#2792 "Another Side to Queen Anne"

#2792 "Another Side to Queen Anne"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

It was still uncomfortably hot outside so I decided to do a final painting of the Queen Anne's Lace blooms which I had picked and placed in a vase in the Singleton Studio. 

The bloom is sometimes referred to as "bishop's flower" and it symbolizes safety, sanctuary, and refuge. After the Queen Anne's Lace flower goes to seed, the remains resemblance to a bird's nest also makes it the perfect symbol of the sanctuary of a happy home. I wanted this painting to capture the supporting undercarriage of the flower that would transform into the bird's nest. 

The air mass was also very unstable and conditions were conducive to tornadoes. Singleton was included in a tornado watch area although the strongest threat was to the north along the warm frontal surface stretching through Ottawa. The so-called triple point is the intersection of the warm front and another line of instability like a low-level jet or outflow boundary - typically ahead of the surface low... where there will be ample cyclonic wind shear. Sunshine in the warm sector provides heat. We had 5 mm of rain with the morning convection that provided additional moisture as a fuel. The dew points were a bit low in the warm sector which should be 20 Celsius or higher for really severe energy. 

Classic cold frontal structure

I was watching the cold front approaching Peterborough on radar as I started to paint. I advised some friends to watch for the individual cells that develop ahead of the surface cold front and turn to the right - supercells. Some supercells developed as anticipated near Ottawa, VanCleek Hill and into western Quebec. There were some impressive gate to gate signatures on Doppler radar revealing the rotation of those mesocyclones.  

News reported that a tornado touched down in Barrhaven, near Ottawa and damaged 150 homes. 

This was the third and final painting in the Queen Anne's Lace Trilogy: #2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace"; #2791 "Queen Anne's"; and #2792 "Another Side to Queen Anne".

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2791 "Queen Anne's"

#2791 "Queen Anne's"
5x4 inches oils on canvas panel

Queen Anne's Lace often referred to as "bishop's flower" symbolizes safety, sanctuary, and refuge. The flower head even resembles a  bird's nest when it goes to seed. The white flower of the wild carrot is the perfect symbol of the sanctuary of a happy home. Every creature is safe to lead the life that nature intended within the Singleton Sanctuary. 

Queen Anne's lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, who was an expert lace maker. The Legend says that while crafting away, Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle and a single drop of blood fell from her finger onto the lace, leaving the dark purple spot. 

I choose to surround myself with nature... it makes sense when so much else does not. 

One of the grey rat snakes enjoying the safety of
the Singleton Sanctuary photographed as I carried
my easel into the Singleton Studio

I started this small painting outside intended as a partner to #2784 "Lance-leaved Aster" and   #2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace" but it was  far too hot outside so I retreated to the Singleton Studio. I harvested a few blooms and started listening to some tunes.

Moving my painting into the Singleton Sanctuary Studio to get
out of the extreme July heat.

Some extreme hot temperatures from around the world.

The heat dome was getting established over the American midwest setting the stage for derecho and meso-scale convective complexes that skirt the blocking high pressure area.

This was the second painting in the Queen Anne's Lace Trilogy: #2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace"; #2791 "Queen Anne's"; and #2792 "Another Side to Queen Anne".

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace"

#2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace"
6x4 inches oils on canvas panel

There is some interesting symbolism to be found in the story of Queen Anne's Lace. The flower is sometimes referred to as the "bishop's flower" since it symbolizes safety, sanctuary, and refuge. Another interpretation is from when Queen Anne's Lace goes to seed. The remaining skeleton of the flower closely resembles a bird's nest which is the perfect symbol of the sanctuary of a happy home. Queen Anne's Lace is the perfect flower to brand the Singleton Sanctuary and I wish that I had done that before. 

Queen Anne's Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, who was an expert lace maker. The Legend says that while crafting away, Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle and a single drop of blood fell from her finger onto the lace, leaving the dark purple spot. That same spot persists in the center of the flower if you look for it. 

The Queen Anne's Lace plant is also known as wild carrot. It is a wildflower herb originally from Europe but now also found throughout North America. The plant is now considered an invasive weed in most places but it can actually be an attractive addition to the home in a wildflower garden. I do not plant it but as the same time, I don't discourage the flower. Queen Anne's Lace is everywhere throughout the Singleton Sanctuary. Queen Anne's Lace is of somewhat more importance to selected insects. Its nectar and pollen attracts small bees, wasps, flies, and beetles. A number of insects feed on the foliage and roots. The Queen Anne's Lace Plant – Growing Queen Anne's Lace And Its Care https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/queen-annes-lace/queen-annes-lace-plant.htm 

I started to paint this outside surrounded by the sounds of the birds and the bees but it was too hot. I retreated into the Singleton Studio with a couple of Queen Anne's Lace flowers that I put in a vase of water. 

A concerning similar plant is the poison hemlock. Spotted water hemlock is considered the most poisonous of all Ontario weeds since it contains a very potent toxin, cicutoxin, that is present in all plant parts. There have been numerous accounts of sickness and death. Poison Hemlock (Conium Maculatum) is native to Europe and the Mediterranean region. This weed was spread into Ontario in the early 1980s in a seed lot of alfalfa. 

Poison-hemlock stems have reddish or purple spots and streaks, are not hairy, and are hollow. Leaves are bright green, fern-like, finely divided, toothed on edges and have a strong musty odour when crushed. Flowers are tiny, white and arranged in small, umbrella-shaped clusters on ends of branched stems. Handle plant parts carefully; small amounts of toxins may be absorbed by rubbing eyes or touching mouth after contact with plants. Always wear gloves and wash hands thoroughly after handling the plant. 

The most apparent difference between the two plants is their height. Poison hemlock grows much taller than Queen Anne's Lace and appears earlier in the year. While Queen Anne's Lace doesn't grow much taller than three feet, poison hemlock can grow to ten feet tall. 

This was the first painting in the Queen Anne's Lace Trilogy: #2790 "July Queen Anne's Lace"; #2791 "Queen Anne's"; and #2792 "Another Side to Queen Anne".

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2789 "July 4th Fireworks"

#2789 "July 4th Fireworks"
14x11 inches oils on canvas

July is typically the month when even pulse-type thunderstorms can rapidly achieve severe proportions and deliver damaging impacts. Intense thunderstorms can burst like popcorn on a hot skillet. The environmental clues to accurately predict which kernel is going to explode next can be a big challenge and quite beyond the capabilities of numerical weather prediction. I employed deformation zones and their intersections at various levels in the atmosphere to try to solve those riddles when I worked the "Severe Desk" and carried that responsibility to provide a service. 

Supercell Thunderstorm Strucutre

What might appear to be chaotic convection is actually well organized. Convection requires heat, and humidity to create instability and a trigger to ignite the fuse. Winds in the atmospheric ocean control how the ensuing convection is organized. The storms can be simple pulse convection that go up and then come down extinguishing the fire. But with more wind shear, the updrafts can evolve into multi-cellular storms. The wind shear patterns required to create super-cellular severe thunderstorms are even more exacting but once formed, supercells can persist along their destructive and dangerous paths for several hours. Supercells can dominate atmospheric wind patterns.  

On Tuesday, July 4th 2023, one pulse thunderstorm along Highway 29 just north of Brockville caused flooding rainfalls and nickel-sized hail before the warning was issued. That cell collapsed soon afterward highlighting that it is essential to understand and anticipate the type of convection that might develop in a given weather situation.

Simultaneously, the multi-cellular thunderstorm I painted was far away to the west of Singleton closer to Belleville along the north shore of Lake Ontario. That convection was in a different atmospheric environment. I was intrigued by the structure of the cumulonimbus complete with mammatus and a short and steep flanking line. Rain shafts could be traced to each cell of the thunderstorm that was more than 100 km to the west. Another thunderstorm cell was even further away to the northwest and waiting in the wings. 

Climate change is contributing significantly to the impacts of severe convection. The atmosphere can hold an additional 7 to 8 percent more moisture with each degree Celsius increase in atmospheric temperature. Both heat and humidity are the essential fuels for convection. The atmospheric winds are also weaker as the temperature gradient decreases between the equator and the rapidly warming poles. The resultant convection is more likely to track along boundaries in the lower atmosphere with each cell dropping its ever-increasing precipitation load along the paths taken by the preceding cells. 

The effects of lake and land breezes for locating these convective tracks cannot be underestimated. The shape of the shorelines also plays a crucial role as well. There is much more to explain but be assured that flash flooding from such convection will become increasingly important in the climate future probably in regions that have never experienced it before. 

Water Vapour was my Go-To Data source to decipher the areas of convective threat...
From there I would drill down to locate the precise triggers and thus the Concern of the Day.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day"

#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day"
11x14 inchesoils on canvas

This is number four of a planned trilogy of florist sunflower-inspired paintings - that turned into a quartet. The stems could no longer support the blooms. The sunflowers turned to look for their roots. These flowers would be composted for the garden to nourish the next generation of sunflowers and paintings. 

Life is not always about the showy and bright flowers. The subtle, darker web of the twisted stems and leaves also supports the vortex of life as we all turn toward the light… like the sunflower in real life. I was concentrating on connecting the dark to the light with big brushes and strokes of energy. 

Brush size really determines the size of the pixel elements. And that needs to be consistent across the painting. 

             A trilogy of sunflowers from COVID 2021                             

These sunflowers came from a florist in celebration of birthdays and a party held within the Singleton Sanctuary. I thought that the flowers were so beautiful after the festivities that they needed to be recorded for posterity in oils. A similar story happened in 2021 when I painted #2565 "Past Prime Sunflower Bouquet", #2566 "Sunflower Bouquet Last Daze" and #2567 "Wilted Sunflowers". 

I painted four works based on this particular 2023 group of sunflowers: 

#2785 "June Sunflowers"; 
#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"; 
#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining" and 
#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day". 

A Quartet of Sunflowers from June 2023
The planned Trilogy became a Quartet

There are many more sunflowers painted but these were completed in a series of particular blooms with a story behind them as they dried out to become compost to nourish more flowers in the future. I have had a lifetime affection for sunflowers. Like daisies, I look forward to painting them every year. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining"

#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining"
20x16 inches oils on canvas

Paintings of a particular subject need to come in threes. This is the third in the series of sunflower paintings. It was almost a week probably after the florist harvested these sunflowers and they were starting to show their age. The blooms were getting too heavy for their weakened stems to support. It happens to us all. 

The cut sunflowers could no longer turn their blooms toward the sun. The water alone was not enough to keep them alive but even as they started to wilt into the next life, the blooms still shone in the oils. 

The colour choice was to link this painting with its partners in this endeavour. Linda said I must be going through a blue phase... it didn't matter to me. I was having fun and using lots of paint. The brushwork was fast and loose and I was listening to tunes in the Studio. 

             A trilogy of sunflowers from COVID 2021                             

These sunflowers came from a florist in celebration of birthdays and a party held within the Singleton Sanctuary. I thought that the flowers were so beautiful after the festivities that they needed to be recorded for posterity in oils. A similar story happened in 2021 when I painted #2565 "Past Prime Sunflower Bouquet", #2566 "Sunflower Bouquet Last Daze" and #2567 "Wilted Sunflowers". 

I painted four works based on this particular 2023 group of sunflowers: 

#2785 "June Sunflowers"; 
#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"; 
#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining" and 
#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day". 

A Quartet of Sunflowers from June 2023
The planned Trilogy became a Quartet

There are many more sunflowers painted but these were completed in a series of particular blooms with a story behind them as they dried out to become compost to nourish more flowers in the future. I have had a lifetime affection for sunflowers. Like daisies, I look forward to painting them every year. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection..

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"

#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

This is number two of a planned trilogy of florist sunflower-inspired paintings. One of the sunflower blooms was simply placed on the table beside the studio easel. Some light was pointed at the careless arrangement and then I simply painted.

I was letting my hair down and charging the canvas - hoping that the creative juices would flow and be enough. If the visual imagery was not enough, I had a supply of perhaps a thousand or two CDs that my Brother had collected from people who were downsizing. Some of that music was really old and classic and was the soundtrack of the last century. The music brought back a lot of memories indeed. 

I almost goofed on the name of this painting. Thank goodness there was only one bloom and that I used the singular form of "sunflower". 

             A trilogy of sunflowers from COVID 2021                             

These sunflowers came from a florist in celebration of birthdays and a party held within the Singleton Sanctuary. I thought that the flowers were so beautiful after the festivities that they needed to be recorded for posterity in oils. A similar story happened in 2021 when I painted #2565 "Past Prime Sunflower Bouquet", #2566 "Sunflower Bouquet Last Daze" and #2567 "Wilted Sunflowers". 

I painted four works based on this particular 2023 group of sunflowers: 

#2785 "June Sunflowers"; 
#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"; 
#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining" and 
#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day". 

A Quartet of Sunflowers from June 2023
The planned Trilogy became a Quartet

This article appeared in the local paper in 2020

There are many more sunflowers within my portfolio. These paintings were completed in a series of particular blooms with a story behind them as they dried out to become compost to nourish more flowers in the future. I have had a lifetime of affection for sunflowers. Like daisies, I look forward to painting them every year. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2785 "June Sunflowers"

#2785 "June Sunflowers"
16x20 inch gallery mounted (1.5 inch profile) canvas

I quite enjoy painting sunflowers. They are happy flowers with a wonderful message. I wanted to turn what looked like a portrait painting into a landscape format. There was some artistic sleight of hand required in the composition but not too much. 

I used a lot of paint. Yellow is an especially weak colour and I used two palettes to keep my colours clean. There was no preliminary drawing and I just charged at the canvas letting the oils flow and hoping that something good might result. The music was on loud. I wanted this painting to be bold and different. 

The Air Quality was bad due to the extensive fires in the Boreal forest. People were advised to stay inside - and that included artists. The weather and the associated impacts were all a result of climate change. I painted within the Singleton Studio in order to avoid the smoke and still be creative. 

             A trilogy of sunflowers from COVID 2021                             

These sunflowers came from a florist in celebration of birthdays and a party held within the Singleton Sanctuary. I thought that the flowers were so beautiful after the festivities that they needed to be recorded for posterity in oils. A similar story happened in 2021 when I painted #2565 "Past Prime Sunflower Bouquet", #2566 "Sunflower Bouquet Last Daze" and #2567 "Wilted Sunflowers". 

I painted four works based on this particular 2023 group of sunflowers: 

#2785 "June Sunflowers"; 
#2786 "Wilted Sunflower"; 
#2787 "Sunflowers Still Shining" and 
#2788 "Sunflowers Last Day". 

A Quartet of Sunflowers from June 2023
The planned Trilogy became a Quartet

An article from 2020 in a local newspaper before it folded.

One of several paintings from those 2020 blooms. 

There are many more sunflowers painted but these were completed in a series of particular blooms with a story behind them as they dried out to become compost to nourish more flowers in the future. I have had a lifetime of affection for sunflowers. Like daisies, I look forward to painting them every year. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2784 "Lance-leaved Aster"

#2784 "Lance-leaved Aster"
6x4 inches oils on canvas

It was the first day of Summer 2023. Summer began with the solstice at 10:58 A.M. EDT on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. I started painting this white aster shortly after noon.

After completing #2783 "Summer Solstice Jim Day Rapids" I simply turned to look down at this clump of flowers under the field easel. I had a small panel that needed to be painted. These tiny white flowers are everywhere throughout the Singleton Sanctuary and they are native to North America. They resemble small daisies and I thought capturing them en plein air without getting detailed would be a challenge. A lone, authentic daisy was mixed into the group, which I also included in the fun composition. The birds and the bees seem to enjoy these flowers. 

Plein Air Painters Thousand Islands Region (PAPTIR) started by my friend Robert P. Hedden.
 Lance-leaved asters were everywhere around where we painted.

Symphyotrichum lanceolatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America. Common names include panicled aster, lance-leaved aster, and white panicled aster. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 1.5 meters tall or more. 

The lance-shaped leaves are generally hairless but may feel slightly rough to the touch on the top because of tiny bristles. The flowers grow in clusters and branch in panicles. They have 16–50 white ray florets that are up to 14 millimeters (1⁄2 inch) long and sometimes tinged pink or purple. The flower centers consist of disk florets that begin as yellow and become purple as they mature. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection..

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2783 "Summer Solstice Jim Day Rapids"

#2783 "Summer Solstice Jim Day Rapids"
10x8 inches oils on canvas

Bob Hedden formed Plein Air Painters Thousand Islands Region (PAPTIR) in 2009. They arrange Plein Air Painting Events in Northern New York and Southern Ontario. This particular Wednesday they came to Singleton Lake to paint with me as they have several times in the past. Most of us stood overlooking Jim Day Rapids. 

It was the first day of Summer 2023. Summer began with the solstice at 10:58 A.M. EDT on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. The solstice shifts between June 20, 21, and 22. 

The word "solstice" comes from the Latin solstitium—from sol (Sun) and stitium (still or stopped). Due to Earth's tilted axis, the Sun doesn't rise and set at the same locations on the horizon each morning and evening; its rise and set positions move northward or southward in the sky as Earth travels around the Sun through the year. Also, the Sun's track in the sky becomes higher or lower throughout the year. The June solstice is significant because the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky at this time, at which point the Sun's path does not change for a brief period of time. 

The timing of the June solstice is not based on a specific calendar date or time; it all depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator. Therefore, the solstice won't always occur on the same day. Currently, it shifts between June 20, 21, and 22. 

Technically, it depends on whether we're speaking about the meteorological or astronomical start of the season. Most meteorologists divide the year into four seasons based on the months and the temperature cycle, which allows them to compare and organize climate data more easily. In this system, summer begins on June 1 and ends on August 31. Therefore, the summer solstice is not considered to be the first day of summer, meteorologically speaking. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2782 "Saturday Sunrise Daisies"

#2782 "Saturday Sunrise Daisies"
7x5 inches oils on canvas panel

I try to paint a daisy every year but I did not know enough about them until now. The reference books tell me that Leucanthemum vulgare, the ox-eye daisy or oxeye daisy is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia and an introduced plant to North America, Australia and New Zealand. It is one of a number of family Asteraceae plants to be called a "daisy", and has the additional vernacular names common daisy, dog daisy and moon daisy. Who knew? 

There is a song that I think of whenever I paint daisies... It makes me very sentimental. Jud Strunk's most popular song was "Daisy a Day", which Strunk wrote and recorded in 1973. It is a gentle, sentimental ballad in 3/4 time, describing the relationship between a boy and girl that ultimately grow old together. For every day of their lives, he gives her a daisy as a sign of their love. In the last verse, she has died, but her widower husband continues to make daily visits to her grave. The song made the Billboard Top 20 on both the country and pop music charts. On 5 October 1981, Jud suffered a heart attack while taking off in the aircraft at Carrabassett Valley Airport in Maine and was killed instantly along with his passenger. He was 45 years old.

Leucanthemum vulgare became an introduced species via gardens into natural areas in parts of Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, where it is now a common weed. In some habitats, it is an invasive species forming dense colonies displacing native plants and modifying existing communities and is classified as a noxious weed. It is difficult to control or eradicate, since a new plant can regenerate from rhizome fragments and is a problem in pastures where beef and dairy cattle graze, as usually they will not eat it, thus enabling it to spread. Ox-eye daisy is a host for several viral diseases affecting crops.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection...

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

#2781 "Dames Rockets 2023"

#2781 "Dames Rockets 2023"
6X6 inches oils on canvas

In June of 2022 I consulted with my very knowledgeable friends Aleta and Fred as to the identity of the flowers I had just painted, #2672 "Dames Rocket". They did not hesitate at labelling them as Dame's Rocket - sometimes tootled as an invasive specie, but generally just a few plants in a cluster on recently disturbed soil or along streams. 

The beautiful cluster of plants re-emerged again right on schedule in 2023 just as I was looking for something colourful to paint. There were a few insects visiting the flowers and their buzzing provided the soundtrack to the painting. 

Dame's rocket was brought to North America in the 17th century and has since become naturalized there, now growing throughout most of the US and Canada. Young leaves are high in vitamin C and can be eaten in salads and have a slightly bitter taste. Seeds can be sprouted and also eaten in salads. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go right to the Flowers Collection..

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick