#0618 "One More Drift"

#0618 "One More Drift" 
Masonite Panel 11 x 14 inches.
Started Tuesday, March 25th, 2003.

This was one of the last times of the winter season of 2003 that I headed south to the neighbour's fence line to catch the last pockets of deep snow. This view was looking eastward across some of the fencing that had already been included in previous works. The colours of the basswood trees in the sunlight, as well as the colours in the grass and the distant cedars, caught my eye. Retreating stratocumulus hung low over the Toronto horizon. The city had not yet swallowed up Hammertown, but it was coming... 

Once again, my honey bees were flying and landing on my palette and my clothing. It was nice to hear them buzzing around me. I'm certain that it would have made some people very nervous, but these were my employees and friends. 

The family Chesapeake was with me and proceeded to tear the lower, dead branches off the pine trees and chew them down to size so that I could throw them. She spent a lot of time roaming in Jimmy Coulter's fields across the fence line. She did not disturb the cattle and was simply curious. 

This is a special place on the crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine. It is land that is worth preserving. The devious efforts of the current Conservative Provincial Government to profit from the dismantling of the "Greenbelt" are really quite criminal. The authorities have yet to put anyone in jail. 

I loved my honey bees, but could not keep them alive due to the proliferation of chemicals and diseases. There were six healthy colonies at the peak, around 2001, producing more than a thousand pounds of unbelievable honey. I used to sit quietly in the grass watching the bees come and go. Sometimes I had my film camera with me, which provided the above memories.

My friend Paul Chantree was a professional apiarist and generously guided my efforts. I learned much from Paul. He was also a knowledgeable weather enthusiast interested in preserving the safety of the community. We were very active in CANWARN. His family continues his legacy.

I compared commercial Billy Bee Honey to preparing a fine meal, but first taking that delicious spread from thousands of bee colonies and passing it through a blender before the flavours reached your palate. What a mistake that would be... so Philly Bee refused to do that to his bees. I spun out each frame separately into mason jars so that the bees' effort and specific flavours were preserved for all to enjoy.

There are many other paintings from this part of the fence line. Here is a collage of just a few of those. 

The smooth and slippery surface of  "One More Drift" was fun. A lot of oil was used. The brush strokes got a little wild. Lay it in and leave it alone was my plein air motto. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2996 "Curious Red Fox Kit"

#2996 "Curious Red Fox Kit" 
16 X 20 (inches).
 Started at 10:30 am, January 24th, 2026

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. The curious but very startled kit fox was rounding the corner of his barn to an encounter with a camera. Canvases #2993 through #2995 were very wet, so I decided to forge ahead on another canvas. It was still bitterly cold outside.

John had a fox family living on his farm and was hoping to catch the kits at play. John is seldom without his camera and long lenses. He is very conscious of not interacting with wildlife and encouraging them to be unnatural, even if they choose to live nearby. This kit had bounded playfully around the corner of the barn. The kit and John were probably equally surprised, but John managed to take a photo of a lifetime - a wide-eyed kit with a bit of a smirk during its close encounter with an alien species.  

The challenge for me was to preserve the vitality of the image on canvas. The temptation in the studio with the luxury of time and materials is to revert to photographic realism and lots of detail. I tried to use bigger brushes and keep the oils textured. This was a challenge for me... The eyes were especially intriguing, and one of the reasons why I paint. 

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora. Males are called tods or dogs, females are called vixens, and young are known as cubs or kits. 

Red fox are found around the entire Northern Hemisphere, including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus parts of North Africa. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native small and medium-sized rodents and marsupials. The red fox is included on the list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species" because of its impact on native species 

The red fox is distinguished from other, typically smaller fox species by its ability to adapt quickly to new environments. Despite its name, the red fox produces individuals with other colourings, including whitish (leucistic) and black or nearly black (melanistic) individuals. Forty-five subspecies are currently recognised which are divided into two categories: the large northern foxes and the small southern grey desert foxes of Asia and North Africa.

The eyes were the mission of this portrait... 
Even the expression on the snout was quirky.

Red foxes are usually found in pairs or small groups consisting of families, such as a mated pair and their young, or a male with several females having kinship ties. The young of the mated pair remain with their parents to assist in caring for new kits. The species primarily feeds on small rodents, though it may also target rabbits, squirrels, game birds, reptiles, invertebrates and young ungulates. Fruit and vegetable matter is also sometimes on the menu. The red fox is vulnerable to attack from larger predators, such as wolves, coyotes and large predatory birds.

