This was the first day of the 2020 International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) Worldwide Paint Out. The International Plein Air Painters is a blanket organization of artists created for the sole purpose of advancing the execution and enjoyment of plein air painting without the restrictions and limitations of borders or politics. I am a Charter and a Signature member with Honours dating from the fall of 2001. The horrific events of September 11th, 2001 prompted the creation of IPAP. Art is a universal language and we all benefit. The world needed the strong and positive response of art created outside and surrounded by nature. We are part of the environment and nature and everyone benefits when both at protected and respected.
St. George's Cathedral in Kingston, Ontario is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Ontario. The Cathedral Church of St George is the centre of a community where God's love and the reconciling Gospel of Jesus Christ are lived out through the people of the parish in the joy of sacrament, hospitality, worship and music. I thought it would make a wonderful and interesting subject in the morning light filtered by the remains of mist and Arctic sea smoke. The waters of the lake were still warm and the long and chilly nights encourage those nocturnal fogs to form. The sun was just a dull grey glow in the morning sky above Wolfe Island. The fog lifted into fair weather cumulus as I painted.
I set up my easel on the edge of the parking lot of the beautiful new Kingston Library and looked southeastward down Johnson Street toward the mouth of the Cataraqui River. There was considerable car and foot traffic but everyone was moving too fast to be in the painting. I focussed on the colours and the architecture without getting too fiddly with details. I painted the traffic lights green to symbolize that we were all moving forward in spite of COVID19 obstacles. I wore my face mask while I painted and it felt odd.
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