My last blog posting outlined all my excuses for not having painted anything for such a long time, so you'd think by this point I'd be posting a new painting, not another blog entry. Well, shortly after I told you all about our move to a fantastic new apartment which we were just getting settled into, we were offered the opportunity to move into a different apartment on the same floor, but on the opposite side of the building. Directly overlooking the beach, with an unobstructed view across English Bay all the way to Vancouver Island, on the sunny side of the building and with a stunningly modernized kitchen, how could we decline this opportunity? So on January 3rd we moved for the second time in three months, and because of some differences in the layout of this apartment, some changes to the configuration and furnishing of my studio space were necessary. But, I am delighted to say that we are now settled in and have no plans to move again for many years.

This blog posting is to announce that I have started on a new painting which should be finished shortly. I couldn't believe how awkward it felt to apply paint to canvas after such a long hiatus, but after the first couple of hours my confidence returned and it felt great to get back into the groove. I've started small (11x14") to ease myself back into this, and this is the first of what I hope will be a series of paintings featuring subject matter from our new neighbourhood. Without giving too much away, I'm thinking of calling this piece "Latte To Go". It's more of a lifestyle image rather than a scenic view of the area, as it depicts a couple of quintessential elements of the West End lifestyle. Meanwhile, please enjoy the quintessential West End view in the photograph below, taken from my new studio window. Not too shabby, eh? I can see that my next big challenge is going to be dragging my arse off the couch on the balcony and back into the studio during any decent weather.

Interestingly (at least to me anyway), my studio on Vancouver Island is exactly on the line of sight from this window to the base of the mountain (Mount Arrowsmith) that you can see outlined on the distant horizon, just beside the point of land on the left side - so I have a direct visual link between the two studios were it not for haze, trees, and the curvature of the earth.

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