The species has a long history of association with humans, having been extensively hunted as a pest and furbearer for many centuries, as well as being represented in human folklore and mythology. The red fox is one of the most important fur-bearing animals harvested for the fur trade.

The temperatures were in the minus twenties outside. The wind chills were much colder. 

I was employing two and sometimes three palettes on this painting. Keeping the oils clean was an important mission. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#0617 "Last Drift"

#0617 "Last Drift"
Masonite Panel 11 x 14 inches.
Started Monday, March 24th, 2003.

I had some time on the waning days of the winter, so the family Chesapeake and I headed south to the neighbour's fence line. The shadows across the melting snow in the deep drift to the north of the fence line were very strong and caught my eye. It was a beautiful day, and the warmth of the sun was amazing.

My painting companion busied herself digging through the grasses and chewing on sticks. There was also the green tennis ball that required retrieving. She never stopped. 

My honey bees were flying due to the spring warmth. One bee actually went down my jacket. I rescued her without mishap to either of us. The male drones would still have been in the hives so it had to be a female worker out foraging. Some bees even landed on the bright colours on my palette. 

It was a fun painting to do! The panel had been primed with a medium-light coat of raw sienna. 

I was still using my film camera, but thankfully considered, the moment was special enough to record in silver crystals. Once at a prestigious art gallery, I had an artist challenge me that the paintings I completed on location could not have been done en plein air. Oh my... surrounded by nature is where I find my greatest inspiration and joy.

The cover of a recent book I read (2025) sums up my response nicely... Physicist Richard Feynman was a character and one well worth knowing if only I had the opportunity. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2995 "Black Swallowtail Flutterby"

#2995 "Black Swallowtail Flutterby" 
12 X 16 (inches).
Started at 9:30 am Saturday, January 24th, 2026

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg. John shares his photographs with me as a source of inspiration when conditions outside are not conducive to plein air. Canvases #2993 and #2994 were still very wet, so I decided to forge ahead on another canvas. It was freezing cold (minus 30 Celsius) outside so the comfort of the Studio was very appreciated. 

I look for unusual words to keep the titles of each painting as unique as the chronological number in my portfolio. By mistake, different paintings have been assigned the same name in the past.  Doh!

Apparently, "flutterby" is the plural form of flutterbies, which is a spoonerism of butterfly. A "spoonerism" is a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect. Being quite dyslexic, this comes naturally to me. 

The name for these beautiful insects comes from the belief that butterflies were enchanted 'witches' and were renowned for eating dairy products... perhaps for the calcium? There are a lot of references to this in Dutch and German dialects. In the northern part of the Netherlands, butterflies are called 'roomzoepers', which translates into 'creamdrinkers'. "Butterfly" is directly translated to "summerbird" in Norwegian, which I find to be particularly apt. 

The Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) in John Verburg's image was feeding on a thistle plant. Butterlifes (dyslexia at wrok in the previous misspelling, but I liked it so left it unfixed) are particularly fond of thistles, which are "pollinator party hotspots". These "weeds" offer copious, high-quality food resources for both adult butterflies and their larvae. Thistles are among the most productive plants for nectar, producing more per flower head than almost any other wildflower. 

Thistles are also welcome at Singleton for these reasons. A weed is just a human prejudice against a flower growing somewhere they do not want it to flourish. People are the problem and not the flower. 

Art and science are searches for the truth. Humans, and especially politicians fueled by greed, have much to learn. I think this was a male Black Swallowtail.

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2994 "Bluebird Sanctuary"

 #2994 "Bluebird Sanctuary" 
16 X 12 (inches).
Started at 11:00 am January 22nd, 2026 

I could not resist another painting of a bluebird perched atop a mullein. This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. 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. Canvas #2993 was still very wet, so I decided to forge ahead on another blank canvas. 

I always start with the eye. Failing to get the eye absolutely perfect can doom a painting and many hours of intense effort. The drawing, colour and tone have to all work together to allow the creature to see and come alive on the canvas. The beak is important as well, and that is typically where I head after the eye is completed. 

I encourage mulleins within the Singleton Sanctuary. Birds frequently use them as perches. The bluebird will use the tallest mulleins as hunting perches. The lofty stalks provide elevated locations to scan for bugs. Once a prey is located, the bluebird swoops down for a meal. The bluebird is typically successful, although I have watched them miss and then chase their desired meal across the yard. Sometimes the bug escapes. The bluebird will take any large insect with wings to the sidewalk, where it will bash the unfortunate bug to pieces and break off all of the appendages. 

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a biennial herb commonly found in disturbed soils, known for its soft, hairy leaves and yellow flower spikes. The mullein has been traditionally used for respiratory issues. It is an expectorant for coughs, bronchitis, and asthma. It is available as teas, tinctures, and oils. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2993 "February Singleton Sunset with Underlit Stratocumulus"

 

#2993 "February Singleton Sunset with Underlit Stratocumulus"
11 X 14 (inches).
Started at 11 am, Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 

This is another look at the inspiration for #2992 "February Winter Sunset at Jim Day Rapids", only slightly shifted toward the north. Every sky painting is different, even if the weather and sky inspiration are the same. 

If you closely examine the cloud structures, there are hints of Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. The distinct curls at the top of the clouds are the result of wind shear between the two air masses. A relatively stable layer separates those two distinctly different volumes of atmosphere. The winds are stronger or in a different direction in the air above the stable layer, causing horizontal vortices to develop. Think of a large paper towel roll! You can cause that roll to spin either with a gentle push forward on the top or by pulling sheets out from the bottom... 

The following graphic details how relative wind shear across the boundary of the stable layer can create these interesting vortices. 

Otherwise, this painting is all about the colours and reflection of light. I employed two palettes to achieve just the right hues and to keep my oils clean - well, less messy than they were. The colours had to be right.

I was chasing the light. Nothing should be able to go faster than that. I will never fully catch the light, no matter how I might try. 

Consider that the speed of light, "c" is a fixed constant, always experimentally measured to be the same value regardless of the motion of the observer! Light speed must then be a direct function of the space-time lattice and some pretty heavy theoretical physics. Consider that velocity equals distance (space) divided by time, both of which, according to Einstein and observational evidence, are variable and dependent on mass. Changes in space and time as a result of mass conspire to keep "c" as a universal constant! Amazingly, Einstein linked them all through his mass-energy equivalence formula:

I preferred to understand a principle rather than follow a recipe to get to the right answer. That thought process was doable in high school. It took longer and was almost impossible to achieve at university. Sadly, I missed attending a Stan Rogers' appearance at the Queen's University Pub because I was struggling with the "why" behind some equations. I should have gone to see Stan and regretted missing seeing just a rare talent! I am not a "pub patron", but I do love music, especially of that Canadian vintage. The equation or name of something is rather meaningless if you don’t understand the underlying principles. More than a century later, there is still much to learn about Einstein's "simple" equation.

In sharp contrast to nuclear and quantum physics, understanding the atmosphere by observing the new observational platforms of radar and satellite was quite possible to achieve in the 1970s. This might explain my switch from nuclear physics to meteorology upon graduation from Queens in 1976. Securing one of the very few available positions with the then Atmospheric Environment Service was also an incentive. Any profession with a reliable salary and benefits is always in short supply. Applying human strengths of pattern recognition to radar and satellite signatures was my artistic strength and one that I made good use of for the next several decades. Life was very good and rewarding. 

I would suggest the lectures of renowned physicist Richard Philip Feynman in order to get a better handle on the truth behind nature. Feynman had a gift to be able to explain things and make even the very complex comprehensible. Feynman even employed a plastic pocket protector like me. I put coloured pencils instead of glasses in mine and used it for many years as a meteorologist. In the 1980s, meteorology was still an art as well as a science. 

There is still much discussion, however, about quantum entanglement, which might still be instantaneous even if the separation of those qubits is very large... I still read that science, but find it very heavy sledding. Mine was a good choice to leave nuclear physics to study the more tangible science of weather. The clouds are also more conducive for art. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#0611 "The Fence Line"

#0611 "The Fence Line"
Commercial canvas 16 x 20.
Sketched Tuesday, February 18th, 2003.

Another trip to the old fence line on the north side of Jimmy Coulter's farm. It is almost impossible to keep those fence posts and "T-Rails" vertical. Schomberg clay is always on the move, especially when it gets stuck to your boots and adds ten pounds to each foot. I may be exaggerating just a bit, but the clay can slow you down when there is a job to do. The glacially slow seepage of the heavy soil creeping downhill caused the fencing to tip over where the slope was most noticeable. I paint what I see...

It was an overcast day, and initially the sky was darker than the snow as in my painting. This changed as the afternoon progressed, but it is important to not chase the light. It was much milder with the temperature around minus 2. Once again, the area was marked by lots of tracks even though there had been a fresh snowfall of 8 centimetres or so in the morning. The Chesapeake added a lot of paw prints as well.

My philosophy to plein air gear is to keep it simple. This applies to everything, including the easel, the colours and the brushes. I use one of several wooden palettes constructed from reclaimed plywood and a steel field easel.  A Richeson Italian Steel Tripod Easel will last a lifetime as opposed to the cheaper knock-offs, which break when you least appreciate it. Yes, I have foolishly bought "bargains" and paid the price later. Brushes and paints all fit into a small backpack. I use the snow to hold my brushes. The goal is to just surround yourself with inspiration and not stuff. Bending down to change brushes can be considered an exercise. 

The family Chesapeake stayed with me all afternoon and busied herself by chasing the mice through the snow and grasses. She would take large bites of grass and snow and shake the blazes out of it. I don't think she caught anything. I loved her and that place. I am grateful that I snapped this image on my film camera to capture the memory. 

This is the fourth of the fence line "trilogy". I guess you can call it a "quad". I won't go back again, at least until the weather changes. 

This painting can be found somewhere in Toronto. A patron liked that fence line as much as I did. 

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2992 "February Winter Sunset at Jim Day Rapids"

#2992 "February Winter Sunset at Jim Day Rapids"
16 X 20 (inches).
Started at 10:30 am Monday, January 19th, 20026

The colours of a brilliant sunset peaked under the stratocumulus to reflect in the open water of Jim Day Rapids. I never get tired of this panorama! 

The open water in the current is essential for wildlife. Typically, 20 to 40 trumpeter swans call that home during the winter along with otters, mink, deer and transient ducks. The open water shrinks to just a few square meters when the temperatures dip into the minus thirties Celsius. The swans will then sleep on the ice with a few sentries posted to warn against potential predators. 

Those frigid temperatures are also essential for nature! A temperature of -29 °C is required to kill the larvae of the invasive spongy moth, lymantria dispar, a species native to Europe and Asia.  The moth was introduced into North America in 1869 as a potential source of silk to replace the shortage of cotton caused by the American Civil War. In 2022, the name was changed from the gypsy moth, which had been used since 1832, allegedly to be politically correct. Politics and the wars were the cause of the invasive species in the first place along with countless other problems. 

Recent severe outbreaks of the spongy moth have resulted in densities exceeding one million caterpillars per acre. Forest defoliation has been severe even at Singleton.  Climate change has contributed to longer spongy moth outbreak cycles, which typically occur every eight to twelve years. More frequent and severe environmental impacts have resulted. Forests need our assistance, and cold weather is an ally. So embrace those -29 °C temperatures. 

The open water of Jim Day Rapids after a winter cold spell...

Trumpeter swans spend a lot of time at Jim Day Rapids, even during cold outbreaks when there is not much open water. 

I use art to learn more science and vice versa. It was also fun to include our red chairs that overlook the beautiful Jim Day Rapids. Many of the world's problems, ranging from climate change to political corruption, have been decisively solved in those red chairs.

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

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"

#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"
Oils on stretched canvas, 18 X 24
Started February 14th, 1999.

My daughter, Janice, started to play hockey in the later years of high school and continued this at Trent University. The inter-mural university hockey league had only a few girls, with Janice being one of them. She played defense and although she is one of the smaller players, the other teams have learned not to be too rough, as her co-defence-man was big and very protective. 

The Trent University team she played on was called "Road Kill". The players all had nicknames based on common animals found along the sides of the roads. Janice always had a fascination with moose, perhaps stemming from the way I talk about animals or a close encounter of the moose kind I had in Alberta many years ago. Regardless, her name was "Moose" on this team, which is quite a contrast from her feminine stature. Her partner on defence used the moniker "Rigor Mortis".

The painting was based on a day of skating we had over the Christmas holidays of 1998. The ice was perfect, and Janice sat on a pine stump leaning on the south side of the marsh. The picture is looking southeast. It was a magical day, and the ice was like clear plate glass over large areas, and we could see the chunky smallmouth bass swimming underneath. The fish were very startled when we skimmed over their heads on our skates. 

View looking northwest toward the skating channel that led to the larger swamp. 

The "Hookie" in the title refers to Janice looking for almost any excuse to avoid schoolwork. In this case, the excuse was more than justified. It would have been a crime not to avail ourselves of the opportunity to skate on clear, thick ice.

#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"

That was before the days of digital photography, so I do not have anything in the way of  "in-progress" images. This painting is not yet on Fine Art America, but I may fix that omission. 

This scene was also a decade before cell phones would change the world and lifestyles. Family time spent out in nature is harder to find.

We learned a lot of lessons at Watershed Farm. It was a very special time, and I loved that place. Wonderful memories abound.

For this and much more art, the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick