Gentle readers: In June I spent 2 wonderful weeks in the Province of Newfoundland, Canada - this beautiful territory joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949 and I am glad they did - I read no less than 5 books on the area prior to my trip and learned so much about the history even though the books were fictional accounts. To the present year: my first week was spent attending a plein air oil painting workshop led by the remarkable artist, Lise Sorensen, at her studio in Woody Point, a lovely little town situated in the breathtakingly beautiful Gros Morne National Park. Each day was a new adventure in landscape, we painted on the beach at Rocky Point, at Lise's cabin in Cow Head and points in between. The 2.5 hour cruise on the Western Brook Pond - an inland fjord - was a truly 'awesome' visual highlight. I shipped my pieces back to my studio in Toronto and am working on completing them. I will insert here a photo of one work in progress. My second week was spent as a tourist in the capital city of St John's - more spectacular scenery in the city and the environs, I took guided day trips with the wonderful Darren Steele of Newfoundland Tours to explore points north and east of town, i.e. Pouch Cove, Portugal Cove, Cape Spear, etc. and was driven by my new friend, Kay, to points south of town, i.e. Tors Cove, Ferryland and more. in St John's itself don't miss Signal Hill, The Battery, Quidi Vidi Village and The Rooms - the building which houses the provincial art gallery and archives, is a 'must see' not only for its permanent collection, but the lovely dining room with views of the harbour and the narrows. In short, I highly recommend that you, gentle reader, travel to this beautiful area. The province is large but the population a mere half million souls (I estimate that over the years we have all heard more than that number of Nfld jokes) and I am only sorry I did not see more of it - my plan is to return. For those of you who may recognize the name of Woody Point, there is a noted annual writers' festival held there every August. For statisticians, I saw 3 moose and 0 whales. For foodies, I tried every variation of cod, toutons, bakeapple, partridge berries, Jiggs dinner, and capelin. I am so enamoured of Newfoundland since my trip, I could go on and on, but I promise I won't!
