#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"

#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"
Oils on stretched canvas, 18 X 24
Started February 14th, 1999.

My daughter, Janice, started to play hockey in the later years of high school and continued this at Trent University. The inter-mural university hockey league had only a few girls, with Janice being one of them. She played defense and although she is one of the smaller players, the other teams have learned not to be too rough, as her co-defence-man was big and very protective. 

The Trent University team she played on was called "Road Kill". The players all had nicknames based on common animals found along the sides of the roads. Janice always had a fascination with moose, perhaps stemming from the way I talk about animals or a close encounter of the moose kind I had in Alberta many years ago. Regardless, her name was "Moose" on this team, which is quite a contrast from her feminine stature. Her partner on defence used the moniker "Rigor Mortis".

The painting was based on a day of skating we had over the Christmas holidays of 1998. The ice was perfect, and Janice sat on a pine stump leaning on the south side of the marsh. The picture is looking southeast. It was a magical day, and the ice was like clear plate glass over large areas, and we could see the chunky smallmouth bass swimming underneath. The fish were very startled when we skimmed over their heads on our skates. 

View looking northwest toward the skating channel that led to the larger swamp. 

The "Hookie" in the title refers to Janice looking for almost any excuse to avoid schoolwork. In this case, the excuse was more than justified. It would have been a crime not to avail ourselves of the opportunity to skate on clear, thick ice.

#0429 "Moose - Back Pond Hookie"

That was before the days of digital photography, so I do not have anything in the way of  "in-progress" images. This painting is not yet on Fine Art America, but I may fix that omission. 

This scene was also a decade before cell phones would change the world and lifestyles. Family time spent out in nature is harder to find.

We learned a lot of lessons at Watershed Farm. It was a very special time, and I loved that place. Wonderful memories abound.

For this and much more art, the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick