#2769 "April Shadows in the Singleton Sanctuary"

#2769 "April Shadows in the Singleton Sanctuary"
10x8 inches oils on canvas

The April sun felt delicious on my back. The sounds of spring were almost loud in the provincially significant wetlands. I heard ruffed grouse drumming, barred owls wondering who was going to do the cooking and the first loon of the season flew overhead. Geese were honking out announcing their territories. 

The rich, green moss was bright at the base of the trees that lined the swamp. The morning shadows trailed away from me and across the wetland. Those shadows shifted like a sundial recording the time I spent surrounded by nature.  

A tall dead white pine was leaning on its neighbour. Holes excavated by the pileated woodpeckers in the old wood were certainly being used by someone. A persistent chickadee kept me company and wondered if I had sunflower seeds in my pocket. I did not. These were fresh clothes and seeds get mixed in with the laundry. 

I was intrigued by the strong blues of the spring flood in the wetlands poking through between the trees. I had paddled my canoe on that blue water to explore the extent of that ice and to pick up debris that had drifted there with the wind and water. I paddled right to the end of the wetland where in just a few weeks, it would be high and dry.

Done like dinner...

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2768 "Long Reach Swimming Rock in April"

#2768 "Long Reach Swimming Rock in April"
oils on canvas

It was a beautiful Good Friday so I headed out to paint and to enjoy the blustery spring weather. Communing with nature can be a wonderful way to celebrate a Good Friday. I set up my easel in the lee of the old maple stump which was painted in #2743 "Black Rat Maple". I was sheltered a bit from the wind gusts. 

I was looking across the outlet of Jim Day Rapids toward a mostly submerged marble rock. The spring floods almost drown that smooth knob of rock but in the summer, it is enjoyed by many people who just want a quiet place to swim and relax. The afternoon sun reaches that shoreline and it is generally protected, from the wind. 

In my painting, the morning sunlight was filtered by the sparse forest of that portion of Long Reach. Some of that light reached the swimming rock and briefly lit it up. 

The beavers had chewed off the tops of several trees that I was trying to protect. The winter snow had been deep enough that the beavers could reach the trunks above the wire cages that I had wrapped around the little trees. They were only doing what beavers do but I will need to put up taller mesh around the hardwood trees that have survived so far. 

The water was still much too cold for swimming for me but it would be acceptable in another month. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2767 "Sunrise on April Stormy Weather"

#2767 "Sunrise on April Stormy Weather"
9x12 oils on canvas

It really helps to be able to visualize the weather in time and space.. like a movie playing in your mind. That is how I prefer to see the forecast. 

The sunrise sky foretold of a large and violent spring storm. The warm air mass was extremely unstable and charged with a very high precipitable water content. Tornadoes killed more than fifty people in the United States. The multi-day event would last into Wednesday. 

I had wanted to do the approaching weather en plein air but life gets in the way sometimes. I cleared my slate for Wednesday but freezing rain thunderstorms forced me into the Singleton Studio. The near-freezing surface temperatures cooled to minus 2 as the air mass saturated. The "feels-like temperature" was minus 8 Celsius, but of course, that is not real. The windchill temperature does reveal that the actual temperature must edge toward colder values as the air mass is saturated. 

Supercooled water droplets froze on contact. Icicles hung from everywhere. Thunderstorms pounded the area all day long. It was a remarkable storm complex. 

Images of Freezing Rain Icicles, Ice coating surfaces and Meteorology

I squint my eyes when I paint. One does not need to see all of the details. Squinting is similar to removing your reading glasses. Both approaches help to simplify the values of your composition. The shapes of bright, mid, and dark tones really stand out. The last edge that you can see clearly will be the sharpest edge and becomes the standard for all of the other tonal shapes. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2766 "Rainy Day Waxwings"

#2766 "Rainy Day Waxwings"
16x20 oils on canvas

#2738 "Cedar Waxwings" needed a friend. I had a few potential images from my friend and naturalist John Verburg. I selected two of these and blended these into a third composition. Three birds are company and perhaps friends. The popular saying is always about killing two birds with a single stone. I felt that including three cedar waxwings in the painting was the safe and friendly thing to do. 

It was a cold and rainy day outside just like when John took the images of the cedar waxwings. When I sketched in these waxwings, there was a late winter or early spring storm raging outside with even the chance of a thunderstorm. I do love the weather but these conditions kept me inside the Singleton Studio.  Large raindrops clung to the tips of the branches like diamonds.  

John has graciously encouraged me to work from any of his fine images that chronicle the precious natural environment of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere. John has a gift for capturing the essence as well as the beauty of nature. Achieving these images requires more than skill and knowledge of optics and modern camera technology but also considerable patience waiting for that special moment. Our desire is that upon viewing nature through his photographs and perhaps my art, more people will appreciate the vital importance of protecting the natural world. A healthy habitat takes thousands of years to develop but can be irretrievably destroyed in brief hours under the guise of development. Thank you John. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2765 "Sunset Purple Virga"

#2765 "Sunset Purple Virga"
8x10 inches oils on canvas

The skies cleared after an all-day rainfall. The clouds were brilliant and told of unspoken meteorology and meaning. The view is from the previous evening and I wished to have some fun interpreting the patterns and colours with my oils. 

Night-time Microphysics RGB

Broad Langmuir streaks were paralleling the upper winds in the wake of the storm. Gravity waves were embedded with the Langmuir streaks as well. The airmass displayed some high-level instability with pieces of altocumulus. Shafts of purple virga drifted toward the ground but did not make it very far before sublimating into oblivion. The sun was setting ever further to the north with every passing day after the equinox. Spring was on the way. 

I was thinking of my Father on March 24th, the twenty-second year since his passing. I still wear a plaid jacket that we gave him a year or two before he passed. The worn coat remains neatly sewn up for me and I wear it frequently except when I am doing hard work in the forest. My Father gave me "a leave it beaver" childhood playing in the forest. He encouraged my art and I still use the very first aluminum easel I received for my birthday around 1970. I wish that all children were as fortunate as I.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2764 "Spring Snow and Pines at Jim Day Rapids"

#2764 "Spring Snow and Pines at Jim Day Rapids"
12x9 oils on canvas

I had the whole day to do almost whatever I pleased. So I grabbed a canvas and headed outside. The geese were laying claim to the entire rocky shoreline and I wished to re-establish my presence. We need to share the shore and play by the rules that we had established over the years. These birds knew me well. It was time to pay my respects. 

I looked across the Jim Day Rapids swimming hole toward the rugged shore. There was still snow and ice on the northern and shadowed flank of that point of land. The morning light filtered through the barren trees. The dark green of rocky mosses was emerging from under the blanket of snow as spring progressed. 

The Canada geese did a swim past to check me out honking constantly in a complaining manner. The geese milled around in the outflow of Jim Day Rapids, fussing and jostling for territories. The geese never seem happy with their lot until after the goslings hatch out and they start to assemble again into large groups by mid-summer. 

I string a goose-high fence of car dealership flags from Jim Day Rapids to the corner of our home. The geese are encouraged to graze the clover on the two or three acres on the south side of that barrier. Sometimes we get a hundred geese doing just that and their guano returns to the clover and feeds the soil, not getting into the waters of Red Horse Lake. The geese are not welcome on the rocky landscape to the north where we walk. Any breach of the line of flags means I must get my pail and gloves and pick the shite up before rain washes in into my swimming hole. 

The families of Canada Geese are learning to stay on
the clover side of the car dealership flags.

I forgot to take my glasses off so I hung them on the side of my Kitty Litter Plein Air Kit. I wore a white glove on my palette hand in order to keep the oils off my skin. The palette was getting a bit messy but I do like those subtle variations of grey colours. 

The Canada geese kept on honking until I was just about finished. They did a fly-by just as I was putting on the last stroke. 

The air was certainly alive with the sounds of spring. The wind increased as the coming storm continued to approach. The cold conveyor belt is aptly named and my brush hand felt it.  

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2763 "Ancient Singleton Maple Trunk"

#2763 "Ancient Singleton Maple Trunk" 
6x6 inches oil on canvas

There was still some time left in the morning after my time spent with "Welcome to the Lake". I decided to paint the old, gnarled trunk of an ancient maple tree that stood northwest of our portion of Long Reach Lane. Every tree has a tale to tell.

The sun was shrouded by thicker clouds and the southwesterly winds picked up. My hands got very cold and that hurried me along. There was snow falling just to the northeast.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2762 "Welcome to the Lake"

#2762 "Welcome to the Lake"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

The morning was clear so I decided to head out to paint somewhere near home. I set up my easel along Long Reach Lane just over the high ridge that forms the backbone of Long Reach and separates Red Horse Lake from Singleton. The lane was really icy. I was attracted by the "Welcome to the Lake" sign that indicated that there was a special summer place full of memories just ahead. 

An icy lane leading to the cottage. 

The glimmer of the sun faded and the southwesterly breeze developed. It was snowing just to the northeast. 

The sounds of spring filled the air. Plein air painting can be special. I was prepared to move my field easel should anyone arrive. No one did. It was just me and nature. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2761 "Cardinal Song"

#2716 "Cardinal Song"
14x11 inches oils on canvas

I needed another painting to pair with #2736 "Sour Grapes Male Cardinal". Everything needs a friend including art. 

My Brother and bride had been encouraging me to return to wildlife art. Bruce Sherman, my Grade Seven teacher emphatically encouraged me to concentrate on wildlife after seeing #0554 "Sharp Stare!" nearly completed on my easel at Watershed Farm in 2001. He said: "That's what you should be doing, Phil!". I always respected Bruce's opinions. Bruce was the friend who started me on the plein air path. I thought that maybe I should return to some detailed art after some very loose canvases. 

The winter storms and brutal wind chills of January 2023 also encouraged me to spend more time in the Singleton Sanctuary Studio in front of the wood stove with the tunes on the stereo. As well, variety can be a good exercise even though diversity always confused the galleries and dealers. I did not really care about potentially confusing anyone as one must paint for themselves.

I also photograph the back of each painting for my
records to be complete. Each painting is a special memory.

I used a lot of paint on this canvas. The cardinal needed extra body and strength. This particular bird also had some attitude and that needed to come through. The male cardinal was a fiery, brilliant red individual singing of spring in a twisted thicket of greens.

This particular work is based on a terrific photo taken by my friend and naturalist John Verburg. John has graciously encouraged me to work from any of his fine images that chronicle the precious natural environment of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere. John has a gift for capturing the essence as well as the beauty of nature. Achieving these images requires more than skill and knowledge of optics and modern camera technology but also considerable patience waiting for that special moment. Our desire is that upon viewing nature through his photographs and perhaps my art, more people will appreciate the vital importance of protecting the natural world. A healthy habitat takes thousands of years to develop but can be irretrievably destroyed in brief hours under the guise of development. Thank you John.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2760 "Sugar Maples Syrup Spring Holiday"

#2760 "Sugar Maples Syrup Spring Holiday"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

The snow would not last long so I decided that I had better seize every and any opportunity to be outside painting. A rainstorm would arrive overnight and much of this snow would melt the following day. 

Some spring-like temperatures arrived three weeks early prompting some people to start tapping their maple forest in mid-February. We decided that the wacky weather was going to make it hard enough on the forest and the maples in particular so there would be no fresh maple syrup in 2023. 

The spring migrants were starting to arrive. The great blue herons would arrive the next day. A chickadee landed on my head while I painted. I was not quick enough to take its picture and that is OK. The swans and geese were making a lot of noise in Jim Day Rapids. The red-breasted woodpeckers were also vocal. I had long thought that their song was that of tree frogs but there would be no such amphibian out in the Singleton Forest in the depths of winter. The geese are honking and splashing around like crazy today. All of nature was starting to pick its territory and getting ready to mate. 

Most professional artists do not sign the work on the front of the art so that the signature does not distract from the content of the work. I subscribe to that notion although it took me a few years to do so. My friend and mentor, Mario Airomi would use bold and large strokes to sign his name and I followed his excellent example. It was when I focused on plein air that I really began to minimize my signature. I felt that my style had progressed enough that it would be recognizable to anyone who knew. All of the details are included on the back of the painting anyway. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2759 "Singleton March Snow Red Cedar Boughs"

#2759 "Singleton March Snow Red Cedar Boughs"
10x8 inches oils on canvas

I wanted to capture the snowfall at Singleton. A major Nor-Easter storm was headed northeastward across the Maritimes and Singleton was on the western flank. 

The snow was laden on the boughs of the red cedars. I could stay out of the wind if I remained tucked in close to the forest. The location worked for a while but then the snow started to fall heavier and the northerly winds increased. My bare painting hand started to feel the effects of the wind chill which hurried me along. 

The flock of turkeys was disturbed when I went out with my easel and I felt guilty. They lined up and vacated the area following the trail I had prepared on the edge of the Provincially Significant Wetland. It was not very long until they returned. They apparently realized that I might be weird but was totally harmless. Henny Penny was the first to come along and came to get a closer look at what I was working on. She was more of a solitary hen. The rest of the flock retraced their path along the trail and returned to feed on the corn that we had put out for them and the other birds. I could hear them clucking and chuckling as they enjoyed the Singleton Sanctuary and what it had to offer. 

The calls of the red-breasted woodpecker made me smile. I always thought that it was a tree frog until Linda looked it up and convinced me otherwise. 

The snow kept coming down and mixed in with the oils turning them into the consistency of oatmeal. I expected this and quite enjoy the different textures when it happened before. I was done within an hour - both the painting and my hand. Plein air is always good fun. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick