing colour of the larch trees in the Canadian Rocky Mountains is a sight to see! I had no idea how many people from all over the world flock to Banff National Park to see these trees. The day we went hiking, the highways were packed, the parking lots were packed….and it was a Wednesday, it was the end of September and it was CHILLY! How lucky are we that this is in our backyard?!?! And holy smokes, did the mountains ever put on a show! We did a guided hike at Lake Louise Ski Resort, a behind the scenes deal – it was awesome and I highly recommend it. After posting some photos of the hike on Instagram, my Brother In Law asked me to come see him about painting something for his office. He picked one of my photos from the top of the Grizzly Express Chairlift looking down on Larch Side – aptly named!  He chose it because he liked all  of the bright colours – and the painting turned out just as bright and beautiful as it was the day we saw it! My absolute favourite painting to date!

Take Me Over To The Larch Side ~ 48″ x 48″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

At the beginning of November in Banff National Park when the larch trees have shed their last needles and the tourists have gone home, there is a moment of utter peace. In the mountains the snow starts to fall, the lakes starts to freeze and you can’t help but slow down. Last year we were lucky enough to spend a weekend at Lake Louise and enjoy the calm before the ski resorts opened. We ate wonderful food, we drank wine, we sat in front of fires, we went for walks and most of all enjoyed the scenery. I feel I’ve captured the peacefulness we all felt at that time in my new painting of Lake Louise. I hope you can feel it too!

Lake Louise Calm ~ 48″ x 48″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Check out this little guy enjoying his great big mushroom. Tyson snagged this awesome photo last year hiking Mount Goldie. Originally, I thought I would take the summer off of painting and do lots of hiking and photo taking instead. Mother Nature had other ideas though! We had so much rain! I decided to do some smaller paintings to keep me from losing my mind! Hope you like my little squirrel friend. Going Squirrelly ~ 16″x40″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Our dog Chubz, loves birds, especially the magpies, ravens and crows! He loves to watch them, he loves to try and chase them, and I’m sure he would love to catch one! I think the love is mutual though…the birds love Chubz too! They love to tease him, they love to taunt him with a  close fly over, they love to torment by sitting right above him and just out of reach. These birds are no dummies, they are having a ton of fun at his expense and it’s hilarious! One weekend at the cabin last fall, Chubz started barking like there was a bear in the backyard – so we all went running to see what it could be!?!?! No, it wasn’t a bear…It was the biggest, baddest looking Raven! He was just sitting there on the ridge starring back, while Chubz lost his mind and probably a bit of his dignity – so funny! Of course I grabbed a photo and had fun painting this massive old guy! I really like how it turned out and hope you can see a bit of the humour in it! What A Tease ~ Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas 15″x30″  #birdsofbritishcolumbia #invermere #birdpainting #smartbird #calgaryartist #canadianart