I suppose as a British Columbian I'm a little biased, but while I've travelled abroad a lot and adore many non-Canadian destinations, Vancouver Island/the Gulf Islands have some of the most beautiful wilderness I've seen (great for painting landscapes).
I was all ready to say somewhere like Paris, but honestly I think you would like very gay-friendly Victoria, BC as your city base, which would then let you explore Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. I suppose as a British Columbian I'm a little biased, but while I've travelled abroad a lot and adore many non-Canadian destinations, Vancouver Island/the Gulf Islands have some of the most beautiful wilderness I've seen (great for painting landscapes). And, as a city, Victoria is very walkable--there are lots of good local history walking tours--and it's a government town so there are quite a few cool museums.