New Pond Hockey Paintings
Where It Was Born: New Pond Hockey Paintings
I never grew up skating on ponds. Yes, I am Canadian, but I live on the West Coast, where winter rarely settles in long enough for ice to thicken and hold. Pond hockey belongs to another geography. But if you grew up anywhere east of British Columbia, chances are you did. A frozen pond. A backyard rink. A farmer’s flooded field.
Pond Hockey Days, c. 2021 Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in – Private Collection, Victoria Canada – Brandy Saturley
I have heard those stories countless times, gathered around backyard fire pits where Canadians trade memories of cold fingers, cracked ice, and last light games. I am also quietly obsessed with the Outdoor Hockey Club videos on YouTube. They capture something essential about skating outdoors, not just the game, but the feeling. The openness. The camaraderie. The way winter becomes a shared experience rather than something to endure.
The Prodigy, 2021 Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in – Private Collection, Montreal Canada – Brandy Saturley
Over the years, I have painted more than a few hockey paintings under my #iconiccanuck lens. Early on, my work focused on the NHL and its larger mythology. Eventually, I stepped back to where the passion for hockey is truly born: the outdoor rink. These paintings struck a different chord with Canadians, one rooted less in spectacle and more in memory, emotion, and lived experience.
Glide Away, c. 2023 Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley
In recent years, that exploration has widened to include skating without the stick. A quieter ritual. A pastime that keeps people moving, social, and connected through the long winters of the true north.
Last One Out, c. 2024 Acrylic On Canvas 24 x 30 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley
New Pond Hockey Paintings
Fast-forward to two new paintings I have just completed. Both are set on outdoor ponds in Ontario, where winter hockey feels expansive and uncontained. One painting features a solitary figure kicking a puck across unmanicured ice, with downtown Toronto and the CN Tower standing in the distance, a meeting of wilderness and city.
Toronto Winter, c. 2026 Acrylic On Canvas 30 x 30 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley
The second painting shows a group of men on an ODR, dressed in plaid shirts and jogging pants, skate laces tied around pant legs. It is unpolished, unscripted, and full of joy, the kind of winter afternoon that exists outside of time.
Pushing the Puck, c. 2026 Acrylic On Canvas 30 x 30 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley
These new works extend my ongoing visual stories about pond hockey, a tradition woven deeply into the fabric of Canada, where the game was never just played, but lived.
See more ice hockey paintings here.
