Elvis?? Macca??? A Walk In The Park Along The Rideau Canal In Downtown Ah-Tah-Wah

Yahoooooo! Spring has sprung early. 

The tulips are arising already in Ottawa along the Rideau canal in the heart of the city.  Tulips are the stars of the annual Tulip Festival in early May.  Very often we still have much snow on the ground at this time in early April. At this rate, the tulips may already have come and gone by May Tulip Festival time .

After reading my friend Rob Bruner’s story about a recent chance encounter he and wife Judith had with Paul McCartney while on a walk in an L.A. park, I went for a walk along the canal with hope of seeing Elvis.





It was during that walk when I took the photos above and others posted in this blog entry.

Here is a link to Rob’s blog, “6 months in LA - go Big or go Home”
http://ehinla.blogspot.com/2010/03/monday-in-park-with-sir-paul.html







Hi All,

I’m posting photos of the latest painting in my series of 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas.




Detail of a 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas

by John R. Redmond

While working on this one I decided at a certain point that while I enjoyed much of what was happening in the painting, there was one big clown face that bugged me.  I liked the face but I didn’t want it the foreground lol….What to do?   I added black and gold.  This seems to have worked. I shall bare all  for your amusement and reveal Bozo further down in this posting.


Click on any image to view it enlarged.
If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay.
I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces) or use the painting images on the right side of this blog page to zoom there instantly. You can find me on Facebook, MySpace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7)





























Details of a 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas

by John R. Redmond

Details of a 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas

by John R. Redmond

After working with the painting and puzzling for a few days about how to end it, I plunged in and added some black paint. It was applied to the upper half of the canvas and on two or three lines that had already been created by previous under-painting and colour application.  I also applied a narrow band  of black at the very bottom to give it all something to stand on.  The black I applied at this stage balanced well with some dark areas in the upper third of the painting.  Those areas were created mostly with Payne's grey. I could not simply cover up what I wanted.  I had to consider the whole piece and that each bit of black went with what was already there on the canvas.  (Concept; painting all over). Once the black dried I applied a bit more gold paint in certain areas over the black. A final coat of varnish was applied over the whole canvas.


Here below is the full sized image created.




40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas

by John R. Redmond

Below are the Polaroid remains of big happy Bozo.









Here is Bozo as he appeared at a certain stage of the painting process.  He was tenacious.  I did try in various ways to eliminate him.  But always he shone through.  Away Bozo.  Back to your nether world.  He got covered up but his spirit shines.

View Full Album

40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic paintings on stretched canvas

by John R. Redmond

 For a real experience, click on the album and view as a slide show in full screen.

View Full Album

Smile, on your walk in the park you may spot Elvis or experience a chance encounter with Sir Macca. From the Big Bang onward past the Gates of Eden, life is a rich experience of the accidentally on purpose.



Enjoy your Easter Holiday weekend.

Salut until the next time,






John Redmond
Ottawa, Canada