#3033 "Loon Run Way"

#3033 "Loon Run Way"
18 X 24 (inches) oils on canvas.
Started 9 am Wednesday, July 29th, 2026. 

#3033 "Loon Run Way" 18 X 24 (inches) oils on canvas. Started 9 am Wednesday, July 29th, 2026. 

This image was taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John has a very long lens and captures images of nature that are truly inspirational. John's photographs entice me to paint within the Singleton Studio when conditions outside are not conducive to plein air. It was torrential rain outside when I started this painting ...

John captured a familiar yet unfamiliar sight of a loon slapping its feet and racing across the water, flapping its wings to gain enough airspeed for lift-off. The details of movement and the spray of water are something we only witness as a blur. John's camera reveals details that can typically only be imagined. His image would allow the interpretation into oils. 

A loon needs a water runway of 90 to 1,300 feet (up to 0.4 km) to get airborne. Loons have heavy, solid bones and legs placed far back on their bodies. Loons were built for the water, and getting into the air takes a lot of effort. A strong headwind will shorten the required distance. In contrast, a tailwind stretches the runway to the quarter-mile maximum. Imagine running a quarter mile across a water surface and not achieving the air speed required for lift-off. Any loon who has done that would be exhausted and probably wait for a headwind. 

Thankfully, loons are not crazy in spite of that common misconception and the song by John Prine. Loons must understand atmospheric conditions. As a result, most takeoffs require a sprint of about 200 to 600 feet across open water.

The bottom line is that loons need an air speed of roughly 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) for lift-off. That might be achieved by just strolling across the water with a near-vertical takeoff into a 25 mph headwind. A running speed of 25 mph is pretty fast! Those loony legs were really flailing! 

Consider that a typical untrained adult jogs at about 6 mph (10 km/h), while a fit recreational runner sustains 8 mph (13 km/h). Runners can do short sprints reaching 20 mph (32 km/h). If the loon facts are accurate, then this is another reason to be very impressed by these birds. 

Of course, lift-off is not just achieved by running! The wings provide some lift at lower air speeds, raising the loons above the water's resistance. The propulsion provided by the wildly spinning legs then just required to incrementally add to forward motion. The splashes from the webbed feet on the water's surface grow further apart. Wings take over the effort of getting airborne, and the loon flies! I can imagine a smile on the loon's beak every time it transitions from a graceful, synchronized swimmer to a speedy flier, having overcome the gravity of the situation. 

Interesting Facts:

• The loon swallows most of its prey underwater. The loon has sharp, rearward-pointing projections on the roof of its mouth and tongue that keep a firm hold on fish.
• Loons' legs are placed far back on their bodies, allowing efficient swimming but only awkward movement on land. Loons only go ashore to mate and incubate eggs. 
• Loons are agile swimmers, but they move pretty fast in the air, too. Migrating loons can fly at more than 70 mph.
• A loon family eat a lot of fish. Biologists estimate that loon parents and their 2 chicks can eat about a half-ton of fish over 15 weeks - the typical duration of their time together.
• Loons can quickly blow air out of their lungs and flatten their feathers to expel air within their plumage, so they can dive quickly and swim fast underwater. Once below the surface, the loon’s heart slows down to conserve oxygen.
• Migrating loons occasionally land on wet highways or parking lots, mistaking them for rivers and lakes. They become stranded without a considerable amount of open water for a long takeoff. A loon may also get stranded on a pond that is too small.
• The loon is flightless for a few weeks after moulting all of its wing feathers at the same time in midwinter.
• Juvenile loons are on their own when their parents leave after 3 months of nurturing. The juveniles gather into flocks on northern lakes and make their own journey south a few weeks later. Once the juveniles reach coastal waters on the ocean, they stay there for the next two years. In the third year, young loons return north. On average, loons are six years old when they start breeding.
• The oldest recorded loon was a female, and at least 29 years and 10 months old when she was spotted in Michigan in 2016 and identified by her band. 

I was reminded by the efforts of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891), a wealthy and meticulous French academic painter who was famous for detailed paintings of Napoleon and military sieges. Meissonier was also obsessed with capturing the exact mechanics of equine movement. Meissonier built a private trolley track on his estate. He placed a cart or rolling sofa on the rails and had servants pull him at the same speed as a horse galloping parallel to him. This allowed Meissonier to sketch the legs in motion from a steady perspective. He never got it right. 

Eadweard Muybridge developed high-speed stop-action photography in 1877 with a fast shutter to capture a single horse in motion. In 1881, Muybridge visited Paris and projected his famous high-speed sequential photos of a galloping horse (Sallie Gardner at a Gallop) inside Meissonier's home. 

Upon seeing the photographic proof that a horse actually bunches its hooves under its belly when all four feet leave the ground, Meissonier apparently wept with a mix of astonishment and disappointment. His lifelong, highly engineered observations had missed the truth. He immediately began adjusting his subsequent masterworks to match reality. A genius learns from science and turns it into art. But I digress...

Here are just a few of the steps in achieving loon lift-off... 

I have painted loons before. 

• See #1368 "Loon Lunch",
• , #1369 "Singleton Loon", 
• #2739 "Loons Next Generation", 
• #2862 "Pensive Loon"  and 
• #2863 "Post-preening Loon".  

There are others that do not have loon in the title. For example, #0158 "Bass Lake, Restoule" features a pair of loons from a canoe trip. 

They are a favourite bird, and we have maintained a loon nesting platform at Singleton since 2006 - continuing the remarkable efforts of my friend Jim J. I hope there is someone to continue this project when we can no longer continue. We are all part of nature and need to assist one another. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3032 "Killbear Lighthouse Smoky Sunrise"

#3032 "Killbear Lighthouse Smoky Sunrise"
11 X 14 (inches) oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Saturday, July 25th, 2026 

My friend Cam was cruising at sunrise on Friday, July 24th, 2026. Cam knows what I enjoy interpreting in oils and is always on the lookout for me. I use his suggestions for Studio paintings when conditions encourage me to stay inside. It would be impossible to paint those scenes on location as well. The water would be much too deep for my field easel. 

This inspiration is from 6:27 am in front of Lighthouse Point, Killbear. The sunrise occurred about a half hour before at 5:55 am EDT and at an angle of 60° toward the northeast. I would have loved to be there in person with nothing between my eyes and the sunrise light. It is easier to just stay home. 

The city of Parry Sound was just 10 kilometres to the east as the bird flies or the canoe paddles. By road, the distance to the city was 40 kilometres away via ON-559 E and Highway 400. I prefer the paddle approach to the "Big Smoke".

Smoke from wildfires in the Rockies and the Boreal forest was casting an unrealistic and ominous hue on the sunrise light. Wildfires were burning all across North America and, in fact, the world. That should come as no surprise. Meteorologists and climatologists have been sounding that alarm for decades. The following summarizes the situation while I painted at the Studio easel that my Dad made. 

Canada, and especially the higher latitudes, are warming than the global average. The polar regions are heating up at 4 times the global rate for solid, scientific reasons.  

As a direct result, Canada's forests are drying out rapidly. The rising temperature has a direct impact on this dehydration. A one-degree Celsius increase in air temperature increases the atmospheric water-holding capacity by about 7%.  Deep organic soil layers are added to the dried surface litter to become flammable fuel, easily ignited by frequent lightning strikes. The amount of fuel for wildfires escalates with the heat. 

Climate warming has also reduced the winter snowpacks and led to hotter summers, encouraging insect infestations. The resulting severe environmental stress weakens trees, triggers widespread diebacks, and fuels massive, fast-spreading wildfires across the boreal landscape. Pyrogenetic tornadoes, sometimes referred to as “fire whirls”, “fire devils”, or “firenadoes”, are now common. 

Damaged and burned forests shift from absorbing carbon to releasing massive amounts into the atmosphere. One of many tipping points that need immediate attention for the health of the planet.

If you wish to learn more and even be entertained at the same time, I highly recommend John Vaillant's book "Fire Weather". It is a textbook on the science and sociological aspects of climate change disguised as an action tale about the Fort McMurray wildfire in the middle of the Alberta oilsands.

Wildfires are not just a North American concern but are happening around the Globe. Europe is on fire as well! Visit https://firemap.live/ for more details, including the dire news in the southern hemisphere. Australia typically suffers greatly increased bushfires during El Niño years. This does not bode well given the current "Super" El Niño, which will impact the Earth for the next year or two. 2027 will be the warmest year on record when all of the observations have been tallied.

The planet has leaped across the "OnePointFive-Celsius" climate line in the sand. To refresh our memory, a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1850s pre-industrial levels was set by the Paris Agreement of November 2016 as a critical defence limit required to prevent the worst effects of global climate change. Warming in excess of 1.5 degrees Celsius would trigger severe heatwaves, major sea-level rises, widespread ecosystem losses and more. Sounds like the world news from today... and tomorrow. 

That critical 1.5 degrees Celsius limit was jumped like a wildfire, ignoring the nonflammable material gap, meant as a firebreak intended to stop the progress of the flames. Humans have propelled the Earth full steam ahead in the Petrocene. 

If you only have time to read 25 pages, try Chapter 20 of John Vaillant's book "Fire Weather". These few pages summarize the science, corporate greed and pitiful, pandering politicians seeking ever more profit and power.'

The colours in the Killbear sunrise are intended to be a bit shocking. Humans should be shocked, if not incensed, at what we are doing to the only planet we will ever know. Star Trek is fiction, and this little blue planet is our reality. The colours are real and the direct result of humans, greedily wanting more. There is nothing natural about the climate crisis. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3031 "Great Blue Rookery"

#3031 "Great Blue Rookery"
36 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:00 am Monday, July 20th, 2026

Great Blue Herons and their antics are the stars of the Singleton Sanctuary. A "Big Daddy" Great Blue Heron was on the rocky point when we first visited the location of our future home in the autumn of 2006. Big Daddy lingered while I strolled down to Jim Day Rapids. That memory has been indelibly placed in our brains. 

A blue heron rookery is a communal breeding colony where great blue herons gather to build nests, court, and raise their chicks. These active, sometimes noisy sites are typically located in the tops of tall trees near wetlands to protect the gangly young from predators like raccoons. Apparently, what I called a rookery in the title is more properly called a "heronry".

Key Characteristics of a Rookery

• Colony Size: Rookeries can host anywhere from 50 to over 500 nesting pairs.
• Nesting: Females weave platforms made of sticks that males deliver. 
• Over time, these nests can grow to massive sizes spanning up to 4 feet across.
• Breeding Season: Mating begins in late winter to early spring.
• Females lay 2 to 6 pale blue eggs, and it takes about a month for them to hatch. The chicks fledge and leave the nest after about two months.
• Protection: Because herons rely on these same nesting grounds year after year, human disturbance is the leading cause of nest failure. Wildlife experts recommend staying at least 1,000 feet away from an active rookery to avoid causing the birds to abandon their nests.

Great Blue Herons live in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. They also forage in grasslands and agricultural fields, where they stalk frogs and mammals. Most breeding colonies are located within a few miles of feeding areas, often in isolated swamps or on islands, and near lakes and ponds bordered by forests. 

Great Blue Herons eat nearly anything within striking distance, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other birds. They grab smaller prey in their strong mandibles or use their dagger-like bills to impale larger fish, often shaking them to break or relax the sharp spines before gulping them down. I have seen them dine on chipmunks... 

Nearly 70% of great blue herons die before they reach one year of age. Starvation, severe weather, and predators like raccoons, crows, and hawks threaten the young chicks and eggs. Birds that survive the first year reach breeding age at about two years old. 

The average lifespan of a great blue heron is about 15 years in the wild, with a maximum recorded age of roughly 25 years. Big Daddy, whom we saw in 2006, might still be with us!

This backlit image was taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John has a very long lens and is very empathetic to nature. I am certain that he did not cause these herons any distress. A couple of the young herons were looking at John, and I painted them that way. 

John provides a tremendous source of inspiration that encourages me to paint within the Singleton Studio when conditions outside are not conducive to plein air. It was a very hot and smoky week in mid-July. Conditions outside were quite bad for your health. 

