From Coast to Coast and Places Inbetween

I am feeling thankful. My husband and I did a whirlwind of travel mid August – early September. It was a lot of long days of driving so that we could spend a couple days with people here and there. I sketched along the way and took thousands of photos.

We traveled with our middle daughter, Natalia, to Vancouver Island to go camping with our son, Thaddeus, and his family at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park Campground. Our grandchildren are delightful. Griffin is fearless on his bike. Jade loves playing on the playground with other children.

We came home for a day and headed out with our youngest daughter, Reena, to drive her, her bike and belongings to Kingston, ON where she will be taking the rest of her schooling at Queens University in person. We had really long days on the road, listening to audible books and music. I took out my sketchbook to capture a few things as we drove along. It was good practice in quick observation and memory as we passed by and I was still drawing the scene.

We went by way of Marblehead, MA to see Sam’s Mom, Jeanne and Mike where they relocated this year. They took us on a ferry to Boston to see historical sites there as well as around Marblehead. One of the ocean coastlines was inspiring to me! I can’t wait to work on completing a painting that has been sitting unfinished since 2018.(see the Marblehead, MA  photo above with my husband, Sam, climbing on the rocky shore)  I wasn’t able to spend the day painting, but I took photos and I hope to be working on it this fall. The picturesque town of Marblehead with the brightly colored houses reminded me of places in Europe, particularly in Norway. 

I got up early to watch the sunrise just down the street from where we were staying in Salom, MA. A heron and egret joined me. I love seeing the larger birds. 

One of our overnights on the way was with my aunt and uncle in Syracuse, NY whom I had not seen since 2000 a week after Reena was born. I was happy to introduce Reena to them and we enjoyed our brief visit, especially all the weaving creations my aunt wove. Beautiful! Seeing it brought back good memories of weaving from the time I went to school in Norway. I had enjoyed the rhythm of weaving the shuttle.

From Marblehead we traveled northwest past Ottawa to stay a couple of very restful days getting to know another uncle and aunt of mine in Pembroke, ON. Delightful! They live in a beautiful home they had built on an acreage surrounded by tall white and red pine. Hummingbirds and a variety of other birds came to their feeders. We were too early for the fall colors, but one or two had started to turn.

After we dropped off Reena and got her set up (we went shopping for furniture – a desk, chair and bed),
we stopped to see Niagara Falls briefly on our way back toward Chicago. It was only an extra 2 hour side trip to the day.

We had lived in Chicago before, so we went to stay with our friends for the long weekend before heading back to Edmonton. Sam went kayaking on the Chicago River, we went biking down the lake shore pathway, we went to the Art Institute and saw my favorite impressionists’ paintings and the Botanical Gardens.

I will devote another post to the art institute and my favorite painters. Here I am in front of one of them - George Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884. It is all done with dots of paint.

We had a couple days home before we went camping with my son, Nathaniel and his wife for the weekend. We hiked to see another waterfalls. It was a good way to end the summer trips. I am so thankful we had one more trip with our dog, Lizzy.

Whew! What an end to summer and beginning of fall, but I am thankful we saw everyone we did, we managed to spend time with all of our children and grandchildren. We traveled safely from coast to coast and home again. We saw beauty everywhere we went, and I am feeling inspired to paint.

My daughter, Reena, was home from university for a few days and we took off a day to hike in Canmore. She hiked on and left me to watercolor sketch at the beautiful waterfall on the grassi lakes trail.

I did a quick ink sketch too.

This fall I will be teaching some sketching classes here in Edmonton. We will get out and enjoy the fall colors as we capture what is around us. 

Autumn Landscapes in the River Valley; Drawing and Painting - Yorath House in Buena Vista park 4 Tuesdays starting Sept 19.

Sketching at the Valley Zoo, October 1

Exploring Fall Colours in Watercolour: Drawing and Painting Exploration 6 Fridays starting Sept 22.

(If the links don't work, the details of registration and classes are also on the Fun Art Classes Page with more classes and information.)

We had a lovely trip to Victoria to see our three grandchildren with our four children and two daughters in law. I forgot to get a family photo done so I don’t have that to show this time. It was so good to spend time outdoors – biking, walking the coast, Butchart Gardens and the Butterfly Gardens.

I even had a few moments to capture some scenes in my watercolor sketchbook and take photos for future paintings.

Three sketches from the deck of the ferry to Victoria:

I took a few more minutes to sketch at the end of our time at the Butchart Gardens. So many beautifull flowers to choose from. I liked this color combination for a quick sketch.

