Category: General

I started the painting a day thing last March. As I mentioned previously, I wondered how long this would continue. Yesterday marked another milestone with painting of the day number 500.

I spent some time trying to pick what I would do for number 500. If nothing else, I wanted something I would like a lot more than the way number 300 turned out…

I was reminded of the first watercolour painting I did, which was a painting of a solstice sunset from Fox Lake campground in 2015. It turned out quite well for a first ever attempt, good enough that my grandson claimed it immediately. (I suggested he put it on his fridge…)

Therefore, having just come back from a camping trip to Fox Lake recently, I figured that I’d do another sunset from Fox Lake, So, here it is.

I have been having fun doing this on a daily basis, but it may be time to taper off a bit. If for nothing else, I am getting ready for a residency next week in Tagish and doing a workshop on Saturday, August 7th as part of the Yukon Fresh Artists in Residence Exchange. I’m looking forward to it, although I must admit that, after 30-odd years of teaching, it’s the first time teaching this subject and there may be a small case of nerves involved…

I haven’t posted recently, so I figured I would throw a few recent paintings up. For statistics sake, the Picture of the Day is up to number 461.

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I started the painting a day thing on March 21st last year as a thing to do for the COVID lock down. It was something to do to keep me busy and give me a bit of something to focus on.

I wondered how long I could keep at it, considering I really only started painting a few months before.

There were a number of days I didn’t get one done. For example, there was a day when I started one, and gave up on it. At that point of the day, with an abscessed tooth and a bit of codeine, I wasn’t getting anything done.

I did put some effort into making up the days I missed, particularly in the last few days. And, this morning, I did the 365th painting to mark one year of a painting a day.

Given it is a bit of a milestone, I wondered what to paint. I decided this morning to consider how this started. My first painting of the day was three of the poplars in my yard. I figured I’d go with the theme and paint some of the other poplars. So here is the one year anniversary painting of the day.

Strangely, I feel a little bit sad about a year of this. It isn’t the end, since I am not going to quit painting, or even painting every day as it comes to it. And, we all knew this was going to last some time.

I do think I’m going to expand my repertoire a bit, since I was looking at an album of Cape Breton pictures. So, be prepared for a little different scenery (not like the Yukon has a shortage of scenery). I’m already planning a few painting trips for the summer.

So, on to year 2…

Now that the light at the end of the tunnel may not be a train, it’s nice to look back and see some of the ways I’ve tried to adapt to the COVID-era lifestyle.

One way of dealing with it, of course, would be having all this time to get more writing done. I have three plays I’ve been trying to edit,and truthfully, I really haven’t done that much. I did do some writing during the Nakai Theatre 24 Hour Playwriting Challenge in November. I did a bit more to put together two residency applications. However, I didn’t get either of those and haven’t spent more than n hour or two above that.

I have always been one of those people who said that, if I had more time, my house would be cleaner. I have discovered that having more time doesn’t help. It’s awful to be retired and still in need of a housekeeper…

Strangely, I could have spent far more time playing music. However, this has been something of the same as house cleaning. For some reason, it’s rather hard to get up the ambition to go downstairs and play as often as I would wish.

So, how have I filled my time? Sadly, I have really spent far too much time sitting in front of the television (or as my father referred to it, the one-eyed monster that sits in your living room and sucks your brain out.) If you need proof, taking a tape measure to my waist would work.

I have still stuck to my Painting of the Day schedule, or at least, as much as possible. I have done 327 of them to this point, and if I do stick with it until March 20th, there will only be 12 days that I’ve missed in the first year. I have enjoyed the hour or so a day that I put towards each, and am willing to admit that I have improved.

I will admit, however, that my painting recently has often involved doing “a painting for a painting’s sake.” I think that, after I hit the one year point, I may back off a bit and work on more selective pieces, and larger pieces. Storing 5×7 paintings, I will also admit, is a lot easier that 11×14 ones. Presently, I have been looking forward a few painting trips this summer and need to pin some of those down soon.

March 21 will mark the first year since I started the painting a day, and it does offer a point to consider. By then, I will be past the 7-14 days after my second vaccine shot to build full immunity and our lives here won’t be as restricted as they were. I am really looking forward to that. On March 15th, I am hoping to go to the bar and actually have a beer, flaunting the most risky situation for catching COVID. To prove my true bravery, I’m going to book a tooth cleaning for about the same time.

So, I’ll end this with a few paintings, and I’ll let you know how that beer tasted in a few weeks.

Well, another 24 Hour Play Writing Challenge, hosted by Nakai Theatre, is over. By my count, this is my tenth.

I approach these with the same outlook, namely that I’m never going to make as much progress as I planned. Frankly, expecting to write a complete play in such a short period of time is unrealistic. I have written first drafts and frameworks for plays in that time, and have often used the event to edit existing works in the mill.

This was my approach this time around. As per usual, I did not accomplish everything I had hoped, although I did manage to complete a full first draft. Much of the draft is pretty rough, needing some additional dialogue as well as having some removed. More importantly, there was a transition that I have be agonizing over for months. At 4 AM, the way to make this just clicked and, if there were no other benefits of the Challenge, this made it worthwhile by itself. In short, I think this year was a success.

I hit a bit of a milestone today. I never really thought it would go this far, but I did the 100th painting of the day this morning.

I suspect that I, like many, didn’t think the lock down for COVID19 would last any real length of time. But, it, and the activity I chose to fill it, has gone on. It probably will for some considerable time.

I spent the last two days wondering what I would do for the 100th one, and decided to paint one of my favourite places. This is Mount Vanier at Kusawa Lake. It is plainly visible from the campground, craggy and textured, and appears different throughout the day as the light changes. I picked a picture I shot in late evening in August of 2016.

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Several people have asked me about my social media postings on doing a painting a day. Here’s a bit of an explanation.

The Coronavirus lock down and physical distancing has led us to trying to find activities to keep ourselves busy. The stress and uncertainty have played havoc with the mental health of most of us.

A friend, who is a professional artist, attacked this problem and challenged herself to paint a small (4×6 or 5×7) watercolour each day.

The challenge intrigued me, so I decided I’d give it a try.

Before we go much further, I will preface this with the following disclaimer: I am not a professional artist, and have only been painting, after a 45-year break from oil painting, since December. My wife is highly allergic to fumes, so I decided to try paining in watercolour instead.  I’ve had two lessons.

My hope was that this would give me some structure to this time and allow me to improve my skills.

I decided to try to do a local painting every day.

I have missed a few days, but not many. Sometimes, you just don’t feel up to it, given the current situation. Lately, the siren call of nice weather and a backlog of yard work has interfered.

So, I hit my photo collection and started painting. Yes, some have been duds, but some have turned out nicely.

I’ve had to turn to internet pictures for additional details when my shots didn’t have what I needed. Some local photographers have also been kind enough to allow me to do one of their photos when I found the subject interesting and didn’t have a photo of my own.

This little project has had a few benefits:

• I usually need something to do, or I will get into trouble. Idle hands are the devil’s toolbox and I’ve managed to stay out of mischief… so far.
• I am getting rather good a fixing my painting mistakes, because I have made more than my fair share.
• I have made it a point to learn the actual names of some of the mountains I’ve just taken for granted. In a reverse of how it seems to work, I’ve even managed to learn the English name of a mountain I only knew by its Tutchone one.
• Most of these are not finished. Some could use touching up or adding a bit more detail, but I can get to that later.
• Most importantly, of the places I’ve lived, this is the easiest place to find a beautiful piece of scenery to paint every day. We are lucky to live here.

My paintings can all be seen on Instagram, @doug.rutherford.

I don’t know how long this challenge, or these circumstances, will last (so far, I’ve done 89 paintings). But, if the lock down has gotten you down, you can find something to pass the time. Just do something you enjoy. You don’t have to great at it. I’m proof.

I have been reasonably busy painting recently. A friend decided to do a small painting a day as something for structure during the COVID-19 lockdown. I decided to follow suit. Here’s a few.