#2547 "Lake Ontario Wind Waves Weather"

This was the sunrise on the third and last morning of the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out 2021. The global paint out was in conjunction with the Kingston School of Art (KSOA) and Paint the Town. I thought that I would start painting a series of weather observations. The sky and inland seas of Lake Ontario were going to be the most exciting part of the turbulent morning. 

I continued painting weather observations after completing #2546 "Portsmouth Sunrise Weather". The small and smooth panels encouraged me to just lay the correct colours in and then leave them alone. I started this weather observation at 7:45 am as the winds in the warm conveyor belt were shearing the clouds into twisted tongues of moisture. The winds were also churning up the waters of Lake Ontario. The lake was taking on an unusual greenish colour in the more shallow waters between Kingston and Wolfe Island. Further to the southwest the water still had a pale blue colour to it. Lake Ontario is a true inland sea.

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#2546 "Portsmouth Sunrise Weather"

This was the sunrise on the third and last morning of the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out 2021.  The global paint out was in conjunction with the Kingston School of Art (KSOA) and Paint the Town. I thought that I would start painting a series of weather observations. The sky and inland seas of Lake Ontario were going to be the most exciting part of the turbulent morning. 

The first observation was the sunrise view of the convective cloud embedded in the warm conveyor belt of the southwesterly flow. The bright deformation zone bands of cirrus were at different levels and were high enough to be fully illuminated by the rising sun. The lowest level deformation zone was bowed to the southwest with the low level cold conveyor belt while the other higher lines of cirrus were arched northeastward with the warm conveyor belt. 

The white hot sun was just rising above the thick deck of low level cloud. That solid mass of stratocumulus was drifting slowly toward the southwest guided by the cold conveyor belt of the approaching system. The cloud shapes and the updrafts of the convective cloud elements revealed these northeasterly winds which are an important part of the conveyor belt conceptual model of mid latitude storms.

I observed and painted this quickly, confident that the clouds were correct - my interpretation could be flawed but that is the weather. The weather and clouds change by the minute. I did not have my pocket laser ceilometer with me although I often thought of inventing one. I could have really used it to better understand the complexity of this sunrise sky.

The wind was creating some very significant waves that were crashing on to the point that held the Kingston Penn. 

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#2545 "Kingston King Street West"

I was remembering another September Day twenty years before. 

I decided to paint with the sun on my back looking toward King Street West and the Kingston Penitentiary. I did not even move my easel from where I painted #2544 "Toad of Portsmouth Harbour". Some of those homes that front King Street West were really close to the traffic on the street. 

Unlike that blue bird sky twenty years previous, this September sky was occasionally filled by cumulus congestus. One of these convective towers actually produced a few drops of rain. The southwesterly flow off Lake Ontario keep the temperature very comfortable.The warm front had already moved to the northeast of Portsmouth Harbour and had been marked by some bands of cirrostratus. 

These small and smooth panels encouraged me to just lay the correct colours in and then leave them alone. 

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#2544 "Toad of Portsmouth Harbour"

After completing #2543 "Church of the Good Thief", I headed back to Portsmouth Harbour to a small sailboat that I had noticed earlier.

The name of this small sailing boat was simply "Toad". Even a simple toad can be a beautiful creature. It made me think of Mr. Toad of Toad Hall. Mr. Toad was one of the main characters in the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and also the title character of the 1929 A. A. Milne play Toad of Toad Hall based on the book. 

I imagine that the "Toad" would have many stories to tell about student sailors and life on the waters of Lake Ontario. 

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#2543 "Church of the Good Thief"

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. Something positive and constructive needed to arise from those ashes. Art is really the universal language that transcends political boundaries and cultures in a creative and positive way. The Kingston School of Art (KSOA) has been organizing Paint the Town in conjunction the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out since 2013. They do a fantastic job of coordination and I have been painting with them since 2014 on this very special weekend. I was remembering another September Day twenty years before. 

I decided to leave the Portsmouth Harbour for a while and do something architectural. The Church of the Good Thief fit that requirement perfectly. Apparently the church had been closed as of November 24th, 2013 when the last service was held. Over the previous two years $175,000 had been invested in repairing the stonework and replacing the roof on the tower. It was estimated that an additional $400,000 would be required to bring the aging structure back to its former glory. The Church of the Good Thief was built primarily with convict labour from Kingston Penitentiary which I painted in #2540 "Kingston Penn Cumulus Lines". The local limestone was quarried, cut and transported to the site by convict gangs. The original cost of construction came in around $15,000 and the inaugural Mass was held in 1894 just 21 months after construction began. 

Father Raby was the one of the last Pastors of the Church of the Good Thief where he remained until his retirement in 1998 at the age of 80. Father Raby married Linda and I when he was at St. Francis Xavier in Brockville in 1975. I remember Father Raby as a very good man. He passed away peacefully on Friday morning, September 6, 2013, in his 95th year.  The Church of the Good Thief closed shortly thereafter. I think he would have appreciated this painting. 

The church’s name is dedicated to Saint Dismas, who was commonly referred to as the “Good Thief” and remembered as one of the robbers who were crucified with Christ. As such, St. Dismas is the patron saint of prisoners, criminals and reformed thieves among others. I included the stone statue of St. Dismas in the niche directly above the door of the church. 

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#2542 "Wolfe Island Weather Brew"

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. Something positive and constructive needed to arise from those ashes. Art is really the universal language that transcends political boundaries and cultures in a creative way. The Kingston School of Art (KSOA) has been organizing Paint the Town in conjunction the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out since 2013. They do a fantastic job of coordination and I have been painting with them since 2014 on this very special weekend. 

I was up early and painting by 7 am on the anniversary of 911. This is another painted weather observation of the sky only 45 minutes after #2541 "Wolfe Island Convective Sunrise". I was still drawn to the convective towers over the warm waters of Lake Ontario although the colours had changed and the warm hues had melted away. The warm conveyor belt of high level cirrostratus provided the backdrop to the cumulus congestus. The amount of cirrostratus was gradually increasing with the approaching storm. The cumulus towers were still growing while I painted. There were showers underneath those towers. 

A gang of mallards hung around nearby expecting me to pull some food out of my pockets. The ducks were very accustomed to people. They watched me paint. 

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#2541 "Wolfe Island Convective Sunrise"

I was up early and painting by 7 am on the anniversary of 911. The skies were almost as blue as on that fateful and tragic September day, twenty years before. 

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP)  was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. This was the second day of the Worldwide Paint Out when artists around the globe just get together to paint. Thank you to the Kingston School of Art (KSOA)  for organizing Paint the Town.  

The air mass remained unstable. Cumulus were billowing up when the air chilled by the increasingly, longer overnight periods, drifted over the cold land and onto the still warm waters of Lake Ontario. The convective bubbles mushroomed upward into the morning sunlight. The cloud towers were tilted to the east revealing the prevailing wind direction. Friction at ground level always reduces the wind a bit in the boundary layer while a but further aloft, the winds tilted the convective towers over in the direction they are blowing. These towers intercepted the sunrise light. Some rain showers wafted to the ground. 

Some strands of cirrostratus were also stretching eastward. These sheets of high, ice cloud revealed that there was a system developing to the west. Warm southerly breezes would replace the chilly conditions that had been experienced the previous night.

A couple of water boarders paddled by so I put them into the composition. The wind generators on Wolfe Island were turning with the breeze. Plein air painting can be inspirational just because of the little things. The harbour ducks kept me company as they mooched for something to eat. 

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#2540 "Kingston Penn Cumulus Lines"

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. Something positive and constructive needed to arise from those ashes. Art is really the universal language that transcends political boundaries and cultures in a creative way. The Kingston School of Art (KSOA) has been organizing Paint the Town in conjunction the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out since 2013. They do a fantastic job of coordination and I have been painting with them since 2014 on this very special weekend. 

This was the first afternoon of Paint the Town 2021. I still had some time to paint. It was a Friday and parking was scarce or nonexistent in Kingston during the typical workday. I decided to play it safe and move to the north end of the Portsmouth Harbour parking lot and paint King Street West and portions of the Kingston Penitentiary. This building is iconic and offers tours although during the paint-out it seemed that a movie was being filmed within those walls. The cumulus were continuing to develop and a few rain drops did reach the ground. The September air mass was quite unstable. It looked to me as if the cumulus congestus was involved in a prison break.