The Butterfly Gardens had some beautiful birds I don’t normally see – a flamingo and parrots. Here are some that I will demo during the Animals and Birds in Watercolor: drawing and painting class that starts on May 15. This class is in the beautiful ArtsHub Ortona space (9722 102 St). There is plenty of parking. There is still some room in the class if you would like to join it.  As always in my classes, I demonstrate an idea, or a technique and my students can follow along or work on their own ideas. I feel my students learn better when working on subjects and ideas they are interested in.

As I am looking toward the Art Walk on June 10-12, 2015, I decided to work on some small pieces based on my sketchbook work from my travels. This is one of those although my travel was only an hour and some Plein Air Painting...

I love the golden, yellow canola fields. It is such a happy, bright yellow, I feel a warm glow inside just looking at it with the bright greens on the edge. I was with a friend who lives out in Vegreville. We went driving until we spotted something interesting. And then, we would stop and get our our painting supplies and do a quick painting or sketch.  These three storage buildings in the middle of a field were not too far off the road with the field of canola stretching as far as I could see. Butterflies and bumblebees were flitting around the flowers. Glorious! 5 x 15 inches.

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:2

South Korea is a beautiful, mountainous country. What a fun adventure to travel and meet up with our daughter, Reena, who had been living with host families and attending grade 11 in South Korea for 11 months. We experienced her fluency as she conversed with the people around us as we traveled, shopped and ordered food. We even spent an energy filled sports day with her school, which was a peek into the Korean culture.

We learned to say the greeting phrase and the phrase for “thank you.” We stayed in people’s homes with airbnb. We ate with chopsticks. We took the public transportation in the cities and we rented a car for the last week to go into the countryside with a Korean language GPS system that Reena got to type in the destinations in Korean.

I took 15-30 minutes here and there to sketch and do mini watercolors in my watercolor sketchbook. From these and the phots I will be able to create new artwork in my studio this year. Here are some of them...

July 23, 2016  What a fun Plein Air Painting Day we had!

If you would be interested in taking part in a workshop next spring and summer contact Julie (at the bottom of the biography page).

Here are some photos from the day:

One of the things I like to do in the summertime is to go out sketching and painting “en plein air.”

En plein air (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ plɛn ɛːʁ]), or plein air painting, is a phrase borrowed from the French equivalent meaning "open (in full) air". It is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, also called French: peinture sur le motif ("painting of the object(s) or what the eye actually sees"), where a painter reproduces the actual visual conditions seen at the time of the painting. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules; those might create a predetermined look. (Wikipedia)

It is different to paint from life than just using photos. Photos tend to flatten the image. When I hike, I take a camera and at least a small sketchbook, much to my family’s chagrin. (I had to learn to sketch quickly and take photos on the go, but I seem to be perpetually lagging behind. After all I had an agenda – capture as many ideas/ photo references as possible.)

Even so, it is nice to be with people who don’t mind sitting still for a bit. I have a friend who invited me to Kananaskis Country several times. 3- 5 days of hiking and painting and relaxing with no one waiting for me to get done. On these occasions, I would pack up a backpack full of supplies and carry them the distance and come home with a mostly finished painting.

When hiking, I want to get a great picture or idea – and capture it. I would come home with hundreds of photos (with digital photography it is thousands of photo references!) and a few sketches for the depth perception. From these, I start planning paintings. I sometimes go on a hike with a specific idea for which I am seeking sketches and photo references.

I enjoy taking the time to sketch, but it isn’t just the need to paint what I see that draws me to the outdoors. I have learned that sometimes it is nice to even just sit and absorb the beauty without trying to draw it. It feel’s a bit like I’m “drinking” in God’s creation. There are so many metaphors in creation that lead back to God. In the stillness of just being present, as I sit and listen and wait in quiet, I can hear and see the metaphors and things that God is whispering to me.

For God alone my soul waits in silence… Psalm 62

It has been a long journey, this learning to wait, to enjoy moments, not to be rushing on to the next thing to do or paint. For me, it is a process of letting go of agendas, of accomplishment, and of worrying about making the people around me happy with me. At times, I fall back into the old patterns, but I am learning to recognize this in myself. On a hike I don’t take quite so many photos, and I sit and absorb as much as I sit and draw/paint.

A couple of years ago, my husband, Sam, and I took a trip to Europe. Since we were flying, I had to find compact art supplies that I could take on the plane. Traveling light. Now it is my art/camera travel bag for wherever I am going – hiking, road trip etc. I can even pair that down to a smaller size and take just the essentials.

This Saturday morning (July 23), I will be teaching en plein air on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River in Devon. I will be teaching sketching as well as painting: how to capture what is before us; what to paint, what to leave out; and eye training. There is still room in the workshop, if you would like to come.

Are you curious about what is in my art-camera bag? 

