I live in Port Stanley, a charming lakeside village in Ontario Canada with a booming tourist trade. This village also has a story. Over many paintings I've attempted to tell a bit of that story. From my 'Port Stanley Collection' paintings to this 'Horizons' Collection.

Port Stanley is full of memory (this port has been active since the 1800's). Newcomers might not know the history of the place that's buried just beneath the sand, a testament to the glamorous Stork Club era and contrasting industrial coal and commercial fishing activities.

Over the years the sand blows through and wipes the slate clean.

Each time I go to the beach I feel the same thrill as I always do, but each time things are different... the sand dunes have moved... there is a path to a cottage that wasn't there before... the waves have washed something new ashore.

I love it when I get the whole beach to myself... to listen to the pounding of the surf and the staccato call of the seagulls, feeling the wind on my face as it also moves the water into waves and pushes the clouds in the sky.

The summer season sets a stage, folks come from afar and inhabit our village and the locals put on the 'play', but then the tourists leave and the stage is quiet and returned to the locals and seagulls. These paintings take place when the tourist season is over but summer has not completely released her grasp.

It was a joy and a challenge to create these artworks, I hope you enjoy them!!