Karstad Biodiversity Paintings: adventures in the colour of Canada

14 January finds me in Ottawa, painting a First Nations stockade on Victoria Island in the Ottawa River. Anyone is welcome to go inside, but I am captivated by the story that the flags tell, so I'm sitting on a slight rise some distance from the camp so that I can see the Ottawa River, a totem pole, the stockade complete with cookhouse and the flags of First Nations all across Canada. The top of the tipi of Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat is visible above

It is with great pleasure that I post my first commissioned horse portrait. Here's hoping for many more! Teddy is a friendly horse, much beloved by his owner, and amazingly neat in his stall. He enjoys spending time outdoors even in winter and is growing a plushy warm winter coat, which doesn't show on his face yet. We decided upon a stall portrait because of the warm light that surrounds him as the winter sun comes in the back door of the barn, and the cool sky light from the front door that highlights the handsome bones of his face.