When the fall colors start, I can’t wait to grab my supplies and a camera and go paint and enjoy it. It is such a short season here in Edmonton, so every bit counts.

My husband, Sam and I kayaked a couple hours down the North Saskatchewan River last Sunday through all the colors. It was glorious. I took some painting reference photos for my upcoming fall classes to start us off.

Yesterday morning, I went out with my plein air session painter to paint on location at the Wolf Willow stairs. We went last week, too, to the Wolf Willow Beach.

I tried out a new feature I found out about on my new phone a "directors view" which uses both the front and back cameras at the same time. It will take a bit to get used to where to put my hands so they are not in the way. But, it gives a taste of what I do when out plein air painting and teaching. I was going to try it out more, but we picked a very busy location with people doing their cardio going up and down the stairs.

We spent an hour and a half or so on painting, sketching in the scene, masking the whites/ light areas, laying in the initial colors. Between the start we did on site and the photos and memory, we can complete the painting at home.

Plein Air Sessions ($20 each session) Friday afternoon.

I will continue to go paint outdoors as the weather and colors hold. I will be switching to Friday afternoons. If you would like to join me for a plein air session ($20 and your own supplies), you can contact me for more information.

Next week, Oct 8, 1 pm we will gather at the Clifford E Lee Nature Sanctuary. 

Registration for all the classes below are on the movelearnplay.Edmonton.ca website then click>registered programs>arts programs>adult programs> ***painting classes are now under Painting Classes and drawing classes (zoo classes) are separate under Drawing and Mixed media art programs.

The classes are listed by date they begin. I put the class code with each class that may work in the search. ALTERNATIVELY,  you can call 311 to register. There are similar class titles by other instructors. Check the time and instructor information as well. 

Classes in April

Painting Travel Locations in Acrylics - Class Code: #768867

8 Fri. April 10 - June 12, 2026 (no class May 15)  

1-4 pm

Cost: $216

Location: City Arts Centre, Studio 3

Tavel to distant places via painting! Julie Drew will provide an assortment of photos from her recent travels in Italy. You are welcome to bring favorites of your own travels. We will work on perspective, composition, and combining photos in addition to acrylic painting techniques and color therory.  Buildings, landscapes and more.

Drop in Painting sessions at the Muttart - Spring Flowers

April 11, 2026

Two options: 1 - 2:05 pm and 2:15-3:20 pm

Registration and cost will be posted on the MoveLearnPlay. edmonton.ca. I will post the link here when I receive it about 2 weeks prior. Pre registration for it will open up on Dec 28. Call the Muttart to register!

https://movelearnplay.edmonton.ca/COE/public/category/browse/MUTDIP (registration link)

ALL MATERIALS  INCLUDED 

Location: Muttart Conservatory, 9626 96a St NW, Edmonton, AB T6C 4L8 

Capturing the Essence of Botanicals at the Muttart Conservatory: Acrylic Workshop - Class Code: #768871

3 Sundays, April 12-26, 2026

9:30 am-12:30 pm

Cost $99  ALL MATERIALS  INCLUDED 

Location: Muttart Conservatory, 9626 96a St NW, Edmonton, AB T6C 4L8

Capture the essence of flowers and variegated plants in acrylics during this three week workshop at the Muttart Conservatory. During the first week Artist Julie Drew will teach you that art is learning how to see; she will have you spend time sketching, creating composition strategies, and gathering inspiration from the botanicals in the Feature Pyramid. After drawing what stands out to you, taking photos, and finding interesting inspiration you will learn how to translate this to a painting with hands-on demonstrations and one on one instruction that will open up painting possibilities for you to explore. Over the second and third weeks you will expand on your newly learned skills with brushwork, composition, and colour mixing to paint 2 finished pieces. Embrace letting the botanicals inspire you to paint your unique painting - you will find your own style whether it be abstract, illustrative, or realistic as you bring to life the plants & flowers that stood out to you. ALL MATERIALS ARE INCLUDED, just bring yourself & your creativity.

 Animals & Birds in Watercolour : Drawing and Painting Techniques - Class Code # 768868

6 Wednesdays, April 15-May 20, 2026 

6:30-9:30 pm

Cost: $210 (all supplies included)

Location: City Arts Centre, Studio 1

Paint and draw animals and birds in landscapes as you learn composition, basic color theory, and a variety of techniques in watercolor, watercolor pencil, and ink. You will work from demos from Artist Julie Drew over the six weeks.  ALL MATERIALS ARE INCLUDED, just bring yourself & your creativity.

