writely2015

“Love is like a good cake; you never know when it’s coming, but you’d better eat it when it does.” Joybell C

FullSizeRender — Ta Da. Riesling rhubarb crisp cake

“Here’s the basic difference between Morelli and me. My first thought was always of cake. His first thought was always of sex. Don’t get me wrong. I like sex…a lot. But it’s never going to replace cake.” Janet Evanovich, Eleven on Top.

Your mission Mr. Phelps:

Celebrate an adventurous (she has done Ultraman…twice) friend’s and English Channel swim team mate’s birthday by baking a worthy layer cake.
Try a bold challenge that requires piping.
Have an excuse to buy a cake turntable for decorating.
Have an excuse to buy yet another cookbook…Layered by fellow British Columbian Tessa Huff. (I came to order the book thanks to the blogosphere. Joy the Baker recommended Layered in her cookbook roundup. I’m a huge Joy fan.)
Find a recipe where you can drink wine while baking.

I accept the mission Mr. Phelps.

Ingredients for the Reisling cake:

3 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 large egg whites (I buy mine from Lucy, a neighbour with happy free run chickens)
1 1/2 cup sweet Riesling plus 1 glassful for sipping while you bake

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside

In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix on medium-high until the butter is light and fluffily, 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixer to medium-low and gradually add the vanilla and egg whites until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the Riesling, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on medium for no more than 30 seconds after the last streaks of flour are combined.

Evenly divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Let them cool on wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.

The rhubarb is from my garden but the it’s too early for my strawberries so these are Californian.

While the cakes are baking, make the rhubarb strawberry compote.

1 3/4 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 cup fresh rhubarb cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and cook over medium-high head, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the juices start to bubble. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool.

I had to make the cakes in two batches as I only have two 8-inch pans.

Make the oat crumble.

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted room temperature butter
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, flour, butter, honey, cinnamon and salt with a wooden spoon and sprinkle over the lined baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Let it cool and crumble the mixture into smaller pieces.

“A party without cake is just a meeting.” Julia Child. “With enough butter, anything is good.” Julia Child.

You will need to make two batches of this vanilla swiss meringue buttercream:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons egg whites
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 cups unsalted butter (very important that it be at room temperature or it won’t combine properly) cubed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer. Whisk them together by hand to combine. Make a double boiler by filling a medium pot filled with water over medium-high heat. Place the mixer bowl on top of the pot. The bottom of the pot should not touch the water.

Whisk intermittently and heat the egg mixture to 160F (candy thermometer) or until it is hot to the touch. Carefully fit the mixer bowl onto the stand mixer and whip with the wire attachment on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes, until it holds medium-stiff peaks. The bowl should be back to room temperature at this point. Stop the mixer and swap out the whisk attachment for the paddle.

With the mixer on low, add the cubed butter, a few tablespoons at a time then the vanilla. Once incorporated, turn up the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is silky smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.

Two more quick steps and you are ready to assemble the masterpiece.

Make the rhubarb buttercream by mixing two cups of the buttercream with 1/2 cup of the cooled rhubarb compote and mix on medium with the paddle attachment in a stand-mixer until combined. Remove from mixer and set aside in a bowl.

Add a few drops of pink gel food colouring to the remaining butter cream and mix until combined.

To assemble, level the cakes by removing any domes with a serrated knife run parallel to your work surface. Choose a sturdy layer for the bottom. Place it on a cake plate or board and spread 1 cup or half of the rhubarb buttercream with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with half of the oat crumble mixture. Top the next layer of the cake and repeat with the rhubarb buttercream and crumble. Finish with the final layer.

Frost the top and sides with the pink buttercream. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and then add another layer of icing to the top of the cake and using a petal tip, fill a pastry bag with buttercream. Starting at the top of the cake, pipe rows of ruffle swags by keeping the narrow end of the petal tip facing upward.

I added some strawberries and pansies (remove the flowers before serving)

This cake was in the adventurous cake section of Layered. Perfect my adventurous friend.

Voila. Happy Birthday lovely Charlie. We celebrated with four members of our English Channel swim relay team. Carb loading. That water will be cold right?

