Reminds me of...
"Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads
And you may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself
In another part of the world
And you may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here?

Well, how did I get to this multi-coloured Volkswagen Beetle?  
The short answer is "time". Go home and stay home.
... This all started with a search for a specific golf hole photograph to use as reference for a hole-in-one for a friend. In my search, I found a CD of photos that I took at a classic car, truck and tractor show in Bracebridge in 2012.

1. First, I see old tractors, I want to draw one of those... having been raised on a farm.
2. Then, came a red truck... red is the only colour of vehicle I have ever owned.
3. Then, a turquoise car,... just because it is a great colour for a classic car.
4. Then, came the Volkswagen Beetle, they came in such great colours!! So, I did a red one and a turquoise one.

​Then, I read about how "most VW parts are interchangeable from one year to the next" so you could have a care that looked like this!  See all six illustrations here.

When I started my "stay at home" for 2 weeks on Wednesday of this week, I made the decision that I would make this a positive experience. Besides more time to do artwork, which is the best part...  I started each day with a list of what I would do that day,  then at the end of the day I revisit it and check off everything I did.
I have kept myself busy with an indoor sketch challenge from Urban Sketchers Waterloo Region, lots of drawing, reading, yoga, walking the dog and putting more of an effort into social media. Still don't love it, but seeing more benefit. It is very time consuming. No post on social media today, back to it tomorrow.

As an introvert, I am very happy in a group of ONE!  During this time of social distancing, staying at home, reading, drawing, walking the dog, and watching a movie at home, suit me just fine. But, for extroverts and sports lovers, this is a challenging time. Hang in there, you will get through it...

Sometimes the winter months for me means going to work, coming home and not going out. And to be honest, I am happy to do just  that. But, back in December, I decided I should be more social over the course of the winter months, so I started a new project and it is:

• part social
• part journal
• part history
• part support local
• part educational
• part fun

Its a beer sketchbook. To anyone that knows me, this would not surprise them. I like beer. I like all kinds of beer and I like to try different kinds of beer. I also find you have the best conversations over beer. I even illustrated a book related to beer, Barhopping into History, London Ontario, which, by the way, started over a beer! Since I started this sketchbook in late December, I have recorded, meaning sampled and socialized to 26 different kinds of beer. Thanks to friends and family for socializing with me. For now, temporarily on hold. Looking forward to adding to my themed beer sketchbook in the future.

Buddy is a great model ... when he is sleeping! Sketch in ink and white pencil on grey toned pastel paper. Quick sketch before he moved again.

I started a new sketchbook in December ... The Beer Sketchbook: Some people take photos of their food, I draw pictures of my beer. There are so many different kinds of beer: domestic, import, micro, craft, local, international... Why not taste test, record it and have fun doing it! Each recorded beer has to be unique. So the question is - how many different kinds of beer will I have over the course of a year?
This sketchbook project is a part social, (the conversations are always more interesting over beer), part history (could be the history of the beer, the brewery or maybe the location), part journal (the when, why, who). 
This is BEER #19 (Moonshadow, a Berliner Weisse). After checking out the the 8th Annual Heritage Fair, Kym and I visited Storm Stayed Brewing Co.

I am excited and honoured to have my Dundas Streetscape (Clarence to Wellington) officially hanging at the new location of the London Arts Council. They just moved to their new office at 267 Dundas Street, London, ON, corner of Dundas and Wellington. This organization truly enhances the quality of life and creative vitality in London, through their various programs, services and incredible staff members. I appreciate their support over the years.
This illustration was started in 2012, when I took the photo reference. I put all the images together in Photoshop, to figure out how big to draw each buildings, in order to have the streetscape fit on a sheet of watercolour paper. I completed the ink drawing in 2012, but then got busy doing two books: Barhopping into History, London Ontario (2013) and Hopping into History, London's Old East Village (2015). Both of these books were supported by the London Arts Council. Finally in 2018, I got back to the illustrations and completed them. My original plan was to draw every building from Museum London (I worked at the Art Rental shop) to the London Clay Art Centre (I still work here). To date, I have only finished 3 blocks. Maybe its time to continue with this series...