Discover the Joy of Watercolour - Class Code #768873

 6 Thursdays, April 16-May 21, 2026 

1-4pm

Cost: $162

Location: City Arts Centre, Studio 3

Flowing watercolors without creating mud, build layers, create textures, paint rhythm, work with what happens. Bring your own photo references of favorite landscapes, people, botanicals, etc. Each week we will explore the possibilities with watercolor. This class is for beginner to advance students.

A Matter of Perspective in Watercolour Paintings - Class Code #768864

 6 Thursdays, April 16-May 21, 2026 

6-9 pm

Cost: $162

Location: Coronation Park Sport & Recreation Centre, MPR 2

Understand perspective and how it shifts with our point of view. We will work on 1-, 2- and 3-point perspective of buildings and objects, perspective in landscapes to create depth and curved paths and perspective of cast shadows in different lighting. We will color in our drawings with simple watercolor and shading.

Acrylic - Class Code: #765552

8 Fri. April 17-June 12, 2026 (no class May 15)

Cost: $216

Location: Dr. Anne Anderson Community Centre: 11810 35 Ave 

Quick drying time and multiple textures make acrylics a great choice for beginners and intermediates. In this weekly course learn painting basics such as composition, colour, and numerous painting techniques. Julie Drew will guide you through various subject matter such as still life, landscapes, animals and much more in this inspiring and engaging weekly course. Have the opportunity to learn a wealth of knowledge and express your personal creativity.

Acrylic painting at Booster Juice Rec- Class Code #768869

8 Wednesdays, April 22 - June 10, 2026 

1-4 pm

Cost: $216

Location: Booster Juice Recreation Centre, MPR 7 

Quick drying time and multiple textures make acrylics a great choice for beginners and intermediates. In this weekly course learn painting basics such as composition, colour, and numerous painting techniques. Julie Drew will guide you through various subject matter such as still life, landscapes, animals and much more in this inspiring and engaging weekly course. Have the opportunity to learn a wealth of knowledge and express your personal creativity.

Classes in May

Drawing & Painting Botanicals: Watercolour Workshop at the Muttart, course #768872

2 Saturdays, May 2 and 9, 2026 

1-4 pm

$80 All Supplies Included

Capture the essence of flowers and variegated plants with watercolours during this three week workshop at the Muttart Conservatory. During the first week Artist Julie Drew will teach you that art is learning how to see; she will have you spend time sketching, creating composition strategies, and gathering inspiration from the botanicals in the Feature Pyramid. After drawing what stands out to you, taking photos, and finding interesting inspiration you will learn how to translate this to a painting with hands-on demonstrations and one on one instruction that will open up painting possibilities for you to explore. The second week, you will expand on your newly learned skills with brushwork, composition, and colour mixing to paint a finished painting. Embrace letting the botanicals inspire you to paint your unique painting - you will find your own style whether it be abstract, illustrative, or realistic as you bring to life the plants & flowers that stood out to you. 

 ALL MATERIALS ARE INCLUDED, just bring yourself & your creativity.

Drawing and Painting Landscapes and Interiors at the John Walter Museum: Class Code #768870

 4 Sundays, May 24 - June 14, 2026 

 2-5 pm

cost: $108

John Walter Museum: 1901 (3rd) House (possible field trip options to 2nd and 1st houses) 9180 Walterdale Hill NW

With the opportunity to be indoors or outdors briefly on a warm winter day, we will explore drawing and painting landsacpes and Interiors of the John Walter Museum houses. We will work in watercolours and pencil drawings. Part of the class will be to strengthen your drawing and observation skills of the rooms of the mueum and the other part of class will be to work on reference photos of landscapes using watercolor techniques and perspective. 

Painting The Skies In Watercolor: Clouds, Northern Lights and More - Class Code: #768863

3 Thursdays, May 28 - June 11

cost: $99

Location: John Walter Museum: blue house (9180 Walterdale Hill NW)

Capture the movement of the northern lights, the impressive thunderheads and the amazing sunsets we see in Alberta using watercolor techniques such as pouring, layering, lifting, masking and much more. This class is for beginner to advance students.

Classes in June

Sketching Animals at the Edmonton Valley Zoo,  class code #768865 

1 Saturday, June13,  2026  (NOTE: This class is under Drawing amd Mixed Media classes in Movelearnplay.edmontong.ca)

10 am -3 pm

$80

Catching wildlife in pencil & ink as it lives and breathes allows you to capture the energy in the drawing. Enjoy a day drawing en plein air (in the open air) at the Edmonton Valley Zoo observing the animals and capturing the essence in your sketchbook. Artist Julie Drew will teach you that it is much different to draw from life than just using photos, what our eyes can see is so much more than a photo can capture. ALL MATERIALS INCLUDED, just bring yourself and your creativity!