Did you know you can see icebergs from the east coast of Canada?!

From Newfoundland and Labrador.

They travel down the Iceberg Alley, a section of the Atlantic Ocean.

The best time to see them? May-June.

We booked our flights!

And a friend from San Francisco booked to join us!!

To make Newfoundland an even more exciting destination for me, I learnt that the last Irish convict ship sent to the east coast of America, the Duke of Leinster, had disembarked (a nice word for it) the convicts in Bay Bulls & Petty Harbour, Newfoundland in 1789. It’s a very sad tale. The locals rounded them up with the plan to send them back, but before they could, a contagious disease they brought with them, likely Typhus/jail fever, killed more than 200 locals. Eventually, they were shipped back to London. The message was received. No more convict ships were sent to America from Ireland; they were sent to Australia instead.

You’ll remember that our ancestor, Margaret Maloney, was on one of these ships bound for Botany Bay—the Boddingtons. It left Ireland in 1793. If you’d like to read more about Margaret, here’s a link to the post.

In the 1700s & 1800s, Irish fishermen would travel to Newfoundland for the cod-fishing season; some eventually settled permanently. You can hear the old Irish accent in the Newfoundlander’s speech patterns today.

There was something incredibly peaceful about Newfoundland, a little bit like stepping back in time.

I loved learning about and tasting toutons, seeing the colourful houses, the rugged coastline, and hearing them speak. Not to mention seeing and communing with the icebergs!

But there was one thing that surprised me! The island was literally covered with huge dandelion flowers! The flowers were bigger than egg yolks! They were everywhere, on roadsides, in people’s yards, in fields, on coastal outcrops, on rocky beaches, seriously everywhere!

So so beautiful!

Dandelion Flowers (Newfoundland, Canada)

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, June 2025. Painted at Crush of Colour, St Stephens Anglican Church, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Have a wonderful day! 🌱

In the back garden of our Seatoun Cottage, we had a little wooden sculpture of two sleeping hedgehogs, a mum and a little one.

We had to leave it when we moved to Australia.

We left them snuggling under the golden delicious apple tree.

Sweet Dreams, My Angel

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, March 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Have a wonderful day! 🌱

Today’s painting is of a dandelion. As a child, to make a wish, I was taught to pick a dandelion, make my wish with eyes tightly shut, then blow on it until all the feathery seeds flew away.

I remember once, when Lil was little, we found one, and I gave it to her to make a wish. She said she didn’t want it because her wishes never come true. I asked her what she’d been wishing for. “To be a vampire,” she responded. That’s how much she loved the animated film Hotel Transylvania. She made me laugh. It still makes me smile.

For her 5th birthday, we threw her a Hotel Transylvania themed party. 🦇

A wish

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, March 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

You can no doubt tell, from my photos, that I love images with a shallow depth of field. A goal/hope/dream for me is to master that in my paintings.

Have a wonderful day! ✨

Our little cottage, by most accounts, is a plain little building.

It was originally constructed as housing for the Fort Dorset military base in the early 1900s.

White weatherboard, with standard sash windows, a square box.

In the 1980s, the owners added a kitchen, a bathroom, and a small room upstairs.

But, the amount of joy and happiness we have experienced in the little house, and how precious it is to us, it may as well be made of gold!

I gave pointillism a go.

Home

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, February 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

It might be hard to make everything out, but Lil’s trampoline is there and a some Pohutukawa trees.

Have a wonderful day! ❤️

For Mother’s Day 2019, my little girl gave me a little figurine of a mother and daughter hugging.

Words can’t really explain how much I loved it and how meaningful it was to me.

Thank you, Lillian, I’m grateful for every hug.

Nothing more treasured.

A Lillian Hug

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, February 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Also, for 2019 Mother’s Day, Anthony sent me a succulent garden. That is what you can see in the background of this painting. Thank you, Anthony!

Have the most wonderful day! 🌱

In the planning stage of our New York adventure, I asked myself what I’d most like to get out of the trip. It took but a second for my inner voice to exclaim excitedly: History! The Gilded Age!

In preparation, I devoured books on the Vanderbilts, the Astors, and New York history.

I loved learning about Wall Street, literally where a wall once stood, surrounding and protecting the early Dutch settlement.

I loved listening to Anderson Cooper read his books about the Vanderbilts (his ancestors) and the Astors.

I loved looking at the old images of the grand mansions. And dreaming about what 5th Avenue looked like back then, a sea of expansive houses styled after the most extravagant in Europe, each outdoing the next. The sound and smell of horses and carriages on the cobbled streets, the wealthy adorned in the latest fashions from across the Atlantic, all dripping with expensive accessories to demonstrate, or find, their place in society, and the excited chatter between the servants eagerly sharing the latest gossip.

I loved learning about the 400 and the New-Money, and about Alva Vanderbilt’s extravagant costume party, and seeing photos from it! This party was her successful attempt to break into the coveted world of Old-Money society.

I dotted the Gilded Age into our trip: The Morgan Library (a surviving Gilded Age mansion), a Gilded Age tour, and The Great Gatsby musical. The young adults humoured me.

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is not from the Gilded Age; it’s very new!

But the name Vanderbilt is synonymous with the Gilded Age.

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt stands at 1 Vanderbilt Ave, right next to Grand Central Station.

It has three stories of viewing/art installations that I’m sure have stolen most, if not all, of the tourist traffic that used to go to the Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock.

It was incredible. If you’re going to New York, you have to put this on your list. We went in the morning; the sun’s brilliance painted the city with bright highlights and deep shadows. Don’t forget to take your sunnies if you’re going at a similar time; the interior is full of mirrors, and it’s blindingly bright!

We were totally captivated! We could have spent longer there, but we had time allocated tickets for The Morgan Library and eventually hustled on. Luckily the library didn’t mind that we were late, they didn’t even blink at our tickets, just shuffled us in.

Lil and the Empire State Building (from SUMMIT One Vanderbilt)

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, February 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

My first attempt at a face. Thank you, Lil, for being okay with being my subject. Faces are hard! Likeness is tricky!! I learnt lots.

Have a wonderful day! ☀️

I have discovered that there is nothing more fun than exploring New York City with two young adults!

We were there in late Dec 2024/early Jan 2025, my daughter was almost 17, and my nephew almost 19.

For our New York adventure, my nephew had been tasked with a mission from Australia. He brought with him a little green duck that my brother had made, with the request to take it to Strawberry Fields for John Lennon.

Upon arriving at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, we found the beautiful Imagine mosaic, a small band playing John Lennon’s music, rays of sunlight effortlessly deflecting the chill of winter, and a quiet hush from the people milling around.

The area had a very special feeling—warmth, respect, awe, tinged with gentle sadness, and underscored with deep appreciation.

We sat for a good while, lost in our thoughts as the sun kissed our cheeks, and the music held us aloft.

We took some photos of the little duck sitting on the mosaic.

The band wrapped up, and a single guitarist picked up the torch. But with the silence and shuffle between the performers, the spell broke and we shifted in our seats.

My nephew was hesitant to leave the little duck on the mosaic, worried that someone might take him (150% guaranteed).

Instead, we decided to find a place within the acres of Strawberry Fields to leave the little duck for John.

We found a little hollow tree stump and, careful not to be seen, nestled him safely inside. We took some photos of him happily looking up at us, and then, saying our goodbyes, carefully covered him with autumn leaves.

Bye, little green duck!

Thank you for sending us to Strawberry Fields, Thorin! 💚

A Gift for John Lennon

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, January 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Have a wonderful day! 🌱

Lil has a memory of us dancing on our (solid recycled rimu) dining table in Seatoun, New Zealand.

Ha ha, I have memories of her dancing on the table!

I do remember the feeling, though, intense joy! The feeling that almost involuntarily makes you want to dance, and is so powerful that it makes you want to dance on the highest thing in the room! Some people experience this feeling when they are drunk. 😂

That’s what this painting means to me.

Dancing on top of the world with my daughter.

If creating a playlist of songs for this painting, I’d pop these two on it:

Top of the World by The Carpenters—the love that I found the moment my little daughter came into my life—has put me on top of the world.

The Long And Winding Road The Beatles—will always lead me back to you. Not to mention treasuring every second of the long and winding road we’ve already been on.

On Top of the World

Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, December 2024-January 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

A different style for you today, a painting inspired by the first Australians.

Have a wonderful day! ☀️

On our arrival in Paris, a couple of days before our 2024 birthdays, we headed out to explore the 1st & 4th Arrondissements in the rain.

We found a little crepe shop, with a small seating area, usually en plein air, but today, with plastic pulled down to protect us from the rain.

My crepe? Honey and lemon. The yummiest!

Soaked and cold, we headed back to our little boutique hotel and snuggled in.

Paris in the Rain (1st Arrondissement)

Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, November 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Likeness is hard! This one potentially reminds me more of Nan than my little girl? Or one of my aunties, or cousins? 😅

Those are sunnies on Lil’s head!

Have a wonderful day! ☀️

Today’s painting is of 7-year-old Lillian, dressed up in oversized clothes, my pink gardening hat, and my pink satin high heels, checking out a Seatoun sunset from the back French doors of our little cottage in Seatoun, Wellington, New Zealand.

Our beloved Seatoun cottage.

Those memories are intertwined in our hearts.

Seatoun Sunset (Lillian aged 7yo)

Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, July-Oct 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Have a wonderful day! 🌱