Author: Doug Rutherford

The numbers seem to be getting bigger. When I started the painting of the day challenge, I really didn’t think it would continue this long, but, there you go. This morning, I painted number 2100. This, by the way, is day 2076 and I have done more than one a day on some days. Camping and residencies have led to doing several when the opportunity presented itself.

For today, I painted a scene from one of my favourite viewpoints, located above McIntyre Creek canyon. It’s one of those hidden gems that doesn’t seem to be as well known as it should, and I am fascinated by this little spruce tree that stands on the edge of the canyon.

Standing tall. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches. Painting of the day #2100.

I figured I should add the inventory at Arts Underground gallery, since I posted the same for Yukon Artists at Work a little while ago.

Solstice midnight. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Sunset, MacIntyre Creek. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Sunset pond. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Night in the forest. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

There are also a number of prints available. These can be seen or ordered here.

I haven’t done an upgrade of the paintings I have available at Yukon Artists at Work gallery in Whitehorse in a while.

I also have a variety of prints available there as well.

Golden Horn Mountain. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Rising of the moon. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Lake Laberge. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Frenchman Lake. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Poplar. Watercolour on paper on wooden cradle, 11×14 inches.

Winter field. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Day’s end. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Hidden Lake sunset. Watercolour on paper on wooden panel, 8×8 inches.

Full moon. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Wondering. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Evening rain. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Fox Lake. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

I have frequently joked that I should do an exhibit of my paintings from exotic locations: a name I use facetiously. A few of those locations include my driveway, the front step, the back deck, etc. Here’s a few recent ones.

Harvest moon. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.
From a photo taken from my back deck.

Sunset, Yukon River Valley.. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.
From the bottom of my street.

Morning, Grey Mountain. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.
From the Walmart parking lot.

I spent four nights camping at Frenchman Lake a few weeks ago. One of the takeaways from the trip was that there was an amazing sunset every night.

The weather was wonderful, other than a short period of heavy rain one afternoon and a water spout (that I missed) that moved my kayak across the beach.

So, in honour of those amazing sunsets, here’s a painting I did of the point across from my campsite.

Sunset, Frenchman Lake. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.
Painting of the day 2015.

I spent a few days at Nunatuk Campground last weekend, taking a lot of photos, doing some paintings, and being completely ignored by the fish.

One thing that did come out of my trip was hitting another milestone, painting of the day #2000. I rather like the result and so did someone else, since it was sold the day after I got home.

Gulls. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

Sometimes, we learn a lesson of humility from social media. I posted two pictures on BlueSky today and got somewhat interesting results.

This photo of today’s painting has, so far, received 20 likes.

However, this photo of Darcy sitting in my studio chair has garnered 48….

I’m telling myself it’s not a competition.

It was a whirlwind month, with a solo and group exhibit and teaching a number of workshops. However, it’s a new month and things are, hopefully, going to wind down a bit.

A further complication is the last workshop of the month involved painting holding a sheet of paper outwards and painting backwards. I now have a number of rather annoyingly painful back and chest muscles, so slowing down a bit is a good thing.

If you didn’t get a chance to catch the exhibit, here’s the slideshow of the solo exhibit. Fourteen on these were sold so I’m rather content with the result.

Well, the exhibit has been up for a week, and we held the official opening reception. It has been quite successful so far, and five of the paintings have found new homes.

As per normal, I’ll post a slide show of the paintings a little later.

I’m also in a group exhibit at Arts Underground. Photos from that exhibit will be available shortly. These can be purchased online through Arts Underground.

My three paintings in that exhibit are here:

Sunset, McIntyre Creek. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Sunset pond. Watercolour on paper, 8×10 inches.

Solstice midnight, Fox Lake. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.

People often ask me why I often get up rather early in the morning. I will concede that, many times, I’m up early because one of the cats has decided they’re bored and want me to entertain them. And, I will often grant that the last cup of tea I had before going to bed may also be responsible for my early rise.

That being said, my main reason for getting up early is the wonderful scenery. The still of morning and the morning light often gives lots of inspiration for painting… best appreciated with that first cup of tea.

Morning calm, Teslin Lake. Watercolour on paper, 11×14 inches.