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| #2955 "Singleton Spring Paddle" 14 x 18 by 7/8 depth cradled smooth panel (inches) Started 10:30 am Sunday, June 22nd, 2025 |
This is the western tip of our Singleton property. A finger of 1.2 billion-year-old marble points toward and plunges into the 50-foot-deep portion of Singleton Lake. This point is part of the remains of the "Grenville Mountains". The red cedars on this point are way older than their limited size would suggest. Point Paradise is a great place to sit and watch the world go by. It is also a wonderful spot to paint.
The Google Earth view from October 2023 (above) provides a detailed view of the shoreline structure. The rocky ridges run northeast to southwest and are the remains of the Grenville Orogeny. By the way, "orogeny" is a process in which a section of the Earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range. The ancient Grenville mountain chain extended from the coast of Labrador through Quebec and Ontario and then disappeared under younger rocks of the southwestern United States. That mountain range was likely as high as the Himalayas, potentially reaching nearly 30,000 feet. Those "Grenville Mountains" of the mid-late Mesoproterozoic age existed about 1000 Ma (Million years ago) and have eroded and been washed to the sea since then. The present-day Appalachians remain on the southeast flank of the original "Grenville Mountains.
Humans have discovered so much since the time of the Greeks, but still remain unenlightened. We are just one species within nature, but greed or arrogance motivates the consumption of 16 million years of sequestered carbon in just a few lifetimes. A lack of empathy for everything else allows this tragedy to unfold. What could go wrong? Life on Earth will reinvent itself without humans and try again soon.
There is almost no "tooth" (to grab and bite the oils) on these gessoed, cradled panels. I use this as an advantage to loosen up my brushwork. Just a few brushstrokes are employed to lay the paint on thick, wet on very wet. Art needs to be fun - painting with pools and swirls of oil and pure colour is the answer. My Dad built the stretcher bars, and I aspire to use every one of them before I am done.
The westward-facing rocky slope is the domain of a couple of dozen gnarled and flagged red cedars. They are heavily flagged by the strong west winds. Some red cedars have broken limbs, but they hang on. A grove of towering red oaks, maples and shagbark hickories is found on the east side of the marble ridge. This is a Carolinian Forest paradise on the extreme northern fringe of that unique biogeographic region.
The Google Earth view from October 2023 (above) provides a detailed view of the shoreline structure. The rocky ridges run northeast to southwest and are the remains of the Grenville Orogeny. By the way, "orogeny" is a process in which a section of the Earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range. The ancient Grenville mountain chain extended from the coast of Labrador through Quebec and Ontario and then disappeared under younger rocks of the southwestern United States. That mountain range was likely as high as the Himalayas, potentially reaching nearly 30,000 feet. Those "Grenville Mountains" of the mid-late Mesoproterozoic age existed about 1000 Ma (Million years ago) and have eroded and been washed to the sea since then. The present-day Appalachians remain on the southeast flank of the original "Grenville Mountains. I have painted this characteristic point before.
See the following for links to Fine Art America.
Note how unsuccessful I have been at keeping the names of the paintings unique. There are a couple of "Point" and "Spring" Paradises in this list. Thankfully, the chronological numbers are one of a kind.
I am most fortunate. There is no need or desire to travel to the south of France searching for something to paint. Inspiration can be found around every corner. So I stay home, paint and look after the forests while surrounded by nature.
Such an approach also keeps my carbon footprint pretty low. Geothermal energy is found in the ground. Solar energy is delivered free to the doorstep, providing both electricity and our domestic hot water. The Earth and the Sun provide everything that Singleton really needs, and it is very much appreciated.
I was in the Studio because of the tropical heat and humidity outside. It would have been like standing in a blast furnace to be painting en plein air. This is Global Warming and a direct result of the release of 16 million years of sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere in just a couple of hundred years.
The following graph of atmospheric carbon dioxide sums up the last hundred million years. The "Grenville Mountains" of my painting were formed near the top of the pink Proterozoic layer in the time-frame inset. If drawn to scale, the two hundred years of the Industrial Age, which tragically upset the atmospheric balance, would be a microscopically thin wafer at the top of the mountain of time and not the size of the truck as sketched.
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| Bust of Solon, copy from a Greek original |
Like Solon, the Greek philosopher (c. 630 – c. 560 BC), when he mused:
"I grow old learning something new every day"
Learning is a continuous process, not limited by age or circumstance. Art and science are worthy things to occupy one's time and efforts. There is something new to discover with each painting. Just my opinion...
Life remains good if I remain focused on the positive and ignore the news. It is interesting that the word "news" originated from the Middle English word "newes," in the 14th century. Being the plural of "new", the word means "new things" or "new information". There are common misconceptions that "news" is an acronym for "North, East, West, South" or "Notable Events, Weather, Sports". The acronyms make sense, but are wrong.
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
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