I have been on a painting spree.  YAHHH.   I have done quite of few paintings with oil pastels of the flowes of the season.
Close up of these beautiful large flowers.  The tree paintins are from the Forks of the Credit Park and Rosetta McLain for the trio of Crab apple trees and forget me nots and tulips paintings.  The peonies are from Oshawa Botanical Gardens.
Click once on an image to enlarge

This slideshow is with pictures taken at the Oshawa Botanical Gardens on my birthday.  The gardens have a large selection of Peonies.  Most were still in the bud stage but there were enough in bloom to give a beautiful show.  Next week, during their Peony Festival, the Peonies should be in full bloom.   One of most favourite flowers.  Please enjoy my slide show below.

So happy I am back into painting again.  These were done within the past week as well as some portraits of fellow members at the club last Sunday.  Feels great to be back into painting.

This slideshow records the stages of painting a mural for a baby's bedroom. 

Last week I accompanied a friend of mine Jan B. on a trip to Sault Ste Marie to visit her son Geoff and grandson Lucas.
I was suffering from the shingles in almost half my head but enjoyed getting away and seeing all the beautiful scenery .  Geoff took us out everyday for different tours of the town and surrounding area.  Beautiful country.  Thanks Jan and Geoff.
I will be adding more photos every day until I finish posting a selection of photos I took.

I haven't been able to get out and enjoy all the spring blossoms due to a bad case of shingles.
I did manage to take a few pictures on my way home from the doctor's office and the last couple of days I have been trying to paint cherry blossoms to help brighten the day.

This boy with his dog look like they are ready for the new outdoor adventures that lay ahead of them.

The Cherry Blossom trees make a great background.

This is the painting I started while at High Park yesterday.  It was a perfect day to sit on a bench and paint the beautiful Sakura blossoms.  A Beautiful day n the park shared with good friends.
I added more pink today.

High Park, Toronto, ON is worth the drive to check out the beauty of spring.  The Japanese Cherry Trees are glorious this time of year.  All the pinkish white blossoms are in full bloom and stand out in contrast to the dark gnarly, knotted and twisted trucks and branches.  It's the quantity and the age of the trees that make them stand out.  
The cherry blossoms are not the only flowers in bloom in the park.   There are some of the other flowers shown below.   For the many other flowers I did not capture, the park kindly provided a large vase full of the park's fresh flowers, located by the Parkside St. entrance.   Please enjoy the slideshow below.    I will post the painting I started in the park later today or tomorrow.