#2798 "Dumoine Wetland Thunderstorm"

#2798 "Dumoine Wetland Thunderstorm"
8x10 inches oils on a smooth panel

After completing #2797 "Mack's Shack at Lake Pinceau" I drove north along Dumoine Road to find the surface warm front. I came to an attractive and extensive wetland that stretched to the horizon before I got as far north as the Grande Chute. I could imagine the moose and the host of other creatures that called that expansive wetland home. I decided to stay a while on the sandy shoulder of Dumoine Road and paint. 

I watched some cumulonimbus start to bubble up to the north. They identified the location of the surface warm front. After laying in the composition, I heard the first rumble of thunder. That cumulonimbus and the warm front were within 20 kilometres. I would have to lay in the oils a bit quicker to get the smooth and slippery surface covered in oils before the rain arrived. The frequency of the thunder increased as the storms multiplied and got closer. I did get wet but it was a warm rain in the forward flank downdraft. The grey SCUD (Scattered Cumulus Under Deck) crossed over the ridge with the downdraft winds of the rear flank. It was time to quit. I had to pack up my metal, lightning rod easel before the updraft region of the thunderstorms arrived. 

Typically a pulse of energy in the atmosphere tracks around the rim of the heat dome and follows the orientation of the warm front. A comma shape of severe thunderstorms ripple along the warm front. Downburst winds are common in such situations as well as tornadoes along the location of the surface warm front. I needed to finish my painting for the day...

The first severe thunderstorms had already arrived when I got back to the CPAWS DRAW Camp. Some large tarps were flattened to the ground. Everything was wet. A birch tree had been broken at its stump but was still standing. The Camp was soaked but the spirits of the campers were still very dry. 

CPAWS-Ottawa Valley has hosted DRAW Retreat for Artists since 2017. DRAW is a clever acronym for Dumoine River Art for Wilderness. I have attended every year except during COVID. There is no better cause. The goals are admirable and ones that I deeply share. The objective is ultimately to make a lasting difference like A.Y Jackson and the Ontario Society of Artists did in the case of Killarney Provincial Park. The impacts of climate change are already being felt. There is no time left for dithering. 

This is the sixth of twenty-seven paintings I completed en plein air at CPAWS DRAW 2023. It was a wonderful experience with a terrific group of people. https://cpaws-ov-vo.org/draw-retreat-artists/ A portion of sales from this endeavour will go to support CPWAS and keep the wild in the wilderness.  

6:12 pm August 3rd, 2023 showing the pulse 
of energy rippling along the warm front with
a comma shape of severe thunderstorms

For this and much more art, click on Pixels. To go to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Collection on  Fine Art America, click here. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick