The Dock #1 (Hotel Utopia Series) print

I lived a thousand years today, it could have taken only a moment, like counting the drops of water that make up this sweet lake. Impossible. We turned the canoe, the paddles sweeping through the black water. There in the distance was a lone chair, immaculate in its eerie silence,

white against green, reflections on the water illusions embrace.

From the first moment I set eyes on the lone chair, on a simple dock at the end of the island, I knew I had to paint it. This was certainly what the idyllic and utopian look and feel like. My son and I edged the canoe up to the dock and took a walk about the island, following a path that skirted the shoreline.

The many hints and shades of green, along with the grayish-brown trunks of spruce trees and

the white bark of the birches were a joy to behold. I remember when I was young peeling the

bark off the birches and using it to write letters home.

Utopia came to mind, a moment of sheer tranquility mixed with nostalgia before heading back

to the city. Hotel Utopia comes in many forms, oftentimes unexpected, as if a gift.