Canadian Rockies-Lynx Track

It was a beautiful Fall day in the Rockies today. My family and I were hiking up Marble Canyon in Kootenay Park, there was a bite in the air and the sky was that soft blue with the sun beaming in at a lower angle. We were hiking up thru the 2003 Kootenay burn, where thousands of trees were torched, their black, shiny remains towering above us.

We stopped by a mountain stream to have a snack and enjoy our surroundings. My son and nephew walked up the stream not far from where I was sitting, marvelling in the new ice that was forming at the waters edge. At the same time they both saw animal tracks in the ice, and asked me to come look at them. My partner in life also saw the tracks and thought they were cat like. As I got up from the log I was sitting on and moved towards the stream I stopped.........there below me, glistening in the sun atop a rock, was a paw print. After looking at it for a few moments I took a picture, and when we got home I compared the picture I took to an image in Ben Gadd's mountain journal. We had surprised a Lynx, a member of the cat family, who had probably stopped to get a drink out of the stream.

We are so fortunate to be a part of this environment and share it with so many creatures. As we were walking back down the valley heading home I stopped to reflect on where we were and what we had seen. As I looked up the mountain slopes I saw two mountain goats perched on a ridge high above the valley.

In a few months we will be skiing up this valley and it will be great to experience all the adventure the mountains bring to our world.

Nova Scotia Fog

While we were on the East Coast near Peggy's Cove we had a mixed bag as far as weather goes. One day it would be hot and sunny with the temp at 30c and the water temp at 18-20c, great for swimming. On other days, like the day I painted Nova Scotia Fog, the temp dropped to 18c and the water to 14c! There was a cool dampness over everything, and our coastal view came and went as the fog would roll in and out of the bay. Tough painting in these conditions as the paper does not want to dry and shivers were moving up and down my spine.

St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia

I just returned from a few weeks on the East Coast in Nova Scotia. It is such a varied and different landscape from where I live in the mountains. Every day we were at the waters edge, catching crabs and watching the ebb and flow of the tide. Some days were scorching hot, while others the fog would roll in and a chill would settle around your bones.

The people, food and landscape were amazing, definitely a place I could hang my hat every summer.

I created this painting while sitting on the waters edge looking out at the weathered boat houses, seagulls flying overhead and the Atlantic lapping at the shore at my feet.

Windsurfing Maui

When we were in Maui we travelled across the Island to Hookipa, the mecca of wind/kite surfing and sailing. My eight year old son Robson was in awe at how fast the sailors moved and how high they flew in the air. The next day he wanted to paint and I suggested painting somethiing he had seen on the Island.

Windsurfing Maui by Robson Krysak

Maui Lanai

We just returned from a great holiday in Maui. Our mornings began with breakfast on the lanai, then walks on the beach, time in the pool, snorkeling excursions, boogey boarding, surfing, tennis then back on the lania for dinner. It is a simple lifestyle when all you need is shorts, t-shirt and sandals. This is the view from our lanai with the palms and ocean greating us every day.

Mahalo

Calm After the Storm

It has been a while since I have posted any images/words on my blog.

Last summer my Uncle Frankie was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer. Through the Fall and into December he was hospitalized and exposed to some pretty harsh chemo treatments. On Feb. 16th, Uncle Frankie died. He was a young 59, full of love, life and spirit.

It has been hard to paint this past while, and right now my focus is on the Ride to Conquer Cancer to help raise funds to make Cancer History! I will be riding 200 kms. in June in Frankies memory.

From now until the Ride is completed at the end of June, 2011, 100% of the sales of my paintings will go to the Ride to help make Cancer History!

The brushes/paint/canvas are calling, soon I will paint again.

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of my journey.

Bob