This post is dedicated to Maria Lawson, the artist. When we traveled, I would take pictures and later at art class Maria would paint many of them. Not everyone can come to my home and see these paintings, so this post is Maria's Gallery. I hope you enjoy them. I will try to give some background to each painting. Some, however, were practice painting and were taken from a magazine or out of her imagination. These are an electronic reproduction, so they are not as good as the originals, but at least it is an introduction to Maria the artist.
The first picture is the first painting Maria did at her art class. This was a chance for the other artists and her instructor to see how she painted.
The next two paintings are from the park right across the street from the house. Maria obviously took some creative license when she painted them. We do not have a creek running through the park.
We used to go the The Max Bell Arena to walk during the winter. The view from Max Bell inspired Maria to paint the next two.
Kananaskis was one of our favourite places to camp and hike. The next three paintings were inspired by that area.
Maria loved to travel to Germany. I think that she had about 23 trips to Germany. The first painting was from our morning walks in Emlichheim. The second painting is from a hike with Maria's cousins (Dorla, Benno, and Elisabeth) in what once was East Germany. The painting is of Dorla's favourite tree.
We had many trips visiting our friends in Miami, Oklahoma. One year we stopped in Moab at the end of August and spent a week hiking and traveling around the National Parks. The first painting is at Arches National Park, and the second is from Highway 70 as we approached the east side of the Rocky Mountains.
When visiting friends in Miami, we walked every morning. Maria liked walking at the Rotary Park. These paintings were inspired by the flowers at the campground and at the park.
We traveled with our friends from Miami in our volunteer work, and they took us to some amazing places. Each was a new place to walk and experience the neighbourhoods. The first painting is from Orlando. We had just had an wonderful tour behind the scenes at Seaworld and were walking back to the hotel when we saw this flower. The second painting is from Tampa during an evening stroll.
The next two paintings were inspired from our holiday travels. The first if from a camping trip with our daughter and son-in-law in BC, and the second is from our first holiday in Yellowstone National Park.
The next painting comes from the Grande Tetons National Park. We were driving home from Miami and took the scenic route. It was a cloudy, rainy day and we had stopped at a rest-stop by this lake.
Of all our travels, we really fell in love with the Yukon most. This painting is from Kathleen Lake, just south of Haines Junction.
Maria did like to practice new techniques. The next painting is from a magazine so that she could practice Folk Art.
Of the many practice painting that Maria tried, she really liked this fish. I have to confess that I just don't get it; but that's art!
Here are a couple more of Maria's practice paintings; and again, these come from magazines.
Maria also practiced techniques on glass coaster sized boards because she could finish them in one sitting. These are four of them.
The final painting that I will share is the last painting that Maria touched. She was unable to finish this painting before she died, so her art instructor did the final touches. This is from the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis, one of our favourite drives.