*“But how will I eat cake if my head is over there, and my hands are over here?”* Marie Antoinette

May 10, 2016 1

Raincouver morphs into Lotusland when the sun shines

When the sun shines on Vancouver there is no way to downplay the city’s natural beauty. No hard-bitten cynic hepped up about its high-cost of real estate can withstand the onslaught of the views of the north shore mountains, English Bay, a rain forest and the view of snow-capped Mount Baker in the sun. The cynics can go to town during a January rainy spell.

I love living in the country surrounded by nature where you can see the stars and the only ambient sounds are made by wildlife. However, a long weekend in a city packed with shopping, restaurants and entertainment is a needed adrenaline boost from time-to-time. Why not spend that long weekend in arguably the best city in the world which happens to be only a five-hour drive away?

Vancouver has great coffee and a great coffee scene. I’m in.

Our weekend centred around the West End where my daughter has recently moved from Calgary and where my brother, his wife and family live.

The West End is a champ. The neighbourhood has been named the best in the country in the annual Great Places in Canada contest. It’s known for its beaches, proximity to Stanley Park and a high-density, walkable lifestyle with treed promenades. Originally a forested wilderness, the area was purchased in 1862 by John Morton, Samuel Brighouse and William Hailstone, three men known as the Three Greenhorns because people thought they paid too much for the land. Last laugh is on them eh?

The hood became home to richest railroad families and a lot of nice architecture survives from that era including Roedde House which is now a museum. The house is haunted by two daughters named Anna that met untimely deaths…one by eating poison berries and another killed by a patient while working as a nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Roedde House where it is forbidden to say the name “Anna” out loud.

I made sure to photograph the gazebo to give The Handyman a new project.

Breakfast at the Greenhorn Espresso Cafe is the essence of the West End distilled in big, frothy cup. Named after the area’s original owners, it’s in a heritage home and offers a variety of cozy modern seating with views of the passing sidewalk scene. This hidden treasure is a two-minute walk from my daughter’s apartment and is already her new local.

My homemade granola was served with yogurt, vanilla spiced pear and seasonal fruit

After my post about Paris chocolate shops and bakeries, a trip to Ladurée’s first Canadian location was on the list.

Happily, the shop’s window resembles it’s Paris counterpart.

A modest selection of Citron, Caramel Fleur de Sel and Café macarons, at $3 each, were packaged beautifully in a keepsake box for us. The melt-in-your-mouth flavour explosions are actually made in Paris and flown to Vancouver.

It was a day made for window shopping and strolling. Spring rains and recent warm weather brought out every scented bloom in the West End.

My son’s fiancé Kate sports a living chapeau

Billed as the home of the bison burger, Timber has been “givin’er since 2015” and it’s fun uber Canadian atmosphere had us at Deaner the taxidermy beaver that sits proudly in the window.

When in Rome, or Canada as the case may be, it’s best to order the house specialty which most of our party did. In a very ungourmet way, I went comfort food with mac and cheese with house-made sriracha ketchup with smoked pork crackling served by a plaid-shirted waiter. It blew my socks off. I’m going back.

By happenstance, we ended up chef Chris Whittaker’s adjacent restaurant, Forage, for dinner.

The farm-to-table restaurant has a clean, modern look. We chose to sit outside at a relaxed picnic table set-up and were encouraged to order a variety of menu items to try and share, tapas-style. If you go, there is one must-order. Chef Whittaker’s seafood chowder, chicharron, quails egg is the bomb and its a double winner of the Chowder Chowdown at the Vancouver Aquarium. Because the chowder won, it’s “secret” recipe has been published although it looks like it would be tricky to make at home.

Forage’s award-winning seafood chowder was indescribably delicious

Chef Whittaker is a bee-keeper at home and works with small lot farmers taking his role seriously as promoting the sustainability of our food system. All well and good but we would go back because everything tasted so good, the atmosphere was the right mix of casual and the staff fun and welcoming.

Although it looks like we ate our way through our West End weekend, we had a mission. We were carbo loading for our Sunday race. A great representation of the family ran either the marathon, half-marathon or 8 km BMO Vancouver Marathon. We joined about 16,500 in the race’s 45th edition and burned off a few of those calories.

May 4, 2016 1

Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.” Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Just like Mary in her Secret Garden, I like the name and the still more the feeling that when its walls shut me in no one knows where I am. The Handyman built my walls five years ago and I’ve been planting and revising ever since. This sheltered spot is maturing nicely and is being discovered by others who see the merit of a trickling brook, pond and shelter from the wind. It’s becoming a mini bird, bee and frog sanctuary. A family of racoons and another of skunks also make frequent visits to the pond, mostly at night luckily.

Here are a few of the plants blooming today:

Gentiana acaulis

Aquilegia which I grow from seed in my greenhouse, I no longer can call them Columbines…too sad, reminds me of the poor school kids

Aquilegia viridiflora ‘Chocolate Soldier’, a rare collector’s item with seeds from **Thompson & Morgan.** It’s very fragrant.

Leopard’s Bane, the earliest-blooming of the daisies brings some colour to my pond.

Two new pink azaleas are planted outside the secret garden round gate. They will be more spectacular next year.

This little guy was was one of the first things we planted. The next photo is what it looks like today.

Shishigashira Japanese Maple has heavily curved green leaves giving an interesting texture to this compact, shrubby tree. It is spectacular in fall and its highly sculptural form will only improve with age. It will slowly reach about 15 feet tall.

Another ideal small tree, Japanese stewartia, frames the lady’s head. It gives you lovely peeling bark all season, hot fall colour and it blooms with white June-into-July flowers. It’s a distant relative of the tea family.

Another “before and after”…here is The Handyman installing the edging that will eventually form the garden paths.

Here is the same path lined with orange-scented thyme which will soon be in bloom. I grew all these thyme from seed in the greenhouse. A lot of wins here. It’s extremely fragrant with a delicious scent of balsam and oranges. The flowers are long-lasting and very pretty. It’s drought tolerant and easy to care for. On top of that it is one of the most useful herbs for the kitchen. I ordered my seeds from **seedaholic**.

Like any good secret, my garden is best revealed in instalments. I’ll post more when new blooms arrive.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.

April 27, 2016 2

Five best words in the English language: Pie is in the oven…strawberry rhubarb crumble…three other great words

Now I know it’s spring. Time to whip up a pie for The Handyman to celebrate.

I’m not the type to read the last chapter of a book first but it’s good to make an informed decision about recipes. This amazingly tart, sweet and beautifully spiced pie recipe comes from Edmonton’s the **Duchess Bake Shop** cookbook (with some minor modifications).

My rhubarb plant, like most of the rhubarb in Naramata, is an unknown heritage variety. Almost every garden has a plant that’s likely been there for years and years. I imagine mine has supplied a lot of rhubarb pies in its lifetime. I hope it’s honoured to be blogged about.

Blind-baked pie shell

For pies that have juicy fillings like rhubarb strawberry, you will need to fully bake the shell before filling it.

In my opinion the best pie crust has half butter and half shortening.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cubed cold unsalted butter
1 cup cubed cold vegetable shortening
1 tsp. salt
1 cup ice water

Either using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a food processor mix or pulse the flour, butter, shortening and salt for 10 or 15 seconds. Add the ice water and mix on medium or pulse until the dough just comes together.

Don’t overmix. You want some small lumps of fat to remain to make the dough flaky.

Shape the dough into three balls. You will only need one ball for this pie so freeze the other two for future pie baking. Wrap the dough in plastic and place in the refrigerator (and the other two in the freezer) for at least a half hour.

Roll the dough out and place in the pie shell.

Freeze the shell for at least 15 minutes at this point.

Brush the pie shell with an egg wash (1 egg white whisked with 1 tbsp cream (or milk).

Cut a circle out of parchment and fill the lined shell with dried beans, rice or pie weights.

Save the rice for your next blind baking session.

Bake the shell at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes until the edges are light golden brown. Take it out of the oven, remove the parchment and rice and poke the shell a few times with a fork. Put it back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Crumble

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

Combine all the above in a bowl and using your hands work it all together until clumps form. Set it aside.

Filling

Cut the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces. De-stem and quarter the strawberries.

3 cups rhubarb
3 cups strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp orange blossom water

Use fresh nutmeg if you have it…grating it.

To make the filling, in a saucepan, place the rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes stirring often so it doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries and orange blossom water.

Fill the shell to the rim and top with the crumb topping. Bake the pie at 375F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crumb is golden brown and filling is bubbling. I like this pie warm out of the oven but it’s good cold too.

The six best words in the English language: Pie is out of the oven. The Duchess Bake Shop cookbook is the bomb. Everything I’ve tried from it has turned out beautifully and it’s fun just to browse and drool over the photos.

April 26, 2016 0

To market, to market, to be a fat pig

It’s summer. The Penticton Farmer’s Market opened two weeks early this year and I hope it closes two weeks later. It was named “2015 Market of the Year” by the British Columbia Association of Farmers’ Markets for a reason, lots of reasons really. Here is a look at opening day of its 26th season.

Hundreds of peeps shopped for kale, tomato plants, asparagus and pickles

The market is up and running from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays

April 24, 2016 0

The most expensive raspberries in the world: Cane planting primer

With every shovel of dirt came rocks and my future pints of raspberries went up another 10 cents. “That will be $50 please…” My revelation for the week was a reminder of just how hard farming is and how much it should really be worth.

It’s not that big a box right. How hard will this be? All planted in an hour right? It turned out to be 10 hours with two more days to add additional compost and mulch. The box contains 100 Prelude raspberry canes from an Ontario grower. In behind, in the early morning rays, are some of our blueberry bushes in raised beds.

In a backwards fashion we are adding to our symphony with a second 100 raspberry canes for our Carpe Diem berry farm. Last year we planted Encore raspberries, this year Prelude. Our Encores are doing great and establishing well. We will get a medium-sized harvest this year and a much bigger one next year as they mature.

The berries on the Encore raspberries planted last year are forming up nicely.

Taken from the tree fort balcony, here is a look at part of last year’s planting.

We chose Prelude and Encore raspberries to offer our customers early and late season berries while our competitors have the more commonly harvested supply. Prelude and Encore were developed by Cornell University at the New York State Experiment Station in Geneva, New York. Prelude matures a high percentage of its fruit in late June and early July while Encore is harvested from late July to early August. Like picking paint colours, I have to admit I was also swayed by the musical names.

Raspberry cane planting primer

Site selection is key. Pick a sunny and sheltered location with well-drained soil with no chance of waterlogging or flooding, as on a slope or in raised rows. Our location is on gentle slope. Raspberries don’t like wet feet but they also have a shallow root system so must not be allowed to dry out either.
Prepare your planting holes about two feet apart in rows about six feet apart.

75 of our 100 will be planted here. Each of those 75 holes were dug by The Handyman with a pick-axe and shovel. Because we are a small operation we aren’t too mechanized.

Plant certified disease-free stock in early spring. Ours came from Strawberry Thyme Farm in Ontario and was sent to us by refrigerated courier. I tried to find a British Columbia source that could beat their price but was unable to. Prelude came early. Last year Strawberry Thyme had let us know that they were shipping the Encores but being Prelude I guess they had to come before we were ready. We had hoped to have the posts, cross bracing, wires and drip irrigation installed but…they will have to follow as the plants must go in the ground as soon as possible after they arrive as their dormancy will break and the roots could dry out.

I popped the canes into a bucket of water while I worked.

Add a shovel-full of compost to the planting hole and water in well.

Compost is king in our nutrient-poor sandy soil. I will top-dress the planting every spring as well.

Plant the crowns at the same depth as in the nursery.
Add more compost mixed in with the soil you have dug out of the hole and water in very well.

The Handyman supplies me with lots of mulch from his chipper.

Add a layer of mulch to keep the weeds at bay and to help conserve moisture. I watered again once the mulch was in place.
In a week or so I will add some Alaska Fish Fertilizer and will continue hand-watering until the canes are well established and showing signs of life or The Handyman has had time to install all the posts, wires and drip irrigation. This should wait until he runs his marathon next week as post pounding does not equal taper.

Rocks and more rocks…how much can we charge for a pint?

View of the tree fort with the last year’s Encore planting and this year’s Prelude

I will plant a drought-tolerant grass seed in between the rows to help keep the canes in their rows. The lawnmower will trim off the suckers in the grassy strips.

Prelude produces attractive, high quality, firm fruit that will taste amazing. I can’t wait although now that all the canes are in I’m starting to think about the hours of picking ahead and price of those pints.

Next up is the addition of 50 more blueberry bushes and a netting structure to protect the blueberries from the birds.

April 23, 2016 1

Going bananas on Monday: Life changing banana bread recipe

Five things make this gourmet banana bread the best ever. 1. Chocolate chunks from a high quality chocolate bar…I used Lindt. 2. Moistness in the form of sour cream or yoghurt. 3. Real butter. 4. The embedded lemony, sugary half banana slices. 5. The recipe makes two of them.

This recipe for chocolate banana bread makes the best banana bread I’ve ever tasted. It’s not bragging if it’s true. Often gourmet means hard-to-find ingredients, multiple complex steps and lots of dishes to deal with. Not so here. It’s easy to make and you won’t be sorry the recipe makes two loaves. I gave my second loaf to our coffee date pals to take home but you could easily freeze the other loaf (peel off the banana half topping first though as it won’t freeze well). If you don’t eat the other whole loaf in one day…almost impossible but…peel off the banana topping slices (and eat them) before wrapping up the leftovers for the following day.

1 cup very ripe bananas mashed with a fork (about two bananas)
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (you could get away with vanilla yogurt if that’s all you have)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs (I got mine from Lucy down the road…choose free-range if you can…caged chickens have a terrible life)
1 1/2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use the real stuff if you can)
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
6 oz. dark chocolate chopped

2 bananas, cut in half lengthwise
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar

Butter two loaf pans and line each with parchment paper, letting it hang over the sides.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a bowl, mash your bananas and combine with the sour cream or yogurt.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In a third bowl with an electric mixer (or a whisk and a lot of elbow grease), beat the butter until soft and fluffy and add the eggs one at a time until well combined and light. Then add in the brown sugar and vanilla and beat a few more minutes. Stir in the flour mixture alternating with the banana cream mixture. Do not overbeat at this point just mix until combined. With a spatula, stir in the chocolate and spread batter into the pans.

I left the chocolate quite chunky as it gives a nice chocolate surprise effect.

Place the banana halves on a plate and sprinkle with the lemon juice and sugar.

Place the banana halves on top of the batter and push them in lightly.

Bake in the 350F oven with the rack in the middle position for 45 to 50 minutes. They are done when the tops are a light golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from pan after a few minutes of cooling. I like my banana bread warm so I don’t wait for it to cool completely. Sprinkle a bit more sugar on the top.

Et voila. My French bread plate says, “Give us our daily bread.” Should have added in the word “banana”.

April 18, 2016 0

“Naramatafied”: the symbiosis of an artist and a Village

The painter needs all the talent of the poet, plus hand-eye coordination. — Robert Brault

This scene is familiar to anyone taking a drive on North Naramata Road, only “betterfied”by artist Dennis Evans.

The best description of Naramata landscape artist and potter Dennis Evans‘ painting style comes from his wife, poet and writer Patricia Evans: “The landscape has a soul and it comes right out from the canvas, to touch the viewer. Dennis uses colour, usually pastel, sometimes monochrome and at other times, complementary, sometimes large format, or sometimes small, always trying to capture the essence of the landscape. He takes a pastoral image and transforms it into a heroic one through his choice of colour. Images come easily; their sources are all around him.”

Unlike many local painters who choose bold colours, Dennis chooses to interpret “the haze of an August day feeling” using gentler pastel colours.

I paint for myself. I don’t know how to do anything else anyway. Also I have to earn my living, and occupy myself. — Francis Bacon

A life-long artist, Dennis has the good fortune or as he would interpret it, fate, to end up in a place that speaks to him. Having moved from Calgary to Naramata a decade ago, he says,” I am much more connected to the landscape here. Pretty much all my landscapes are within walking distance of the studio. I have enough inspiration in Naramata to last a lifetime.”

What’s special about Naramata? “We didn’t really know how amazing it really is until we landed here,” says Dennis. “It has an aura about it. I don’t know if it is because it’s isolated being at the end of the road as it is. It was also special to the First Nations people. They didn’t live here but came to the area for their ceremonies. It’s also home to a proportionally large number of artists, which must be for a reason, and home to an incredible concentration of unique individuals.”

“When you drive out here along Naramata Road, there is a point on the road just past Apple D’Or (lodge) where you look down toward the lake and I think it is unlike anywhere else in the world. We have done a lot of travelling and it’s the most beautiful place we have ever seen. The landscape is so varied. I see a spirit in the landscape. I now work on bringing that spirit out in my paintings,” says Dennis. I think he has succeeded brilliantly.

Born in Viking, Alberta, Dennis began his art career at the Alberta College of Art (now the Alberta College of Art and Design) in the 1960s and graduated with a major in pottery and ceramics. His first love is still a key part of his artistic life. He was firing pottery out in the garden on the day I visited the studio. “It’s still like Christmas when I open the kiln after the final firing and see what I’ve created.”

He added a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary and went onto to complete a Master’s degree from the University of Houston. Dennis turned his love of pottery into a career, becoming the production manager for a major pottery manufacturing company and later opening his own production studio called Nant Mill Pottery.

“Retiring” to Naramata in 2006, he and Patricia built a studio-workshop on Naramata’s main drag, Ronbison Avenue and loving renovated and customized their house and extensive gardens. “Artists never retire and that’s OK with me. There is no other thing I want to do. I would be a bum in the street if I hadn’t found my passion,” Dennis says.

This photo taken yesterday in early spring doesn’t do the studio and neighbouring house any justice. The garden will soon again be fully in bloom and be a welcoming, beautiful introduction to the Dennis Evans Art Studio.

Dennis pointing out some grass that stuck to the paints on his Tenth Street Bridge (Calgary) painting completed as a student in 1966. “It was so cold the day I painted this that the paint literally froze on the canvass.” This painting represents his “ah ha” moment when he and his instructors at the art college realized that painting landscapes outside was his calling versus the closeted still life work that didn’t hold his interest or showcase his blooming talents.

Dennis says he paint for himself and that means painting mainly in large formats to capture the large, sweeping views. “These larger paintings take up to four months to complete so they are relatively expensive for the clients,” he adds.

Clients don’t seem to mind. His art is gracing walls in England, Japan, the United States, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

The smaller canvases are better sellers, Dennis says, like this one featuring Arrowleaf wildflowers from the Sunflower family which are blooming all over the Valley’s hillsides at the moment. I love the contrast of the yellow with the muted greys and pastel colours.

Self-portrait of the artist, Dennis Evans

Studio Art Tour

The Dennis Evans Art Studios (680 Robinson Avenue) is part of a self-guided driving tour of seven Naramata artists called the Naramata Bench Studio Tour. Other stops on the tour include Cormier’s Studio (art gallery, sculpture garden and B&B at 495 Vancouver Avenue, Penticton), Terry Isaac Studio (gallery of internationally-renowned wildlife artist at 475 Upper Bench Road, Penticton), Wade Works Studio (Original art made with wine, prints and art cards, jewellery at 940 Aikens Loop), James Hibbert Pottery, (handcrafted pottery at 3015 Naramata Road), Shades of Linen, (see my blog post…50 shades of linen…natural fibre clothing designed by the store’s owner, 156 Robinson Avenue) and Forest Green Man Lavender Farm Shop (see my blog post…Sights and scents that will knock you sideways…Karolina’s vibrant colourful paintings and hand-crafted lavender products at 620 Boothe Road).

April 14, 2016 0

When one door closes, another opens

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. You have to think there’s a reason for everything. Alexander Graham Bell

Here is a photo essay on doors and more doors. I’ve taken so many door photos in my travels that I’ve lost track of where some of them are.

This metal door is in Stockholm with its amazing rivets

Love the door-within-a-door, wherever this one is

IMG_5326_2 — I love the colour of this modern door

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. Walt Disney

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Bognor Regis, England

One of the villages of Cinque Terre, Italy…You can just see the boat poking out from the house on the right…it was built into this house

“I’m a door-to-door salesman. I sell doors. If I can’t knock on yours, because you don’t have a door to knock on, I know you’ll be interested in what I’m selling.”
― Jarod Kintz,