#2957 "Singleton Rocky Point and Sheltered Bay"

#2957 "Singleton Rocky Point and Sheltered Bay" 
18 x 14 by 7/8 depth cradled smooth panel (inches)
Started 4:30 pm Monday, June 23rd, 2025

The canoe is the most functional and beautiful craft imaginable. Bill Mason once said: 

"I have always believed that the Canadian Wooden canoe is one of the greatest achievements of mankind." Bill continued: "When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known." Bill was quite right. 

My canoe has cherry trim, but the hull is carbon. The carbon layup by Swift Canoes only weighs about 35 pounds, which has become quite important to me. I am not forty years old anymore and never will be again. Being a meteorologist, I convinced my wife that this was my way to permanently sequester carbon out of the atmosphere. I need to purchase a lot more carbon canoes if I really want to combat global warming. 

There are a few other canoe sayings that resonate with me, and I wish to share them here with another canoe painting. 

• "Love many, trust few, but always paddle your own canoe." -American proverb
• "Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing." -Henry David Thoreau
• "Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe." – Henry David Thoreau
• "There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude and peace." -Sigurd F. Olson

And finally, my favourite... 

• “A day without canoeing probably wouldn’t kill me, but why risk it?” – Author unknown

Bill Mason also correctly claimed: "Anyone who says they like portaging is either a liar or crazy." I have done some long portages, and they were never very much fun, as I recall. 

This rocky knob on the northwest corner of Point Paradise is a favourite of mine. It was recorded en plein air along with its twin as #2481 Singleton Shagbark Hickory Point; #2482 Hickory Point in March . The Kubota tractor carried me and my gear to the painting location through deep snow on Tuesday, March 9th, 2021. It was at the height of COVID and a most enjoyable experience. There were no biting bugs and certainly no people. Just nature which nurtures us all. 

My canoe took me to the same location in April 2025. 

Inspiration can be found around every corner if we just look with a curious mind. 

‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’ – Henry David Thoreau

So I stay home, paint and look after the forests while surrounded by nature. Happiness, being useful and having empathy for all of nature and the environment is my simple quest.  Life remains good and quite productive. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick