Tantalus Skyline-Coast Range

I have been off from regular work the past 2 weeks and have skied, painted, connected with friends and family, and have tried to slow the clock down.

I met a friend I haven't seen for a while, someone I quite like, but our paths have not crossed for a while. That someone was me. Getting back to the brush, skiing with friends etc., has made me realize how important this journey of life is and how we have to embrace it.

I know the holiday season can be a tough one for many. Instead of thinking how little you have, whether it be money, gifts etc, think about how much you have. Friends, family, health...........they are all so important.

Tantalus Skyline was created for a long time friend who lives in Squamish BC.

Robert Krysak

THANKSGIVING CANVAS-CANADIAN ROCKIES

It's been a while since I posted on this blog. I have been focusing more on Instagram lately, but thought it time to add to this journey here.

We have friends who live part time in Banff and part time in Seattle. They invited us over the other night for US Thanksgiving dinner. She was brought up in Kentucky, and dinner was fried chicken, sweet potato with a marshmallow topping, mashed potatoes and salad. It was incredible!!

We were asked to come prepared to converse after dinner about our connection with the arts, whether it be music, painting, writing etc. Part of our discussion was to share what effect our ancestors had on our craft.

When my turn rolled around, I reached into a bag beside me and pulled out a small 8" x 10" canvas. I began sketching with a black pen, and as I did I talked about how my Dad in his youth was a musician and an artist. I also talked about my brother who used to be a potter, and now creates with watercolour.

As my pen danced across the canvas, creating an image of Mt. Rundle and the surrounding forest, I talked about my passion for art and creating. If you could open my school books from the past you would find the pages covered in sketches. Bored with the subject matter at hand, I preferred to sketch from memory things I had seen and places I had been.
I then splashed various colours on the canvas with my brush, and the painting grew before our eyes. The group was very silent.

As I painted, I talked about how, in our early years, we are all artists. As we mature, get egos and grow older, we leave our passions behind us. When I had finished and the canvas had dried, I passed the canvas around the table, so each person could step back in time to the age where it was fun to create with no expectations. One person put a skier on the side of the peak, another drew eyes looking out from the ground, another birds in the sky

When we left for home, I thanked our hosts for a special evening and sharing in creating "Thanksgiving Canvas"

Robert Krysak

The 3 "R"'s-Recycle, Recreate, Relax-Lake Minnewanka-Canadian Rockies

I've been crazy busy lately working a new job. Not a lot of time for family, friends......self. It was raining hard today, and I decided to follow the 3 "R"'s.........Recycle, Recreate and Relax.

I had a show of my work almost two years ago in Banff. At the show I had a 36"x12" canvas with a quick sketch at the top. In my vanity at the time, I wanted people to leave a note in felt pen on the canvas, telling me how good I was, how good the show was. Interesting what we feel is important at different times on this journey of life.

I tried multiple times to coat the canvas in a white gesso, hoping to cover up the signatures/best wishes and reuse the canvas. I finally gave up.....until today. With the rain pounding outside and Radio Paradise music streaming on the computer, I pulled out the canvas. After staring at it for a while, I jumped onto my computer and looked at pictures I had taken over the past few months. One immediately caught my eye. The boat docks at Lake Minnewanka with the mountains flanking on all sides.

As I put layer upon layer of paint down on the canvas, I realized some of signatures would be slightly visible. Perfect.
After a few hours, I had Recycled, Recreated and Relaxed.

Lake Minnewanka
Mixed Media
36"x12"
$425

Robert Krysak
Enjoy The Journey

Bounty of the Sea-St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia

My partner in life is on a business trip to Halifax and area in Nova Scotia. She is also spending time with the many great friends we have there. Today she sent me a photo of a local fisherman. They stopped by his boat to buy dinner, as they have some family and friends coming over tonight.

What an interesting environment, where you can go to the local wharf and have a choice of the days catch or whatever is in season. In my environment in the mountains, we go to our local store. The products there are from all over the world, and while we can pick what cuisine we want, we do not have the fresh option of the sea.

This quick sketch, Bounty of the Sea, makes me yearn for being by the water.

Enjoy the journey.

Robert Krysak

San Jose Del Cabo-Sea of Cortez

It's been very cold in the Rockies............-24c to -28c for almost 3 weeks. We were lucky enough to sneak away last week for 5 days to Cabo San Lucas on the Baha. We left Calgary in -23c and landed in Cabo to +23c......quite a contrast.

As we were only there for 4 nights, we decided to do an All Inclusive package. As much food/drink as your body can take.......the perfect fly and flop holiday. It was magical being at the Sea of Cortez again with the azure waters before us. Every day we saw whales from our 4th floor room and also from the shoreline. As the surf was very powerful and the water cool, we did not venture into the sea. We did walk along the beach, watching the whales, moms and babies, breaching 500 yards offshore.

The other magic in our trip for me was spending 5 days with my family. We barely see our son at home with his busy teenage schedule, so to spend time with him at the beach, chat on walks and conversing over meals was very special.

We are back home again, and the forecast is very cold for the next two weeks.
Buenas Noches
Robert Krysak

Memories-Canadian Rockies

It's been very cold in the Rockies the past week and a half. -27c to - 37c lows, spiking to -16c or so as a high....every day. In my spare time, other than a few quick walks etc., I have pretty much stayed indoors. It's been a great opportunity to delete files on the computer, work on ideas for future paintings, and look at old ones.

The sketch above is a quick one I did last August in Seabright, Nova Scotia. The sea was around 100 feet below our cottage. Every morning, I would make a pot of java, then gravitate out to the deck. The shoreline was always a muddle of seaweed, foam and rocks encrusted with slimy, colourful plant life. From burnt sienna to raw umber, new gamboge to yellow ochre, all the colours of my watercolour pallet were represented. As I moved my brush across the paper, seas gulls were making their raucous calls as they fought over a morsel of fish, cormorants shot across the water, flying inches above the surface, and every once in a while a seal would pop its shiny, "Mr. Clean" head out of the water.

I look forward to our next journey to Nova Scotia, to visit friends, and experience the wonderful seascape the East Coast has to offer.

Robert Krysak

Winter Wonderland, Drive with care-Canadian Rockies

I was driving to Valemount last Friday on the Ice fields Parkway. I had heard Parks was closing the road at 10 am for avalanche control, so I left Banff at 7 am. There was over a foot and a half of snow on the road, and a couple of sets of tracks. It took me 5.5 hours for what is usually a 3.5 hour drive.

Be safe out there.

Robert Krysak

Banff Snow Days-Canadian Rockies

Many years ago in Banff, in January, there was a couple of restaurants open, you might see 4-5 people on Banff Ave., and the grocery store closed at 5pm.

Fast forward to 2019. The town is alive and buzzing with visitors, bars and restaurants are open until 2 am, and Banff Ave is alive with people from all over the world. Banff Snow Days is on!

As you walk around the core of town, there are snow/ice sculptures everywhere! The artists are given a 10ft x 10ft chunk of hardened snow that they must work from. As an artist who understands the challenges of putting brush to a blank canvas, it blows me away how these artists create the works shown here. Working with chain saws, adzes, small saws and scrapers, they create these stunning works of art. The subject matter varies from historical personalities to local wildlife, each lifelike, standing before you.While my art hopefully lasts for many years on archival paper or canvas, these great works slowly expire as the sun breaks them down, and finally they are taken away by the town.

It takes a very special creator to work on a piece, putting heart and soul into something you know will be eventually destroyed.

Hats off to these very talented artists.
Hats off to my home town of Banff.

Enjoy the journey.

Robert Krysak

Top Hats on Fence Posts-Canadian Rockies

Every week I drive to the Golden Airport. I am hauling groceries for one of the CMH skiing Lodges. Alpine Helicopters has a hanger there, and we load a Bell 212 with 3,000 lbs. of groceries and send to the lodge.

Today I was driving thru Lake Louise, and I had to stop to capture an image. Lake Louise had over 100 cms. of snowfall this past week. The fence posts lining the highway each had a snowy Top Hat. As there has been no wind, the "Hats" balance perfectly on the fence posts.

Nature in all its beauty.

Robert Krysak

Happy New Year-Canadian Rockies

Happy New Year!
New Years Day is a time for reflection, and a glimpse at the past. More important, it is a step into the future. New beginnings, new opportunities, new dreams.

We have a plaque in the window in our kitchen. I often look at it but seldom really read it.
Today, the first day of a New Year, I am reading it. The ABC's of Life.
Enjoy the Journey.

Robert Krysak