#2891 "Dumoine Sandy Beach in the Mist"

#2891 "Dumoine Sandy Beach in the Mist"
Oils on canvas panel 4 X 6 (inches).
Started 7:15 am Saturday, August 3rd, 2024
from very near N46.466175 W77.767978.

The morning fog was lifting with the August sunrise. I was still drifting in my canoe and painting up a storm on small panels. I thought that I would revisit the sandy beach since the visibility had greatly improved. This westerly view of the point includes the two white pines that dominate the sandy point. 

The red cyclonic swirl included in the accompanying graphic required that I pick up the paddle instead of the brush every so often. I had to reposition the canoe so that the selected view was still in sight without me turning my head like an owl. 

I started painting at this exact location with #2889 

"Dumoine Campsite Sandy Beach Foggy Sunrise"  at 6:30 am. The cyclonic gyre spun the canoe to be in front of Pincushion Island for #2890 "Foggy Sunrise at the Dumoine Pincushion Island" which I started to paint at 7:00 am. I paddled across the swirl to get back to where I had started the day. 

The drift of the canoe got me thinking about how the sandy shores might have been shaped after the last ice age ended about 21,000 years ago. The following graphic explains the main details.

The Dumoine River narrows at this location causing the central current to be stronger in midstream. Some interesting meteorology can be applied to that current. Science can explain how the sandy soils might have been sculpted over the eons when the Dumoine had an even stronger flow than it was in 2024. The meltwater from the retreating glacier and ice sheet could have easily carved the landforms as witnessed along the Dumoine. 

The larger sandy island would have formed during the strongest outflow of meltwater. The flow diverges at the col in the deformation zone. The slackening of the flow where the current splits would deposit the bulk of debris in that location. 

The debris would also spread out along the axis of dilitation of the deformation zone, The bulk of the deposits would still be located near the col with lesser amounts tapering off on the "wings". 

As the meltwater flow weakened and was more easily diverted to the right by the Coriolis force, the remaining sand and rock would be dropped by the divergent flow at the redirected deformation zone. This glacial debris would form the smaller Pincushion Island which would also be located further upstream closer to the outflow than the larger island.  

The axis of contraction of the deformation zone for each island can be identified. The debris carried by the meltwater is oriented along the upstream axis of contraction. Some of the material is deposited in the approach to the col which can be clearly seen was the case for Pincushion Island. 

Of course, I was not on-site during these proposed events, but the science makes sense. I find it very interesting, and I admit to possessing a very eager imagination and a strong inquisitiveness about the natural world. 

This is number twenty-eight of thirty-five paintings I completed en plein air at CPAWS DRAW 2024. 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 CPAW and keep the 'wild' in the wilderness. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. Here is the link to the CPAWS DRAW Collection

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick