Has the past three weeks really gone so fast that I have not intrigued you with my gallivanting from shore to hill to shore again? Well it seems so though I did share ten sketches on the website update, there has been more – so much more! But one must choose what to share I think, otherwise boredom will have you on the next global surf for website spectacular viewing. We must get on with it!
Let’s see…. oh yes, we shall start with just a few of the latest painting sketches and then a handful of photographs of subjects I find particularly fascinating.
I can never seem to get enough of the red dirt and sandstone of Prince Edward Island!
South Shores PEI study 8 x 10 inch acrylic sketch on gessobord
Cape Bear on edge study 12 x 9 inch acrylic sketch on gessobord
Wind Swept Murray Head PEI study 11 x 14 inch acrylic sketch on gessobord
Hilltop View Above DeSable River PEI study 8 x 10 inch acrylic sketch
But in truth, it is the relationship between land, sea and sky that keeps my attention no matter if it is red or white sand and stone.
Fogged In At Basin Head PEI Study 8 x 10 inch acrylic sketch on gessobord
But there are also the lighthouses…
West Point Lighthouse 1875 PEI
Colourful fishing huts…
Georgetown Harbour PEI
And the churches…
This one comes with a story about its photographic capture even:
I almost didn’t get this photograph of the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, built 1848, in Brae, PEI. You see, there is at least one or sometimes two churches, of some sort it seems, within walking distance of pretty much every farm and fishing village on Prince Edward Island. There are large churches, small churches, plain churches, beautiful churches and unusual churches. Many, like this one, only open the doors for special occasions and eventually may be lost to more central houses of worship that can be reached easily with a vehicle. But, in a day’s adventure on this gorgeous island, we see a lot of churches!
Traveling with a landscape photographer, who is also the driver, can get more than just a little bit tedious. There is a lot of stop and go. There can be lot of turning around and going back even. So, by the time I spotted the Brae church through the trees and a ways over the fields and trees, my sweet husband was just about ready to crumble into a two-year old’s meltdown of angry despair. He is an extremely patient man but there are limits. Turning on the signal and thinking as fast as I can, I shout – LAST PHOTO OF THE DAY! while simultaneously and silently praying to the gods of fading light that I might be able to keep my word without regret. I didn’t dare look sideways at him, not even out of the corner of my eye. I just kept driving and searching for a photograph of the church from various angles as we approached. I knew I was only going to get to stop the car once without the floodgates of frustration overflowing the banks of spousal goodwill… and I was going to have to be quick about it. We were approaching the end of a long day, both of us hungry and tired.
At first I couldn’t find the shot. There were power lines everywhere and very little to use for context. Then I saw a small bridge and zipped across. Turning into the Brae Harbour Rd, I spin a slow u-turn and park. I leap out of the car and jog across the road. I had it! Last photo of the day – with nothing more than a heavy sigh and a grinning shaking of his head as he asks – did you get it!?
Phewffff! Love wins another round!
Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception 1848 Brae PEI
And then there are red dirt back roads….
Eliot River Rd PEI
Fresh leaves gracing Currie Rd PEI
Farrar Rd PEI
No matter where we went, from North Cape to Cavendish to Summerside to St. Peters Bay, to East Point to Georgetown, to Murray Head to Rocky Point or just on the streets of Charlottetown, we were welcomed with exemplar Canadian kindness! Prince Edward Island has managed to cultivate the best of rural and urban living in its small province and it is a place that warms the heart and lifts the spirit. We will be back. We have made a promise to ourselves to have me come and work in the fall to early winter, maybe in 2017, to capture the landscape again in painting sketches and photographs during the autumn season. For now, I must go home and start working up the Prince Edward Island landscape onto larger canvases using the reference material I have gathered over the past seven weeks. I owe a huge thanks to all the islanders who have welcomed me and shared their favourite places and advice. There are too many to name but you know who you are! Thank you!!! Until we meet again!
I usually end with a question but I actually have not one to ask today so…
What question might you like to ask today?
P.S. Save the date for Mayne Island, B.C. – West to East Coast Art Show featuring new landscape painting sketches and recent large oil paintings by Terrill Welch on Sat. July 9th 1-4 pm and Sun. July 10th from 11 am – 4 pm at the Mayne Island Community Centre, 493 Felix Jack Road.
Terrill will be displaying over 18 of her new east coast painting sketches (prints of these works can be ordered) from her trip to Prince Edward Island this spring along with recent west coast landscape paintings that will be available to purchase.
During this pop up show, Terrill will be painting live and demonstrating how her work goes from a collection of sketches and photography reference materials to the final large oil paintings.
Come experience the magic of these landscape renderings of Canada’s west and east coasts as they are captured and translated by Terrill Welch with her brushes and paints onto medium and large canvases.
© 2016 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Creative Potager 
As always, Terrill, I enjoyed traveling to PEI with you as my guide.
Patience, generosity–it is a very good thing when an artist’s (or writer’s) husband is possession of these qualities. : )
So agree Leanne. A patient and generosity are good qualities in a spouse of a creative being. It has been great working in PEI the past seven weeks. Glad you have enjoyed coming along! 🙂
Terrill — I’m going to have to start calling you “Rolling Stone” because you definitely “gather no moss.” I can’t believe that 7 weeks have already gone by; they flew! I love your captures of the red dirt and sandstone—beautiful!
If you happen to notice Laurie, we mostly travel in the spring. That is when I seem most vulnerable to the travel bug. The rest of the time I travel through reading books and watching movies. But someday, I just might succumb to long lasting adventure virus and be on the road for a year or something. I feel a tickle of it every once in a while in the bottom of my feet but so far have managed to keep it in check 😉 But home is a good place too, even the best possibly! Happy it have you along as always Laurie.
These are all absolutely stunning and they have been recorded in a setting I have always wanted so badly to traverse. I wonder if you got to any of the Anne of Green Gables places in your stay there Terrill? They say that Prince Edward Island is the most beautiful place on the Earth. 🙂
Sam I didn’t do much with the Anne of Green Gable places because uh-uhm… I have never read the books. But my understanding is that most of the places are fictional even if names on the island were used. A family from Mayne Island was just there with their daughter who was keen to research out all of the Anne of Green Gables places and was horribly disappointed that they were imaginary. However I did go to Cavendish and paint the shore and you can see that in an earlier post at https://creativepotager.com/2016/05/15/a-few-painting-and-image-snippets-of-prince-edward-island/