"I am not a landscape painter. But I do walk to my studio every day and notice the landscape around me. I live and work in an urban-industrial neighbourhood on Vancouver's East side. While the streets are arguably some of the grittiest in the country, I'm struck sometimes by the almost rural nature of some of the spaces between buildings, along the railroad tracks, and in the alleys. The neighborhood is one of the oldest in the city, with many wood-framed houses and warehouses dating back to the early 1900s. Some pockets have been spruced up and some are falling apart. The paintings in this series are sketches of some of my favorite spots along my route." - Robi