#2809 "Midday Dumoine River from Lac Pinceau"

#2809 "Midday Dumoine River from Lac Pinceau"
11(height) X 14 (width) and 7/8 profile. 

The sun was definitely hot at 10 am and it was going to get hotter. I decided not to waste any of the cooler time driving so set up my easel on the northwest side of Dumoine Road to record the change in lighting that three hours can have on a landscape. 

It was a bluebird day. I focussed on the forest and how the white pines stretched up into the sky. The sound of the waterfall was soothing background music when there was not a Rhino careening by. 

Upon completion, I momentarily set the finished painting on the ground to let the sun tack it up. I was preparing to start work on the next painting at the boat ramp into Lac Pinceau. I heard a shuffling sound and saw a little toad crawl and jump across the wet canvas. I gently shooed the toad onto the grass. The toad left some marks in the in the sky that weren’t appropriate. I fixed them up on the spot before the oils really did set. Some of the other marks almost fit in so I left them alone. Sometimes the best brush strokes can be the accidents that occur. 

Me T-shirt says "Art IS Work". Very true! 

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 goal 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 for dithering. 

This is number seventeen of twenty-eight 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. 

The hatch of the Paint Mobile can get messy... but I leave only footprints behind.

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