Breathing wildfire smoke is frequently compared to smoking cigarettes because both contain hazardous fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter that penetrates the lungs and bloodstream. Health experts use the PM 2.5 concentration to convert air quality into cigarette equivalents:

• Moderate to Unhealthy Air (AQI 100-150): Breathing this air outdoors for a full day is equal to smoking about 7 to 9 cigarettes.
• Severe Spikes (AQI 150-200): During intense wildfire plumes, this equivalence can quickly rise to smoking 10 to 12 cigarettes or more.

One can imagine what "Very Unhealthy" and "Hazardous" Air Quality might mean for your health! Toronto had the worst air quality on the planet during this event. Not something to be proud of. 

Smoke like the weather does not care about international borders. Wildfires throughout the Boreal forest and the Rocky Mountains disperse their smoke with the wind that happens to be blowing. While the chemical profiles differ, experts note that wildfire smoke can arguably be more dangerous than a cigarette because it lacks a filter and affects everyone indiscriminately. I highly recommend John Vaillant's "Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast" (2023) if you would like to learn more. I have never smoked a cigarette and was not about to start now.

On a positive note, the smoke encouraged me to tackle this very fun subject. Painting nature while at the easel my Dad made always brings back some wonderful memories. The atmospheric background was actually suggested in the photo, but I witnessed the same sky on the evening of Thursday, July 23rd. That thin cirrostratus sunset sky was brightly backlit. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3030 "Clouds Framing Harold’s Point"

#3030 "Clouds Framing Harold’s Point"  
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 11:00 am Thursday, July 16th, 2026

These photos were taken by my good friend Cam, whom I have known since 1985 when we moved to Schomberg, Ontario - right after the May 31st Barrie Tornado. One of the tornadoes along the cold front passed a couple of kilometres north of the home we had just purchased on Western Avenue. It was a stressful time, but everything worked out well with good neighbours. 

Cam knows exactly what I like to paint! Windswept trees bend over rugged, pink-hued rocks along a shoreline, reflected in the water below. Bold strokes and vibrant colours can inspire a dynamic and lively scene. 

I have walked and painted those rocks many times, and unlike me, they never get old. The following are most of Harold's Rock paintings:

#2002 "Killbear Flagged Pines at Sunset", #2528 "Harold's Point at Killbear", #2534 "Sunrise on the Killbear Jumping Rocks", #2535 "Sunrise on Killbear Light", #2536 "Killbear Cirrus Sunrise", #2914 "Harold's Flag over Killbear" and #3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock". There might be others... 

"A Boy and His Dream"

The weather is prominent in this painting with the low horizon. I once met James Lumbers in the Wild Wings Gallery in Schomberg in the 1990s. Lumbers' paintings are distinctly Canadian and quite memorable (see "A Boy and His Dream" right). I had some skyscapes in the gallery at the time. James realized that I was a meteorologist and quickly determined that I should concentrate on the weather. My portfolio is full of a very wide range of subject matter that defies classification. “Write what you know” is usually attributed to Mark Twain, but the phrase can be easily morphed into painting. Appropriately, James resides on Georgian Bay, and I still interpret a lot of skyscapes, but many things catch my attention and my brush. 

The following collage summarizes a few of the steps required to capture this skyscape, complete with altocumulus gravity waves with smaller embedded waves at right angles. This pattern reveals wind shear in the environment consistent with veering winds with height and warm air advection. There is no quiz on this material. I just wanted to paint the clouds... 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3029 "Windswept Killbear Pine"

#3029 "Windswept Killbear Pine" 
24 X 20 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Sunday, July 12th, 2026

I have painted the famous windswept white pine tree at Killbear Provincial Park before. The "flagged pine" on Sunset Point is a signature symbol of Georgian Bay.  It is highly recognizable for its unique lean, shaped by more than a century of strong, prevailing onshore westerly winds. Sometimes we all need to bend with the wind to survive. It is likely the most photographed tree in Ontario, if not Canada. I have my share of photos and paintings of that spot.

This white pine has sadly been rotting from the inside out and can no longer support its own weight. Park officials have installed braces to prop the pine in its hour of need. More importantly, this white pine has been successfully cloned by the Forest Gene Conservation Association to preserve its exact genetic line. At the moment, 30 white pine clones are being nurtured at a facility in Kemptville, Ontario, for future planting in the park.

The Anishinabek called this area Mukwa Nayosh, which translates exactly as "Bear Point". Black Bears traditionally swim from the mainland shores to nearby islands.  An 1866 township map labels the currently identified "Lighthouse Point" as "Kill Bear Point" following a highly publicized event. Apparently, a legendary tale relates that a logging crew had a fatal or dramatic interaction in which a logger killed a bear, or a bear killed a logger, at that specific point on the land. European settlers gradually morphed "Kill Bear Point" into "Killbear Point".  Hmmm... I much prefer "Bear Point". 

Painting #2288 "Parry Island Canine Cove Cabin"

I have painted near black bears in the area. They leave me alone, and I certainly do not bother them. I once got a picture of one nearby while en plein air. The young bear strolled onto the dock where I was painting and then ambled off when he saw me with my brush. 

My friend Cam provided this inspiration. He knows exactly what I like to paint when I can't get to visit Georgian Bay and paint on location. Thankfully, I know the area well and have many memories from years of exploring that shoreline. 

In late summer of 2017, I was fortunate to be on a tour of Ontario Provincial Parks presenting "Tom Thomson Was a Weatherman". Killbear Provincial Park was one of my favourite stops! 

The summer staff were terrific and very energetic, but the younger generation does not know the Tom Thomson story. Killbear staff actually thought that Tom himself was going to deliver that presentation. I tried to spread the word, but maybe it is time to just move on and accept change.

The windswept white pine is barely discernible in this skyscape composition. The star of the canvas is the tall towers of the cumulonimbus clouds sparked by the lake breeze convergence line just inland from the shore. These towers could easily produce lightning. I think the clouds are really beautiful, albeit potentially life-threatening. 

Tom Thomson and some of the members of the future Group of Seven painted in the Parry Sound area in 1914. 

The goal was to preserve the energy in those clouds and the pines within the brushstrokes on the canvas. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles"

#3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles"
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 9:30 am Saturday, July 11th, 2026

My friend Cam was prowling around the many beautiful locations on Georgian Bay. He is always looking for inspiration for my paintings. Cam knows exactly what inspires me. Windswept trees bend over rugged, pink-hued rocks along a shoreline, reflected in the water below, with a lot of clouds in the sky.  

In this case, every element is interesting. Cam had me with the flagged trees, lighthouse and the thunderstorms. I could not resist. The meteorology along the lake breeze front is always dynamic. The lake breeze convergence zone was one of my favourite forecast tools. 

Cumulonimbus clouds were developing on that convergence line, making this a skyscape versus a lighthouse painting. The towers were twisting and tilting inland as they developed. The pines were heavily flagged by the prevailing, onshore southwesterly winds. 

The goals on this canvas were to loosen up my brushwork and to make those convective cells three-dimensional as they billow out of the canvas toward the observer. The convective towers reminded me of castles in the sky. 

The Georgian Bay Snug Harbour is historic! It is a beautiful waterfront enclave about 20 km west of Parry Sound. It is renowned for its weathered boathouses, the historic Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse, and ideal access to the 30,000 Islands.

Built in 1893, the Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse is a one-and-a-half storey dwelling with a tapered tower rising from the centre of its roof. It became operational within a year, in 1894. Located at the southern tip of Snug Island and directly west of Snug Harbour in Georgian Bay, the lighthouse is ideally situated to direct marine traffic into Snug Harbour or onto Parry Sound. The combined dwelling and tower achieve a height of 14 metres (45 feet) from base to vane. The Snug Harbour Front Range Lighthouse is located on the nearby Walton Island. There are three related buildings on the site that contribute to the heritage character of the lighthouse: the boathouse (1920), the generator building (1920), and the storage shed (circa 1960). 

I have interpreted Snug Harbour before in #2311 "Snug Harbour Range Rear Lighthouse", #2312 "Snug Harbour", #2316 "Outbound from Snug Harbour", #2556 "Snug Island Canoe Channel" and perhaps more where "Snug" does not appear in the title. Tom Thomson and some artist friends who would form the Group of Seven in May 1920 painted in the area around 1914.

The following summarizes some of the steps taken in #3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles". There was a lot of energy in the atmosphere. I wanted that to come through in the brushwork. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather"

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather"
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Tuesday, July 7th, 2026  

The heavily flagged tree on Charlton Lake, photographed by Richard McKenzie, caught my eye. A friend saw the image on a Facebook post and forwarded the link. The granite point and thunderstorm background really appealed to me. I reached out to Richard to inquire if I might use his photo for inspiration. Singleton was in the middle of an oppressive heat wave with high UV values and smoke from Boreal infernos. Any outside activity was discouraged given the Climate Crisis conditions. 

Richard responded: "Please do. I would ask for photo credit if it is for sale." Technically, all of my art is for sale, but I am very low-key about my art. Sales of my art have not gone viral yet.... Respect is my main request. I responded: "Absolutely. I will credit you in the blog as well, Richard. I want to tell the story behind the weather… and include your memories of that afternoon. I was a meteorologist for Environment Canada in my previous life. Now I paint… mostly just for me as I attempt to learn and get better." 

The painting is a skyscape for me, although that flagged tree is prominent. I charged right into the composition with a big brush and lots of oil. The toppled pine was taken away. The distant shore was made even more distant. The clouds and weather were the subject. 

An artist friend asked how I might modify the inspiration. The following graphic summarizes those thoughts. One never really knows if they will work for better or worse. After a week,  I was in danger of over-working the oils... so I stopped.The science within the image was included in the composition. The cloud bases of convective clouds must be at the LCL (lifted condensation level) for the air mass. Those bases are at a uniform height above the ground and are quite flat. Ragged pieces of SCUD (Scattered Cumulus Under Deck) can form at any level in the turbulent flow associated with cumulonimbus (thunderstorms) and cold fronts. Typically, SCUD is formed when rain-moistened air is lifted again to condensation, at levels below the LCL. It was a wild sky full of energy! I wanted to conserve that energy in the bold strokes of oil. 

Now for some explanatory science. In the Northern Hemisphere, thunderstorms generally move west to east with the prevailing jet stream. Except when they don't. The line of thunderstorms that Richard witnessed was moving from the north, probably along a cold front. The individual thunderstorms were tracking toward the southeast after being triggered by the front. Without real data, that is only a best-guess conjecture. The following illustrated graphics will save a lot of words. 

This first graphic details the viewing angles of thunderstorms and their motion relative to your viewing location. 

The next graphic is cobbled together, the best I can, being retired, from a supercell thunderstorm example. It depicts how the supercell might look from the north, the safe side of that very dangerous cumulonimbus. 

With this groundwork, we can better comprehend the thunderstorms that Richard McKenzie witnessed. 

With this information, the following graphic labels and explains the features in Richard's photograph.

Richard McKenzie tells the tale perfectly related in his Facebook Post: 

"For several times now, we have paddled to the end of Charlton Lake looking for the old pine tree that Franklin Carmichael used as inspiration for his painting, "Twisted Pine". We have been assured that we were in the right location but have yet to discover it. There are actual photographs of this elusive tree, but the latest that I have seen is 20 years old. I would be interested if anyone has a more recent picture. Anyway, on the return paddle, the sky darkened as storm clouds were threatening. We were paddling quite quickly, trying to outpace the potential downpour, but when I caught a glimpse of a bent-over, windswept pine with the ominous cloud backdrop, I had to yell back to the captain to slow down and pull over so I could compose another picture. Fortunately, I have a very cooperative skipper. We may not have succeeded in our original quest, but occasionally, other things appear that are just as interesting. Maybe more so. A few shots and then we were back to the task at hand... "Racing the storm". I guess the years of practice with my experienced shipmate must have paid off, as we did manage to get back without getting wet. Lol!"

Another friend I made when I painted and presented in Willisville in 2014 now enters the story. The following is gleaned from Jon Butler's Facebook post of January 2026 regarding the "Twisted Pine", the goal of Richard's paddle to Miller Bay. Franklin Carmichael had a cabin on nearby Frood Lake.

I had unknowingly paddled right by the "Twisted Pine" in 2014. I was staying at the beautiful Charlton Lake Camp and paddled and painted around the entire area for a week.  I managed 26 paintings that week. 

The location of #3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather" is at the mouth of Miller Bay in the upper right of the above map.

Jon Butler is also a friend of Jim and Sue Waddington, who authored “Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven”, a wonderful story of their passionate travels in search of iconic painting sites visited by the Group of Seven. Jon had guided the Waddingtons to the "Twisted Pine" in July 2007. The location of the tree was high on very slippery rocks, revealing the lengths that plein air artists will go to paint something they find to be inspirational. The story of the "Bonsai Tree" starts on page 160 of Waddington's "Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven". 

Jon Butler even guided our group into Lake Grace in September 2014. Jim and Sue Waddington, Ed and Mary Bartram, and a couple of others were lucky participants. 

We exchanged books and stories. I had the "Weather of Ontario" and "The Passion of Phil the Forecaster" books to share.  

The trip to Willisville in September 2014 was a special time. I was very fortunate to meet so many fine people and to present "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" at the Charlton Lake Camp. That portion of Ontario has a rich history and is beautiful beyond belief. There are several lifetimes of paintings to be found there.

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather" brought back a lot of memories of that earlier trip to the La Cloche area.  My special thanks to Richard McKenzie for allowing me to interpret his very special image. These memories came back to me while interpreting the image Richard had to paddle back to capture. I also remembered my Dad while painting on the stretchers bars, and the easel that he crafted. 

Good times!

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock"

#3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock"
12 X 18 inches oils on canvas.
 Started 10:30 am Tuesday, June 30th, 2026

My friend Cam was cruising around on a sunny Sunday afternoon, just lovin' life! Cam knows what I enjoy interpreting in oils and is always on the lookout for me. I use his suggestions for Studio paintings when conditions encourage me to stay inside. Singleton was in the middle of an oppressive heat wave with high UV values and smoke from Boreal infernos. Any outside activity was discouraged given the Climate Crisis conditions. It would be impossible to paint those scenes on location as well without a very sturdy boat! The water would be much too deep for my field easel. 

This inspiration is from 3 pm on Sunday, June 28th, 2026. The meteorology of this particular afternoon was described already in #3024 "Cousin Islands Flags". The weather was explained in the context of looking southward to an approaching storm. This view was looking northward away from that significant system. The weather to the north on the sunny side of the deformation zone looked completely different! This highlights how important it is to scan the 360 degrees of the horizon when attempting to understand the weather. 

I suspect that the passengers on the Island Queen were thrilled with the wonderful scenery and weather. They were probably oblivious to the clouds just to their north. Those were thunderstorms triggered along the Georgian Bay lake breeze front. The air mass was very convectively unstable. 

This painting is all about the weather. Please let me interpret what I see and how I do it using some meteorology. Someday, it might save your life. Shocking but true.  

The vertical cross-sectional conceptual model above is vital for vertical motions. Satellite views and associated conceptual models are essential for deciphering the critical horizontal winds that trigger the release of convective energy. 

Thunderstorms are fascinating. Many conceptual models detail the life cycle of the various types of thunderstorms and how to predict their development and movements. 

Start the interest in weather very young.

I gave countless presentations during my career with Environment Canada. Severe convection and climate change were my favourite topics after "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman". By far the scariest talk was about the climate crisis! The Earth is currently in the verification stage of that terrifying very-long-range forecast first prepared by oil company scientists in the 1960s. See "Big carbon's strategic response to global warming, 1950-2020."  

Some of the material from those presentations was included in the "Weather of Ontario" published by Lone Pine in 2009. 

Most of my humour was edited out of the final publication. Weather is serious and becoming even more vital with climate change. One line was left in. I employ the following phrase in every presentation where it might possibly fit: 

• "Everyone wants to see a tornado before they die...
• (long pause to let the mental image of a violent tornado sink in) ... 
•                                                                     but not just before they die."

Although exciting, I never practised storm chasing. Potentially placing yourself and others in harm's way did not make sense to me. Life and health are too important and precarious to be jeopardized for a thrill. As a severe weather meteorologist, I much preferred to study severe storms via satellite and radar data, protected by hundreds if not thousands of kilometres. That data and science would then allow us to communicate what actions might be taken in the interest of safety and security. 

Every thunderstorm is potentially life-threatening. Lightning strikes occur 44 to 100 times every second. Globally, lightning claims an estimated 6,000 to 24,000 lives each year. The United States averages 20 lightning deaths per year, but with much higher lightning injuries, perhaps totalling 300. Canada typically records around 10 or fewer deaths annually. Golfers are lightning-prone! Lightning can easily hit a 9 iron!

Lightning requires cloud-top temperatures colder than -20°C - something readily determined from satellite imagery. Supercooled water droplets, carried by strong updrafts, collide with ice crystals and graupel (soft hail), driving static charge separation that transports positive charge to higher levels within the cumulonimbus. Lightning activity increases sharply when cloud-top temperatures fall colder than -55°C!

The following graphic from the Encyclopedia Britannica is a great basic summary. Note that "heat lightning" does not exist. The associated flash witnessed is just too far away to be heard - typically beyond 20 kilometres. Atmospheric temperature lapse rates, with temperatures warmer near the ground, bend sound waves away from the Earth's surface. The speed of sound in air varies directly with temperature.

The sound of thunder varies according to the orientation of the observer to the flash. If the strike is oriented perpendicular to you, expect to hear a short, loud crack explosion. If the flash is parallel to your line of sight, a long, drawn-out rumble is heard. 

30-30 Rule

• If you see lightning and count to 30 before hearing thunder, the storm is within 10 kilometres. Go inside.
• Wait time: Stay inside for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back out.
• Lightning can strike up to 16 kilometres from the rain. Blue sky overhead does not mean safe.

I loved giving weather presentations... but not as much as painting. The above material is included for those interested in the weather. My PowerPoint presentations included countless images, animations and sound effects to drive the message home. I certainly got carried away then, but also now with the story behind #3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock". But safety comes from awareness and knowledge. Perhaps this information will do some good when you least suspect it.

The thunderstorm behind the Island Queen was on the verge of producing lightning. The 30,000 Island Cruise Lines that built the Island Queen is a third-generation, family-run, Canadian business for over 50 years - starting in 1972. 

The Island Queen provides an exceptional sightseeing experience among Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands. Georgian Bay. The 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay are the largest concentration of freshwater islands in the world. The area, appropriately awarded World Biosphere Reserve status from the United Nations, is a worthy destination, especially for artists. Tom Thomson and some of his artist friends who would form the Group of Seven in 1920 spent some time there in 1914. 

Just a few of the steps required to turn the inspiration into oils follow in the collage ... 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3025 "Cousin Island with Light"

#3025 "Cousin Island with Light"
10 X 9 inches, oils on stretched canvas.
Started 12:15 pm Monday, June 29th, 2026

Trees, rocks, water and clouds comprise most of the subject matter that I enjoy painting. Each one is unique and a new challenge. There are a lot of these inspirational scenes around Parry Sound. I could spend several lifetimes in that area and never run short of material that needs to be interpreted into oils.

The meteorology of this particular painting was described already in #3024 "Cousin Islands Flags". I will focus more on the history of the area, which I find equally fascinating. 

The body of water that gives the town its name was surveyed and named by Captain Henry Bayfield in the 19th century in honour of the Arctic explorer Sir William Edward Parry. In 1857, the modern townsite was established near the Ojibwa village of Wasauksing ("shining shore") at the mouth of the Seguin River. I prefer the indigenous name for the area. The Georgian Bay area is spectacular. I paddled it a lot but not nearly enough. 

Tom Thomson and members of the Group of Seven painted in the area around 1914. Parry Sound slumped a bit in economic activity shortly after World War I, when J.R. Booth built the rival town of Depot Harbour on nearby Parry Island. An accidental fire destroyed that town on August 14, 1945.

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick