From scenery to studio: Creating a custom painting of First Passage to the West
We are excited to share our recent collaboration with Vancouver-based fine artist Gaye Adams, who recently partnered with us to produce a custom 30” x 40” oil painting featuring our train. The painting, “Mountain Passage”, illustrates our train journeying along our First Passage to the West route, near Vermillion Lakes with the iconic Mount Rundle in the background.
We wanted to develop a piece of art with someone local who had a connection to the lands we travel through, and Gaye was a perfect fit! The natural colours and tones she uses throughout her artwork complement the landscapes seen on our routes, while still being detailed enough to capture the intricacies of our train coaches and locomotives. You can explore more of Gaye’s other work here.
Beginning in April 2025, beautiful, high-quality 9” x 12” prints of the painting will be available onboard our Canadian routes so you can take a piece of the mountains home with you.
Gaye, alongside one of her oil paintings, "In the Wake of the Gale", capturing Calvert Island, BC.
Meet the Artist: Catching up with Gaye
We went behind-the-scenes with Gaye to learn a little more about her story, her career as an artist, and how she went about creating this stunning painting for us.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. How long have you been painting and what drew you to this art medium?
Gaye: I’ve been working as a professional artist for close to 40 years now, and I count myself blessed. I began as a child, filling up sketchbook after sketchbook, mostly with drawings of animals. Eventually, landscape painting began to be my focus, and most particularly the light within the landscape – the sense of atmosphere, distance, and sunlight.
I have travelled widely and often paint on location. The mountains and the seas have taken up most of the space at my easel in recent years, and I have had the privilege of painting up the BC coast, to the far end of the Great Bear Rainforest, and high up in the Bugaboos and Lake O’Hara.
My primary medium lately is oil paints, though I started with pastels and then moved into acrylic paints before finding my voice in oils.
The original inspiration and vision for the painting.
What was the process of creating the painting like? How long did it take?
Gaye: The painting was worked on over the space of about six weeks. With oil paint, layers need to dry before proceeding, so it is worked on for a session and then put aside and brought out again at the next session a few days later.
I started with a concept sketch on my iPad, and once approved, it was straight onto the canvas, working over multiple sessions. After, it took approximately two weeks for the paint to dry, then it was varnished, then another week to dry.
Gaye sketching the train into scene on her iPad from inside a GoldLeaf Service coach onboard the train.
What drew you to this project?
Gaye: When I was approached to do a painting involving the Rockies, it wasn’t hard for me to say yes. I have painted often in Banff - in fact, my work hangs in Canada House Gallery located in downtown Banff.
I have photographed and painted Mount Rundle many times, and this particular scene seemed to lend itself well, with the early autumn grasses and colours against the striking dark blue of the Rocky Mountaineer train!
What excited you most about it?
Gaye: My father worked for CNR (Canadian National Railway) his whole career and I spent a lot of time on trains in my youth, much of it travelling from BC to Alberta and back. His father was a steam locomotive engineer, so trains run in my blood.
I must say, this is the first time I have ever painted a train, but it was a good challenge and brought back some very fond memories.
Oil paintings are typically created in layers. This is the first layer of paint.
What feeling do you hope to convey through the finished piece?
Gaye: I hope this piece will convey the sense of adventure and awe that travelling the tracks through the Rockies has always brought me, while also creating a pleasing aesthetic from a viewer's perspective – the complementary colours and composition and paint handling have hopefully accomplished that. It was an honour and a pleasure to execute this painting.
The original painting is proudly displayed at our headquarters, at 980 Howe in Vancouver, BC. So, when you take a little piece of the mountains home with you, you’re truly taking a piece of Rocky Mountaineer with you too.
Find Gaye’s “Mountain Passage” prints in our onboard merchandise brochure this upcoming season, available on our three Canadian rail routes from April to October.
To see more of Gaye's fine art, including paintings, prints, workshops, and demos, visit her website here. Gaye’s work can also be viewed at the Canada House Gallery in Banff, and at Adele Campbell Fine Art in Whistler, BC.
