"Stormy Day, Iona Park" captures the dramatic energy of one of my favourite places to paint. Iona Beach Regional Park in Richmond, BC, is a special spot where the Pacific Ocean meets the Fraser River. It offers endless opportunities for compositions, which always makes choosing what to paint a challenge! Beyond the stunning natural beauty, I enjoy the conversations with fellow birders and photographers who gather to spot soaring eagles, hawks, and herons, along with the rarer migratory birds passing through. It's also a haven for furry creatures; otters, beavers, and coyotes are frequent visitors.

Though painted in the studio, at the suggestion of my teacher Liza Visagie, I approached it with urgency as though I were painting outdoors, as I had just days prior when we had a class outdoors. That day, there were intense dark clouds forming and the wind was picking up, and we rushed to complete our paintings before the first drops fell.

In the painting, the main focus of the composition is the broad band of grasses and shrubs in the foreground. Here, a lone grey stump creates visual interest, gently guiding the eye to the subtle hint of a path just behind and to its left. A variety of light and darker warm greens shine, gradually shifting to cooler, muted greens and greys as the landscape recedes. The horizon sits just above the mid-line of the canvas, where a clump of tall trees lines the edge, and in front of them, are hints of hidden ponds. The drama of the impending storm is conveyed through swirling, brooding clouds overhead, painted in a variety of muted blues, greys, mauve, and even soft pinks. My aim was to emulate the powerful and brooding feeling often found in a George Inness painting, capturing that moment just before the storm breaks.