#2977 "Singleton Sunrise Blue Heron"

#2977 "Singleton Sunrise Blue Heron" 
16 X 24 and 3/4 profile (inches).
Started 1:30 pm Friday, September 5th, 2025

A cold front had crossed Singleton Lake, and heat was leaving the pool in the guise of Arctic Sea Smoke. Arctic sea smoke or steam fog forms when very cold air moves over a relatively warmer body of water. The process involves warm, moist air evaporating from the water surface and then rapidly cooling and condensing into visible water droplets. The parcels of air containing those water droplets are heated strongly from below and rise convectively. Wind shear, which is when the wind vector changes in speed and/or direction, can spin a column of rising air into rotating vortices. The rising air must be replaced by subsiding air, which spatially separates the rising and rotating columns. Evenly spaced columnar vortices often form along surface convergence lines, which can help to trigger the rising air parcels. Air motions in the atmosphere can entertain me for hours. 

My friend John Verburg is an early riser as well, searching for interesting and beautiful examples of nature. John discovered a real gem on Lyndhurst Creek just north of Singleton Lake in early September 2025. The great blue heron landed on a little bit of rocks and was about to go fishing. The forest was strongly backlit by the rising sun. Some of the sunrise light was catching the little pines on the rocky outcrop. The heron was looking for sustenance along the rock shoal - perhaps a frog or two. The water was very low compared to the historical levels etched into the rocky point. The lake level was almost three feet lower than it was in the spring. 

Great blue herons are a favourite of ours. They return to Singleton in mid-March and stay right into early November, although it is challenging to identify the occasion when you see the last heron of the year. 

Sometimes, lucky flicks of the brush can create tiny miracles. The suggestion of the eye on the heron was totally accidental. Even the photograph of reality did not catch the eye. The action of leaving that small part of the canvas untouched again was very deliberate. 

The following collage of "in progress" images summarizes the steps required to get the inspiration onto canvas. 

The science of Arctic Sea Smoke can be very interesting. We only witness small and fleeting steam fog vortices at Singleton. Such circulations can be scaled up into waterspouts over larger bodies of water. The concepts are briefly explained in the following graphic. 

Art and science continue to make sense, which explains why I focus on both to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. Both are inspired by nature. Enjoy!

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

Thank you so very much for spending some time with my art and science. It means the world to an artist!

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick