Capitol Hill Dawn

Capitol Hill Dawn - September, 2011
Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48"

I'm an early riser and my favourite time is that calm period just after the sun rises. There's a stillness in the early morning and the optimism of a new day that is still full of potential. Or maybe I've become misanthropic as I've gotten older, so I like the world best when there are fewer people awake in it.

This painting shows a lovely late-spring morning when Burrard Inlet is calm - see, there's only one freighter waiting to load - and the commuters haven't started bustling yet. There's a green and yellow shade to the water from reflected sunlight and new growth. The distortion on the Ironworkers and train bridges are similar to the earlier, bluer version of the painting but I wanted to focus more that special luminescent morning light that the early riser Vancouverites are privileged to behold.