This painting is part of my covid dog-walking series. Prior to the pandemic I would walk my dog Rigby in the ravine near my house, but it was mostly routine in nature. Until the lockdowns imposed by the pandemic, I didn’t really pay as much attention to the walks and what they had to offer me. I began to really notice my surroundings and looked forward to each walk with eagerness, as it was often the only outings available during lockdown. Both images are from different seasons, and regardless of the season the ravine walks offered me so much inspiration and meditative opportunity I truly began to appreciate my surroundings in ways I hadn’t had the time to before the pandemic. Eleanor has been painting professionally for almost 35 years. After studying fine arts at the University of Western Ontario, Eleanor worked in advertising and took evening classes at OCAD. In 2000 she and her family moved to Calgary until 2014. She now lives back in her hometown of Toronto where she paints out of her home studio alongside her dog Rigby. Eleanor has exhibited in group and solo shows in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Collingwood, London, and Miami. Her paintings have received numerous awards in many juried and non-juried shows. She is represented by several galleries across Canada and her work is found in collections around the world. Eleanor’s acrylic paintings explore a variety of subject matter. Fascinated by people and inspired to paint them in daily settings, the pandemic has also made Eleanor focus inward and on the positive. “My work is an interpretation of life from a happy point of view. My style plays with patterns and repetition of forms, it is both illustrative and impressionistic too. I am inspired by many things. Country roads, umbrellas, trees, polka dots, mass cultural objects, people, dogs, and most recently, spring flowers. Through these differing subjects, I am continually exploring unique compositions while creating bright, luminous paintings with my own unique color palette and marks.”