#2270 "Dumoine Brink of the Grande Chute"

This was Day Five of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

I left the easel where it was after completing #2268 "Don Smith Dumoine Morning Mist" and #2269 "Dumoine Grande Chute Canyon". I simply turned to look upstream and tried to capture the torrent of water. It is much harder than it looks.

The rapids are always in motion and the colours and shapes change even faster. In plein air you just try to capture the moment and have fun!

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#2269 "Dumoine Grande Chute Canyon"

This was Day Five of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society. The DRAW project was conceived to support the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's Ottawa Valley Chapter in their campaign to encourage the government of Quebec to preserve and protect the Dumoine's wilderness environment all the way to its headwaters... plus countless other projects that benefit the environment.

DRAW 2017 By Scott Haig is ready and picture-perfect. Master photographer, author and environmentalist Scott Haig (on the edge of the Dumoine Gande Chute above) worked tremendously hard to make this book flawless and he is donating the proceeds to CPAWS. It tells a story of hope for the future through art. Members of the Group of Seven were successful in achieving similar results for Algonquin, Killarney and Algoma - plus many other iconic Canadian vistas if you know their art...

I left the easel where it was after completing #2268 "Don Smith Dumoine Morning Mist". This time I painted looking more down the dark Dumoine channel. My favourite swimming spot is about half way down this channel. The sound of the turbulent cascade filled the air and the canvas. I hope that you can hear it. The sky also had something to say with those gravity waves of altostratus. Rain was on the way. It would rain hard on my drive home the next day.

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#2268 "Don Smith Dumoine Morning Mist"

This was Day Five of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

Donald Warren Smith was a retired teacher from Mackenzie High School in Deep River where he worked between 1968 to 1998. Don was also the Owner/Proprietor of Valley Ventures-Deep River. Sadly Don passed away in Deep River at the age of 65 on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - much too soon. There is a sign in memory of Don Smith on the east side of Grand Chute just downstream from the Bridge. I have painted there many times.

We were getting a bit later heading out to paint with each passing day. On the final day I was not on the job until 8 am after a hearty meal of oatmeal and coffee. The pie for breakfast dessert was all gone. It was also staying a bit warmer overnight so the sunrise fog and mist were not nearly as thick.

I set up on the rocky ledge in front of the sign in memory of Don Smith. I am sure he watched me paint. I hope he approved. I tried to capture the energy of the cascade in the old oils.

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#2267 "Dumoine Cabin at Grand Bend"

This was Day Four of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

I decided to paint what appeared to be the main cabin on the north side of the Dumoine where it makes an S Turn series of rapids downstream from the Grand Chute Portage Put In. I asked about the property and discovered that the family would not be up until the fall. There was no one to ask and thus I took it on myself to take the responsibility of painting from the shore and ensuring there would be no disruption to the properties or any sign that we were ever there - aside from the finished paintings. The swimming was also great and we floated the Dumoine current to the downstream sand bars several times.

This cabin would have provided everything one really needs for a prolonged stay on the Dumoine. We need to spend more time outside anyway - trying to get back in touch with nature. The invasive fog of the World Wide Web does not penetrate into the Dumoine like the overnight radiational mist. According to the Web itself, "The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge." The Web cannot replace the knowledge and joy one gains by simply being quiet and surrounded by nature or floating in the current of the Dumoine.

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#2266 "Dumoine Downstream Morning"

This was Day Four of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

After #2265 "Dumoine Early Morning Paddle" looking upstream into the rapids, I simply grabbed another small panel and painted looking downstream from the same spot. Inspiration is everywhere in Canada. There is no need to move or go to the south of France.

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#2265 "Dumoine Early Morning Paddle"

This was the sunrise of Day Four of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

I returned to the shores of the Dumoine across from the Fish and Game Club where we were camped. I am very respectful of property and only leave footprints behind if that. There was a series of quaint cabins on the north side of the Dumoine where it makes an S Turn series of rapids downstream from the Grand Chute Portage Put In. There was no one to ask and thus I took it on myself to take the responsibility of painting from the shore and ensuring there would be no disruption to the properties or any sign that we were ever there - aside from the finished paintings. The swimming was also great and we floated the Dumoine current to the downstream sand bars several times.

The fog was not as thick as previous mornings. The temperature had bottomed out at plus 12 Celsius overnight. I had a great sleep and it was not so cold. Art is work and I have the T-shirt to prove it. A good sleep after a busy day is very satisfying.

I set up right on the edge of the Dumoine hoping to catch the misty atmosphere. The weather changed very quickly and that foggy notion evapourated with the sun. Another group of canoeists left their Grand Chute campsite with the dawn. They mainly followed the deeper channel of the Dumoine with great success. I included the transient vortices on the fringe of the current. The sandbar on the far side was a nice place to sit on the edge with your legs dangling in the current. The broad strokes on this 8x10 inch canvas brings back a lot of pleasant memories.

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#2264 "Dumoine Downstream Convection"

This was the afternoon of Day Three of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

The western sky was getting interesting with towering cumulus and some virga. I watched the weather develop as I worked on #2263 "Dumoine White and Red Pines". Sometimes the warm sector is pinched thin between a slowly retreating warm front and an rapidly advancing cold front. Such was the case that August afternoon on the Dumoine. A weak cold front was the focus for the organization of this convective activity. The warm sector air mass was about to be replaced by good, clean Arctic air. There were a few downrushes of virga chilled air but no rain drops as the cold front passed. I love to record the weather and every sky is a new challenge.

I also needed to paint this view because it includes the sand bars that we floated down current to on several occasions.

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#2263 "Dumoine White and Red Pines"

This was the afternoon of Day Three of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

After a trail mix lunch I decided to paint something different that rocks and water. The August sun was hot and I needed to remain in the shade. The Dumoine was now in the warm sector of the summer weather system. There was a stand of pines in the front yard of the main cabin and I endeavoured to turn those into a painting as I relaxed on the front porch. The white pine was flanked by two red pines. I was forest bathing as well as painting. Trees are the new super medicine. The planet and us all need massive doses of trees and forest and they come almost free without any prescription.

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#2262 "Dumoine Downstream Rain"

This was the morning of Day Three of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

The showers foretold by the altocumulus castellannus (ACC) had arrived as I started this painting. The visibility dropped significantly and I thought that we might be in for a deluge. I painted on. The far hill west of the Dumoine was totally obscured by the heavy rain and I braced for the sudden down rush of cool air followed by heavy rain. I painted quickly but I need not have worried. When the shower arrived I could count the drops. The main area of heavy rain had passed just to the north.

A group of six canoes came through the rapids as I painted. They had to be novices although they were certainly geared up properly for the adventure. All but the last canoe took the sand bar shortcut when they exited the last set of rapid ripples. The guide followed the deep downstream "V" of the main channel properly. The other canoeists had to get out of their canoes and drag them over the logs and the sand of the left eddy. I waved.

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#2261 "Dumoine Overcast Warm Front"

This was the morning of Day Three of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

Rain was on the way. The summer warm front that had been on the western horizon was now overhead. The overcast skies provided a relief from the heat of the August sun. The colours of the landscape changed accordingly. I wanted to record the different signatures of the current on the surface of the Dumoine and how these reflected the light. The opposite shore was backlit and dark. I paint what I see.

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#2260 "Dumoine Channel Upstream from Robinson"

This was the sunrise of Day Three of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

The water was clear but dark and rich with tannins from being fed through leaf litter and peat over a vast forested watershed of 1,776 square kilometres drained by tributaries into the Dumoine. Mark and I played in that current. Its channel was deep. The colours of the water transformed from bright golden rivelts over the cobbles to black in the depths. The strong downcurrent V would take us quickly past the other painters until it fanned out about 200 metres downstream. We would then strike off to one of the sides and ride the back eddies upstream in order to start over again.

A summer warm front was on the western horizon. Altocumulus castellannus (ACC) is essentially towering cumulus clouds based in the middle etage. They are a typical signature for a warm front. Showers were on the way for later in the day but for then, the plein air conditions were perfect.

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#2259 "Dumoine Trees Make the Forest"

This was the afternoon of Day Two of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

It was still hot and sunny after I completed #2258 "Walking Boots". I had to stay in the shade to paint between the periods of swimming in the sandy cove and the Dumoine current. I looked across the Dumoine Channel toward the trees on the eastern bank. I thought I could make an impressionistic painting of that and it might work.

I am always drawn to any deep forest. A daily walk through the Singleton forest is good therapy. The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku which means "forest bathing". The trees flood you with massive amounts of oxygen as well as the oils they emit to ward off insects and bacteria. These phytoncides have been found to boost our immune systems, lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, alleviate depression and increase your energy. Trees are the new super medicine. The planet and all of us need massive doses of trees and it comes without a prescription. Trees also lock down carbon at no cost.

About 45% of Canadians lived in cities in 1911 with this number soaring to 53% just a scant six years later after the "Great War". The trend of moving to the city was even set in motion during the time of the Group of Seven. A century later 81.35% of Canadians live in cities. The city environment bathes you in high noise levels, concrete and fumes not to mention the WiFi fog that pervades your screens and devices.

Allan Ross, a childhood friend of Tom Thomson wrote in his 1924 book "Reminiscences of North Sydenham" (Page 89) that "farmers of little more than middle age (were) retir(e)ing to the cities, to settle down and enjoy life. Perhaps they do, after a fashion. But they could live much more cheaply - and securely- in the country, and find there the life most worth living if they only had the mental capacity to appreciate it. The old saying still holds good that man made the town but God made the country, and we are speaking from a long experience in city life and the artificial pleasures and fleeting joys to be found there. There is a restlessness and craving for excitement in the young people of our cities that bodes ill for the future of the country. They value an education, but they value it only for the chance it affords them of entering some profession, where they will escape the - to them- degradation of having to soil their hands in the occupation of the mechanic or the farmer." Allan Ross's observations are even more accurate now a century later.

I wonder if Allan was writing about the Thomson family who moved from the farm in Leith to 428 Fourth avenue east, Owen Sound prior to 1917. Tom's father John, had been a farmer but apparently one who did not take the occupation too seriously.

I could be an eremite. (I had to look this word up.) An eremite is a synonym of hermit along with recluse · solitary · loner · ascetic · anchorite · anchoress · eremite · stylite · solitudinarian. By definition a hermit is any person living in solitude or seeking to do so. A hermit is also a hummingbird found in the shady lower layers of tropical forests, foraging along a regular route. That is what I do when I am looking for painting material. I fit into both meanings of "hermit". I rarely leave the waters and forests of Singleton and this is why. I am simply taking a bath immersed in the elements that I enjoy.

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#2258 "Walking Boots"

This was the afternoon of Day Two of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) supported DRAW (Dumoine River Art for Wilderness) 2019. We were all eco-artists trying to assist with the awareness of the importance of wilderness in modern society.

It was even hotter and sunnier after I completed #2257 "Dumoine Sand Beach Ledges". I had to stay in the shade to paint between the periods of swimming in the sandy cove and the Dumoine current. These are my signature boots purchased sometime around 2004. They have covered a lot of miles. I hope there are many more to come. These boots were really made for walking. A painting can be a simple as a pair of boots. These are my favourite piece of footwear by far. I had painted them before in #1116 "Boots".

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" was a hit song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by Nancy Sinatra. It charted January 22, 1966, and reached No. 1 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart. Unlike Nancy's boots, these are actually HI-TEC Hiking Boots and made for walking. HI-TEC uses a lot of technology to make them safe and comfortable. These boots have been up and down trails everywhere as I travelled with AES, EC, COMET and with EUMETSAT. My partner found replacement boots that I can use when appearance is important.

Apparently Vincent was obsessed with painting boots and shoes as well. One pair of boots he painted looked a lot like mine. I should paint more footwear too. A famous artist once said there is no purple in nature. I see purple everywhere.

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