#3016 "Singleton Pioneer Garden Shed"

#3016 "Singleton Pioneer Garden Shed"
11 X 14 (inches).
Started Sunday, April 19th, 2026

This painting completes the pioneer trilogy inspired by a stroll around the Singleton Pioneer Barn on Groundhog Day 2026. The triplets include this painting as well as #2997 "Singleton Pioneer Cedar Rail Coral" and #2998 "Singleton Split Cedar Fence". Together, they tell a story that was written only a century ago, when people lived more in harmony with nature and the land. Much has changed, but not for the better, as governments roll back hard-won environmental laws and "stomp on nature" for personal profit. 

Captain Justus Sherwood was sent by the governor of Quebec in 1783 to scout out potential locations for settling Loyalist refugees from the American War of Independence  (1775 – 1783). Sherwood dismissed the forty-mile stretch of terrain north of the Thousand Islands between Elizabethtown and Kingston as "exceedingly bad, being a constant succession of stoney ledges and sunken swamps, altogether unfit for cultivation....". 

Sherwood's fellow officer, Lieutenant Gershom French, led by First Nations guides, travelled up the Ottawa River that same summer. They explored the Rideau River to its headwaters, and then portaged to scout the possibilities for settlement along the Gananoque River. They would have paddled through Singleton Lake right past our home. His conclusion was equally bleak: "From our entrance in the River Gananoncoui (near Lyndhurst/Furnace Falls) to its fall into the St. Lawrence, I did not discover as much good land conveniently situated as would serve one Farmer." 

Such were the 1783 descriptions of where we would call home in 2006. The explorers could not see the true nature of the landscape. 

Another 1795 survey crew attempting to locate a path for a canal that would avoid the American threat camped at Singleton Lake and produced map Number 4 below for the Gananoque Canal Plan. They referred to the fast current in front of our home as "Jem Dey's Rapids". Luckily, that Gananoque River alternative to the Rideau Canal never got built. How that name of the rapids originated or morphed into "Jim Day Rapids" might never be known. 

The evaluations of the late 1700s missed the reality of the land, which now comprises the Frontenac Arch Biosphere. Singleton Lake is right in the middle of that natural paradise. The Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designated in 2002. It is one of just 16 biosphere reserves in Canada. The environment and nature of the region are truly unique, and our efforts are all designed to preserve that and even make it better. 

As alluded to above, nature and the environment remain underappreciated and under assault. The Alto high-speed rail project is being pushed through to move people from just a few communities at the "important" ends of the line in Quebec City, Ottawa, and Toronto at speeds up to 300 km/h. The goal is to perhaps save an hour or so of travelling time while callously wasting everything in between. 

Those who might afford to be on that train will only see a blur of destruction. Under the banner of "Nation Building Progress", Alto is Canada’s next budget bomb that will destroy the environment in its path in the process. Shame. Alto must be stopped. The global track record for high-speed projects in North America is bleak. To ignore others' experiences would be foolish, but that is the arrogance of governments and politicians. 

This Alto story reminds me of the Titanic disaster of 1912.  Despite receiving multiple wireless warnings from other vessels about drifting ice, Captain E.J. Smith maintained the ship's high speed (approx. 22 knots) through the night. The Chairman and Managing Director of the White Star Line discussed speeding up with Captain Smith to generate favourable press for arriving early. Careful and timely deliberation is required much more than speed. 

Life in the Alto "fast lane" is not what it is built up to be. One can live much better while really seeing and appreciating if one moves placidly surrounded by nature. 

Jim Day Rapids still looks the same in 2026 as it did 250 years ago. Here is how it looked in 1922.

We purchased the property from Fred's son John in 2006, promising to be good stewards of the land and nature. Promises sealed with a handshake still mean something... I wish we had the resources to steward more land... If my art ever goes viral, that is what I plan to do. 

The following collage depicts some of the steps required to get this story on a canvas. 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to 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