I was attracted by the swirls and the patterns in the clouds, the tree limbs and the lawn mower lines in the grass. There are no straight lines in nature - generally speaking - not even those of that mower. The Canadian flag was at half mast and there could be countless reasons why. 

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#2539 "Portsmouth Harbour Wispers"

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. Something positive and constructive needed to arise from those ashes. Art is really the universal language that transcends political boundaries and cultures in a creative way. The Kingston School of Art (KSOA) has been organizing Paint the Town in conjunction the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out since 2013. They do a fantastic job of coordination and I have been painting with them since 2014 on this very special weekend. 

This was the first morning of Paint the Town 2021. This sailboat was not going anywhere soon. I needed the sun on my back and I liked the colours when the sun was actually shining. Cumulus clouds developed as I painted so sometimes everything was in shadow. Some of these cumulus congestus would even produce a countable number of rain drops later in the day. I liked the painted yellow, parking lines in the pavement and thought it added an interesting geometry to the scene.

A lady exclaimed that the sailboat was not going anywhere soo so it was a good choice of subject matter. She had watched me working on the blue boat, #2538 "Portsmouth Harbour Blue Sailboat".  A chap stopped by after voting in the federal election and wondered about the name. There is no word such as "wisper" and he wondered whether either the ship owner or sign painter could spell. "Whispers" means to "speak softly with little or no vibration of the vocal cords especially to avoid being overheard." This sailboat did not say a word the entire time that I worked on its portrait so I suspect it was indeed missing the "h". 

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#2538 "Portsmouth Harbour Blue Sailboat"

The International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) was a direct response to the tragedy of 911. Something positive and constructive needed to arise from those ashes. Art is really the universal language that transcends political boundaries and cultures in a creative way. (my IPAP link)

IPAP was founded in Niagara Falls, Canada by my friend Jacq Baldini to be inclusive of global artists without any restrictions of borders on Oct 19, 2001. I am the only Charter and Signature with Honours Member of IPAP.  In September of 2002, IPAP had its 1st Worldwide Paint Out. Each year the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out has been held the second weekend of September to honour those lost on 911 and to point a positive way forward. I have painted on each and every one of those Paint Outs.  

The Kingston School of Art (KSOA) has been organizing Paint the Town in conjunction the International Plein Air Painters Worldwide Paint Out since 2013. They do a fantastic job of coordination and I have been painting with them since 2014 on this very special weekend. 

This was the first morning of Paint the Town 2021. The historic Portsmouth Harbour area of Kingston was the Olympic site and where I started my meteorological career back in 1976 after having graduated from Queen's University. I was looking for something nostalgic or colourful among the boats tied to the Portsmouth Harbour wharves. Time was on the essence and I picked something blue and green rather quickly so as not to lose the morning light. I even drove out on the wharf to shorten the distance and speed up the process. I was unobtrusive. 

I took off my reading glasses for the entire Paint-out weekend. I did not want to be tempted by any detail. As well, it is possible to regain your distance acuity by simply not using your glasses while outside. 

Historic Portsmouth Harbour area of Kingston

Fine Art America and Pixels help to spread this art around the world - completing and complementing the IPAP mission. For this and much more art, click on Pixels. Thank you. 

#2537 "Grippen Lake Homestead"

I was on my way for groceries on the first day back to school in September 2021. I wanted to be in Kingston before the school buses started to roll. The early morning light was turning the vacated farm house into a bright, white beacon. The composition was perfect in the sunrise light. I had long admired this homestead before but the dawn of a new day had turned it into the painting that I was looking for. 

It takes an aerial view to reveal that his bucolic (relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life) setting was actually surrounded by gravel pits and scars on the land. Extractivism is the process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market. It exists in an economy that depends primarily on the extraction or removal of natural resources that are considered valuable for exportation worldwide. Extractivism is a good way for a few to get rich but it is not sustainable like the small family farm that I wanted to paint. I believe that the farm itself was deserted. In the early 20th century, 80 percent of the Canadian population was rural. This figure was completely turned around by the early 21st century. 

I remember going to Grippen Lake with the family in the mid 1950's. Who would have thought that we would later live just downstream and a few kilometers away from Grippen Lake and this painting.

The sky could not reveal the extent of the storm brewing over the horizon. A large convective storm was on the way. There would be several tornadoes reported in southwestern Ontario. 

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