#2063 "Where Do the Rays Lead"

I happen to know where this sun lit trail leads so I did not include the appropriate question mark. I was headed southwesterly to the tip of the Long Reach Peninsula and the Fiddler’s Elbow that I have paddled through so many times. The question was rhetorical in a way as I was much more interested in where the painting would go. I was searching for subject matter with leading lines and a lot of depth that would be suitable for a large canvas. The intended canvas would cost $500 before a brush was even applied to the weave but I did purchase it on sale. I wanted to use that really high quality canvas for something very special.

The trees were mainly eastern hemlock with a few shagbark hickories, red oak, beech and maples added in for a good mix. There might have been a few white oaks but they are rare in this forest even though they are much preferred by the wild life. I saw lots of large deer tracks along with some coyote prints. There was also a heavily used otter trail across the peninsula that would have greatly shortened any trip for an otter headed o n a northwest to southeast line.

Deer love to browse on small hemlock seedlings - so much so that if there are a lot of deer, the young hemlocks are browsed into extinction. This leaves a forest of large and old trees but with no young hemlocks to replace them. This could be happening in this forest allowing the sugar maples, oaks and other trees to move in.

Backlit trees on the arm of Long Reach at 2 pm on Saturday January 20th, 2018... I was out for a walk looking for a large studio painting with depth.