#2816 "Bonanza in the Early Morning Rain"

#2816 "Bonanza in the Early Morning Rain"

Oils on 7(height) X 5(width) canvas panel

It had rained hard most of the night. I slept soundly through most of it and relaxed listening to the heavy rain on the tent for the rest. Some water did penetrate my meagre tent defences but the new, heavily discounted, end-of-the-season Canadian Tire air mattress (secured right after painting #2800 "Sunrise on Colton Bay of the Ottawa River") kept me dry above the water line. After I got up I simply tilted the tent forward toward the door to let the flood drain. My tent was not calibrated as a rain gauge but I was guessing that 70 millimetres or more must have fallen overnight. That tally is about equal to a month of rainfall during the summer and it fell in about twelve hours. 

I would move the tent later in the day after all of the DRAW participants had left. That would allow proper airing and drying of everything. I could pick any site I wanted. A location that was high and dry beside the log barn caught my eye. I would paint the front door of the old log barn which also probably predated Joe Madore's Inn. I would name that painting #2818 "The Broad Side of a Dumoine Pioneer Barn Door". 

I suppose I was thinking of Hoss, Little Joe and Gordon Lightfoot when the name of this painting popped into my brain. The rain had tapered to drizzle when I started to paint on Tuesday morning. I wanted to paint out of the way while the other campers had breakfast and packed up their gear preparing to return home. I was going to stay another night and drive home well after the holiday traffic had left the highways. I also wanted to be nearby so that I could visit briefly with my new friends when they headed home. 

I liked how the vapours from the rain rose from the forest and mixed with the fog and overcast stratus. The colours of the thick fog contrasted with the brighter white of the mist rising from the forest canopy. There is a lot of science to explain how the forest exchanges heat and moisture with the atmosphere. The colour of the red roof complemented everything. 

Bonanza was now another camp just outside the site of the CPAWS DRAW 2023. The Dumoine Road was really muddy and full of deep ruts so I decided not to travel far. The reddish orange roof of the fairly new camp was certainly a landmark along the Dumoine Road and I had not painted it yet. 

Stompin' Tom Connors performed at the Bonanza

This hotel was originally built (in the early 40's ) in the Swisha by Joe Madore called "Joe Madore's Inn" It was sold to John Daly in the 50's. He named it "Bonanza". It was frequented by snowmobilers, and at one point had a rope tow for skiers. It was also owned by Father Harrington & Ken Gonneau. 

This is number twenty-four 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. 

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