#2248 "Grande Chute Foggy Sunrise"

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS ) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019 started on Wednesday July 31st. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society. The climate is changing faster than meteorologists ever thought possible. The ice caps are collapsing and sea levels rising. Forests ecosystems are being clear-cut for profit while pest and climate change threats make them susceptible for uncontrollable fires. The assaults on wilderness appear to be ramping up and not down.

The remaining nature corridors are becoming more fragmented as land is viewed as a simple commodity for profit instead of an ecosystem. The local north-south nature corridor known as the Algonquin to Adirondacks or A2A corridor needs our help before it is too late. As we are witnessing daily in the news, what took nature hundreds of thousands of years to create can be destroyed in a heart beat. This and much more are the concerns of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

DRAW 2019 was like a prolonged forest bath interspersed with real swims in the currents of the Dumoine. This was my third year of participation. My routine was to start painting before 7 am and not stop until 6 pm. The midday period of flat lightning was spent swimming as were some periods between paintings. It is important to enjoy and record the beauty of a place before it is gone.

Mark, Bonnie and I were up at 6 am for an early start to CPAWS-DRAW 2019 (You gotta love those acronyms). The fog was really thick. We drove to the Grande Chute after a quick coffee and a couple of slices of toast. I was painting on the Dumoine by 6:30 am.

I went to the same ledge where I painted in 2017 and captured #1959 "Morning on the Grande Chute". The fog was so thick that I decided to look more across the valley than down the canyon. The August sun was quick to turn the fog into mist. The fog will be mist (humour intended). The fog, mist and water were all swirling in the shafts of sunlight. The sounds, colours and lighting were as turbulent as the current. The painting may look abstract but it captured the feel of the place without trying to polish the brush strokes.

I had my Wingman on to protect me from the biting bugs. My dragonfly friend really worked. The deer flies certainly backed off even though the mosquitoes sometimes still drew blood. 

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