#0286 "Main and Park - Newmarket"

From the autumn of 1990.

This is the view looking northwest toward the corner of Main Street and Park in Newmarket on November 18th, 1990. It was a clear and cold Sunday morning at about 11:15 am. The family was at the craft show at the Newmarket Community Centre. I went walking instead.

I was touched by this quiet nostalgic scene with the couple walking hand in hand on a Sunday stroll. The Christmas decoration on the lamp post in front of the Post Office hinted that the Christmas celebrations were about to start. The streets were clean and small town Ontario seemed safe, secure and serene. The line up of newspaper boxes along with the Bell telephone booth were tokens of a slower pace of life that seemed threatened by the hustle and bustle of the expanding city to the south.

I was attracted to the different colours of blue in the sky and the reflected light in the windows. These blues contrasted with the warm colours of the brick and the red of the Canadian flag. It is vital to get the colours right. It is even more important to reflect on how light plays off the various surfaces depending on how they are oriented to the light.

As I was painting this I realized that I was being watched carefully by Mickey Mouse who must have been the weekend cleaner at the Post Office. There are a thousand eyes watching your every move and I did not realize it until later.