#2901 "Fisherman's Cove at the Narrows on Red Horse Lake"

#2901 "Fisherman's Cove at the Narrows on Red Horse Lake"
Oils on burnt sienna oil tinted commercial canvas panel - 8 X 10 (inches).
Started 9:45 am Friday, September 13th, 2024
from very near N44.527096 W76.091022

This was the third work of the three-day International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) WORLDWIDE Paint Out. There was not much of an "internet" in the autumn of 2001 to facilitate the forming of the International Plein Air Painters Organization. This plein air painting group was simply started within "Yahoo Groups". Small gatherings of artists responded to the horrific tragedy that was 911 throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Italy and some islands in the Caribbean. In 2024 International Plein Air Painters celebrates its 23rd Anniversary. I am a Charter and Honours Signature member of IPAP joining immediately in October 2001 when approached by the founder and my friend Jacq Baldini. 

As Jacq wrote recently:

"In 2001 it (911) hit my home (New York) and I felt strongly that en plein air painting could not remain regional, we had to come together as artists, Americans and the world through creating what we loved to do, not destroying and editing artists in Countries and Regions. It definitely needed to be inclusive, a World Wide movement to start the healing of our hearts and souls where creativity lives. From the small Yahoo group of which you were a Charter Member, we advanced and in 2024 have celebrated our 23rd Anniversary." 

This is the first time that I painted the northwest shore of the Narrows. This view was looking northwesterly just to the west of #2900 "Boathouse at Red Horse Lake Narrows". The subtle current was still taking the pontoon boat on a slow cyclonic tour of the north shore of Long Reach. The boat kept turning slowly in the gyre so I just kept painting. 

The Narrows is a friendly and quaint community on Red Horse Lake located at the northwest end of Long Reach. The history of the Narrows goes back not only to the early 1800’s but for thousands of years before that as well. It has always been a wonderful and enchanting place to live and an important destination to reach and explore. 

In The Rear of Leeds & Lansdowne : the making of community on the Gananoque River frontier, 1796-1996 by Glenn J. Lockwood, from 2012, it is recorded that a road was proposed to link Gananoque to the Narrows in the early 1800s. Apparently "Such a road was built as far north as the eighth concession of Leeds by Joel Stone in 1815, with Truman Hicock arranging to build the section north to the Narrows. At best it was a poor, winding link between the front and rear of Leeds. By the time it was built the administrative boundaries of Leeds and Lansdowne Rear had already taken shape. 

On page 202 of that book: 

"At a time when travel of any distance on area roads was fraught with difficulty, the forwarding of crops to market in boats down the Gananoque from Charleston, and perhaps from other points in Leeds and Lansdowne Rear, allowed Gananoque to offer some limited competition to Kingston and Brockville for the forwarding business of the back country. As late as 1832 it is possible to find maps showing the road constructed by Joel Stone and Truman Hicock in 1815 from Gananoque to the Narrows, but it was such a winding difficult route, that its use, if it ever was extensive, was curtailed almost completely, first, by use of the Gananoque River, and then by the opening of the Rideau Canal."  

1861 Map of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Canada West

The forest provides quite a beautiful backdrop for the idyllic location. I know the owners well. I hope they like my version of their home at the Narrows which remains an important destination in 2024. 

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

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick