Grande Chute on the Dumoine is about 25 kilometres along the access road from Swisha. It is a very impressive series of ledges and falls and is definitely not canoeable. A Class 1 rapid is located at the outlet of Grande Chute. The volume of water surging down the chute in spring is such that all of these features are buried beneath the flood of water.
I painted on the very edge of a rocky outcrop that stretched out above the rapids. My view was looking southwest and downstream along the torrent. My goal was to be quickly honest to all of the tones, textures and colours of Grande Chute. The desire was that the raw energy of the current would find its way into the oils. The sound was deafening. I needed my bug suit on or the whine of the mosquitoes would have been distracting competition to the roar of the rapid. My glasses were packed safely away as I did not wish to see every little detail.
The splash of blue among the trees on the west bank of Grande Chute was really there. It was all that I could see of the tent from a group camping at the Ravine. If I had been wearing my glasses I might have been able to discern some more details but that is undesirable while painting en plein air. They packed up their gear as I painted. I would visit the Ravine and my new favourite swimming hole located there, a couple of days later. The rapids were full of motion and I try to include that kind of energy in my art as well.
Apparently the Grande Chute Bridge was threatened during the floods of 2017. The structure withstood the torrents with the waters rising to within a couple of feet below the bottom of the bridge.
The CPAWS Art Camp is an attempt through creativity to further protect the Dumoine and to enlarge the wildlife corridor. As they say "Art is long, life is short." Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65). Perhaps this art will live and inspire longer than any of the artists and make a difference in protecting this watershed and perhaps others as well.
I donated this painting to the OCT 23 CPAWS Soirée – An evening with Robert Bateman and Ian Tamblyn Public · Hosted by CPAWS Ottawa Valley - A Silent Auction of the art produced by the CPAWS Dumoine River Art Camp.
I painted on the very edge of a rocky outcrop that stretched out above the rapids. My view was looking southwest and downstream along the torrent. My goal was to be quickly honest to all of the tones, textures and colours of Grande Chute. The desire was that the raw energy of the current would find its way into the oils. The sound was deafening. I needed my bug suit on or the whine of the mosquitoes would have been distracting competition to the roar of the rapid. My glasses were packed safely away as I did not wish to see every little detail.
The splash of blue among the trees on the west bank of Grande Chute was really there. It was all that I could see of the tent from a group camping at the Ravine. If I had been wearing my glasses I might have been able to discern some more details but that is undesirable while painting en plein air. They packed up their gear as I painted. I would visit the Ravine and my new favourite swimming hole located there, a couple of days later. The rapids were full of motion and I try to include that kind of energy in my art as well.
Apparently the Grande Chute Bridge was threatened during the floods of 2017. The structure withstood the torrents with the waters rising to within a couple of feet below the bottom of the bridge.
The CPAWS Art Camp is an attempt through creativity to further protect the Dumoine and to enlarge the wildlife corridor. As they say "Art is long, life is short." Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65). Perhaps this art will live and inspire longer than any of the artists and make a difference in protecting this watershed and perhaps others as well.
I donated this painting to the OCT 23 CPAWS Soirée – An evening with Robert Bateman and Ian Tamblyn Public · Hosted by CPAWS Ottawa Valley - A Silent Auction of the art produced by the CPAWS Dumoine River Art Camp.
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