A rare walnut oil quick plein air painting sketch of the Japanese Garden in the snow.

Reaching the Japanese garden on the other side of the island, I notice that the snow has stopped temporarily in the -1 degree Celsius early March wintery weather. I gather a few photographs for a friend and then settle into paint after setting up my French Box easel in the bamboo shelter on the east side of the gardens. I paint feverously for an hour. It starts to rain and then rain and snow as I am finishing up. My toes are cold from damp wool socks from when I stepped in a puddle. By all accounts the midday light is bleak and the weather miserable. But the work is done.

This small painting sketch is a series of half finished sentences in a shorthand painting language that provides rough reminders for a later more thoughtful and larger work.

Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Includes simple wood frame and hanging wire if desired.