#2801 "Pennisseault Lake Morning"

#2801 "Pennisseault Lake Morning"
11x14 oils on stretched canvas

I was on my way back from Canadian Tire in Deep River where I picked up a replacement air mattress. I was hoping that the new one would not deflate in a couple of hours. Always positive... 

I stopped at the steep boat ramp leading into the south basin of Pennisseault Lake. It was a quiet location a hundred feet off the busy Dumoine Road. The southerly view also provided a clear look at the weather. I had a pair of loons do a flyby as I painted. I did not see any juvenile loons during the entire week I spent on the Dumoine. A large water snake also passed by at my feet. Otherwise, I was alone. 

The brisk easterly wind at cloud level shredded the cumulus as they raced on the way into the approaching low-pressure area. I could hear the wind descending into the tops of the pines as I was finishing up the painting. The whisper of the wind in the forest was almost musical. Water skater insects were liberally sprinkled across the surface of the still-calm lake. The dimples of their bodies darting around on the surface tension made it look like it was already raining. It was not. 

Done like dinner...

There was a deck of altocumulus above the brighter turbulent cumulus fractus. Altocumulus typically form in the gentle updraft preceding a storm. The deformation zone in the weather pattern was already far to the northeast. Thunderstorms were very likely to begin in just a few hours. Trees were blown down across the Dumoine Road again that afternoon in several places. Tornadoes were also reported in the Ottawa Valley. 

"Pennisseault" is French for "peninsula" - a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water. I guess it also can describe the water.

Dumoine Road crosses the causeway creating two large bodies of water. The story goes (from my new friend Bob McDonald) that a local trucker had bought a brand new 600-horsepower truck that he would use to haul logs. As the driver approached the bridge, he had second thoughts that the wood-framed structure could take the load. He drove on. About halfway across the bridge, there was a tremendous crash. The trucker thought that the best option was to proceed quickly across the bridge rather than risk crashing into the water. 

Dumoine River Road Covered Bridge at Mileage 4

He made it safely across the bridge but the truck was wearing the roof of the old bridge like a hat. The present-day causeway replaced the historic covered bridge crossing. Not as elegant as the old covered bridge, but better suited to the larger and heavier logging loads on the road.

The lakes along the Dumoine road are "wide spots" in the Pinceau River which empties into the Ottawa River below the ZEC (Zone d'Expressions Coopératives - Area Co-Expression) 

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