#3032 "Killbear Lighthouse Smoky Sunrise"

#3032 "Killbear Lighthouse Smoky Sunrise"
11 X 14 (inches) oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Saturday, July 25th, 2026 

My friend Cam was cruising at sunrise on Friday, July 24th, 2026. Cam knows what I enjoy interpreting in oils and is always on the lookout for me. I use his suggestions for Studio paintings when conditions encourage me to stay inside. It would be impossible to paint those scenes on location as well. The water would be much too deep for my field easel. 

This inspiration is from 6:27 am in front of Lighthouse Point, Killbear. The sunrise occurred about a half hour before at 5:55 am EDT and at an angle of 60° toward the northeast. I would have loved to be there in person with nothing between my eyes and the sunrise light. It is easier and safer to just stay home. 

The city of Parry Sound was just 10 kilometres to the east as the bird flies or the canoe paddles. By road, the distance to the city was 40 kilometres away via ON-559 E and Highway 400. I prefer the paddle approach to the "Big Smoke".

Smoke from wildfires in the Rockies and the Boreal forest was casting an unrealistic and ominous hue on the sunrise light. Wildfires were burning all across North America and, in fact, the world. That should come as no surprise. Meteorologists and climatologists have been sounding that alarm for decades. The following summarizes the situation while I painted at the Studio easel that my Dad made. 

Canada, and especially the higher latitudes, are warming faster than the global average. The polar regions are heating up at 4 times the global rate for solid, scientific reasons.  

As a direct result, Canada's forests are drying out rapidly. The rising temperature has a direct impact on this dehydration. A one-degree Celsius increase in air temperature increases the atmospheric water-holding capacity by about 7%.  Deep organic soil layers are added to the dried surface litter to become flammable fuel, easily ignited by frequent lightning strikes. The amount of fuel for wildfires escalates with the heat. 

Thunderstorms are also energized by the higher temperatures and humidities. Lightning is now much more frequent at higher latitudes. 

Climate warming has also reduced the winter snowpacks and led to hotter summers, encouraging insect infestations. The resulting severe environmental stress weakens trees, triggers widespread diebacks, and fuels massive, fast-spreading wildfires across the boreal landscape. Pyrogenetic tornadoes, sometimes referred to as “fire whirls”, “fire devils”, or “firenadoes”, are now common. 

Damaged and burned forests shift from absorbing carbon to releasing massive amounts into the atmosphere. One of many tipping points that need immediate attention for the health of the planet.

If you wish to learn more and even be entertained at the same time, I highly recommend John Vaillant's book "Fire Weather". It is a textbook on the science and sociological aspects of climate change disguised as an action tale about the Fort McMurray wildfire in the middle of the Alberta oil sands.

Wildfires are not just a North American concern but are happening around the Globe. Europe is on fire as well! Visit https://firemap.live/ for more details, including the dire news in the Southern Hemisphere. Australia typically suffers greatly increased bushfires during El Niño years. This does not bode well given the current "Super" El Niño, which will impact the Earth for the next year or two. 2027 will be the warmest year on record when all of the observations have been tallied.

The planet has leaped across the "OnePointFive-Celsius" climate line in the sand. To refresh our memory, a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1850s pre-industrial levels was set by the Paris Agreement of November 2016 as a critical defence limit required to prevent the worst effects of global climate change. Warming in excess of 1.5 degrees Celsius would trigger severe heatwaves, major sea-level rises, widespread ecosystem losses and more. Sounds like the world news from today... and tomorrow. 

That critical 1.5 degrees Celsius limit was jumped like a wildfire, ignoring the nonflammable material gap, meant as a firebreak intended to stop the progress of the flames. Humans have propelled the Earth full steam ahead in the Petrocene. 

If you only have time to read 25 pages, try Chapter 20 of John Vaillant's book "Fire Weather". These few pages summarize the science, corporate greed and pitiful, pandering politicians seeking ever more profit and power.'

The colours in the Killbear sunrise are intended to be a bit shocking. Humans should be shocked, if not incensed, at what we are doing to the only planet we will ever know. A Star Trek escape to Planet B is science fiction, and this little blue planet is our only reality. The colours are real and the direct result of humans, greedily wanting more. There is nothing natural about the climate crisis. 

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

PS: Canada's Changing Climate Report 2026, released September 4, 2026 (available for download here: https://lnkd.in/gJzV-rk4) is a good summary of the facts. Canada is warming, especially in the north; the fire season is getting longer, and the impacts of burning fossil fuels show no signs of abating. The deeds of Canada and much of the world are those of a hotrod racer with one foot flat out on the gas. The other foot might be pumping the brakes, or maybe just pretending. Canada still heavily subsidizes the fossil fuel corporations. Please be informed. 

PSS: Some nations like Ecuador, Bolivia, and Panama have enshrined the "Rights of Nature" in their constitutions and political platforms. Canada is not yet one of those. 

#3031 "Great Blue Rookery"

#3031 "Great Blue Rookery"
36 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:00 am Monday, July 20th, 2026

Great Blue Herons and their antics are the stars of the Singleton Sanctuary. A "Big Daddy" Great Blue Heron was on the rocky point when we first visited the location of our future home in the autumn of 2006. Big Daddy lingered while I strolled down to Jim Day Rapids. That memory has been indelibly placed in our brains. 

A blue heron rookery is a communal breeding colony where great blue herons gather to build nests, court, and raise their chicks. These active, sometimes noisy sites are typically located in the tops of tall trees near wetlands to protect the gangly young from predators like raccoons. Apparently, what I called a rookery in the title is more properly called a "heronry".

Key Characteristics of a Rookery

• Colony Size: Rookeries can host anywhere from 50 to over 500 nesting pairs.
• Nesting: Females weave platforms made of sticks that males deliver. 
• Over time, these nests can grow to massive sizes spanning up to 4 feet across.
• Breeding Season: Mating begins in late winter to early spring.
• Females lay 2 to 6 pale blue eggs, and it takes about a month for them to hatch. The chicks fledge and leave the nest after about two months.
• Protection: Because herons rely on these same nesting grounds year after year, human disturbance is the leading cause of nest failure. Wildlife experts recommend staying at least 1,000 feet away from an active rookery to avoid causing the birds to abandon their nests.

Great Blue Herons live in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. They also forage in grasslands and agricultural fields, where they stalk frogs and mammals. Most breeding colonies are located within a few miles of feeding areas, often in isolated swamps or on islands, and near lakes and ponds bordered by forests. 

Great Blue Herons eat nearly anything within striking distance, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other birds. They grab smaller prey in their strong mandibles or use their dagger-like bills to impale larger fish, often shaking them to break or relax the sharp spines before gulping them down. I have seen them dine on chipmunks... 

Nearly 70% of great blue herons die before they reach one year of age. Starvation, severe weather, and predators like raccoons, crows, and hawks threaten the young chicks and eggs. Birds that survive the first year reach breeding age at about two years old. 

The average lifespan of a great blue heron is about 15 years in the wild, with a maximum recorded age of roughly 25 years. Big Daddy, whom we saw in 2006, might still be with us!

This backlit image was taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. John has a very long lens and is very empathetic to nature. I am certain that he did not cause these herons any distress. A couple of the young herons were looking at John, and I painted them that way. 

John provides a tremendous source of inspiration that encourages me to paint within the Singleton Studio when conditions outside are not conducive to plein air. It was a very hot and smoky week in mid-July. Conditions outside were really quite bad for your health. 

Breathing wildfire smoke is frequently compared to smoking cigarettes because both contain hazardous fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter that penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream. Health experts use the PM 2.5 concentration to convert air quality into cigarette equivalents:

• Moderate to Unhealthy Air (AQI 100-150): Breathing this air outdoors for a full day is equal to smoking about 7 to 9 cigarettes.
• Severe Spikes (AQI 150-200): During intense wildfire plumes, this equivalence can quickly rise to smoking 10 to 12 cigarettes or more.

One can imagine what "Very Unhealthy" and "Hazardous" Air Quality might mean for your health! Toronto had the worst air quality on the planet during this event. Not something to be proud of. 

Smoke, like the weather, does not care about international borders. Wildfires throughout the Boreal forest and the Rocky Mountains disperse their smoke with the wind that happens to be blowing. While the chemical profiles differ, experts note that wildfire smoke can arguably be more dangerous than a cigarette because it lacks a filter and affects everyone indiscriminately. I highly recommend John Vaillant's "Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast" (published in 2023) if you would like to learn more. I have never smoked a cigarette and was not about to start.

On a positive note, the smoke encouraged me to tackle this very fun subject. Painting nature while at the easel my Dad made always brings back some wonderful memories. The atmospheric background was actually suggested in the photo by what I witnessed in the same sky on the evening of Thursday, July 23rd. That thin cirrostratus and smoky sunset sky was brightly backlit. 

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3030 "Clouds Framing Harold’s Point"

#3030 "Clouds Framing Harold’s Point"  
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 11:00 am Thursday, July 16th, 2026

These photos were taken by my good friend Cam, whom I have known since 1985 when we moved to Schomberg, Ontario - right after the May 31st Barrie Tornado. One of the tornadoes along the cold front passed a couple of kilometres north of the home we had just purchased on Western Avenue. It was a stressful time, but everything worked out well with good neighbours. 

Cam knows exactly what I like to paint! Windswept trees bend over rugged, pink-hued rocks along a shoreline, reflected in the water below. Bold strokes and vibrant colours can inspire a dynamic and lively scene. 

I have walked and painted those rocks many times, and unlike me, they never get old. The following are most of Harold's Rock paintings:

#2002 "Killbear Flagged Pines at Sunset", #2528 "Harold's Point at Killbear", #2534 "Sunrise on the Killbear Jumping Rocks", #2535 "Sunrise on Killbear Light", #2536 "Killbear Cirrus Sunrise", #2914 "Harold's Flag over Killbear" and #3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock". There might be others... 

"A Boy and His Dream"

The weather is prominent in this painting with the low horizon. I once met James Lumbers in the Wild Wings Gallery in Schomberg in the 1990s. Lumbers' paintings are distinctly Canadian and quite memorable (see "A Boy and His Dream" on the right). I had some skyscapes in the gallery at the time. James realized that I was a meteorologist and quickly determined that I should concentrate on painting the weather. My portfolio is full of a very wide range of subject matter that defies classification. “Write what you know” is usually attributed to Mark Twain, but the phrase can be easily morphed into painting. Appropriately, James resides on Georgian Bay, and I still interpret a lot of skyscapes, but many things catch my attention and my brush. I resist being put into any box. 

The following collage summarizes a few of the steps required to capture this skyscape, complete with altocumulus gravity waves with smaller embedded waves at right angles. This pattern reveals wind shear in the environment consistent with veering winds with height and warm air advection. There is no quiz on this material. I just wanted to paint the clouds... 

There is some very interesting meteorology written in "cloud script" in that sky. Here is a pictorial summary of some things to look for in nature - saving thousands of words in the process. 

The lines in the sky are "Cloud Script" that reveal the meteorology and physics within the atmospheric ocean. The stories that the "Cloud Script" tell are always unfolding in terms of weather. Those tales are always there in the sky, with or without the vapours that make them intelligible to the human observer. The multiple, sophisticated sensing channels of modern satellites uncover those secrets when those cloud lines are written in "invisible ink" to the human senses. 

Weather and nature are my friends and something that I need to record in oils...

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3029 "Windswept Killbear Pine"

#3029 "Windswept Killbear Pine" 
24 X 20 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Sunday, July 12th, 2026

I have painted the famous windswept white pine tree at Killbear Provincial Park before. The "flagged pine" on Sunset Point is a signature symbol of Georgian Bay.  It is highly recognizable for its unique lean, shaped by more than a century of strong, prevailing onshore westerly winds. Sometimes we all need to bend with the wind to survive. It is likely the most photographed tree in Ontario, if not Canada. I have my share of photos and paintings of that spot.

This white pine has sadly been rotting from the inside out and can no longer support its own weight. Park officials have installed braces to prop the pine in its hour of need. More importantly, this white pine has been successfully cloned by the Forest Gene Conservation Association to preserve its exact genetic line. At the moment, 30 white pine clones are being nurtured at a facility in Kemptville, Ontario, for future planting in the park.

The Anishinabek called this area Mukwa Nayosh, which translates exactly as "Bear Point". Black Bears traditionally swim from the mainland shores to nearby islands.  An 1866 township map labels the currently identified "Lighthouse Point" as "Kill Bear Point" following a highly publicized event. Apparently, a legendary tale relates that a logging crew had a fatal or dramatic interaction at that specific point on the land, in which a logger killed a bear, or a bear killed a logger. European settlers gradually morphed "Kill Bear Point" into "Killbear Point".  Hmmm... I much prefer "Bear Point". 

Painting #2288 "Parry Island Canine Cove Cabin"

I have painted near black bears in the area. They leave me alone, and I certainly do not bother them. I once got a picture of one nearby while en plein air. The young bear strolled onto the dock where I was painting and then ambled off when he saw me with my paintbrush. That bear was not into posing for a work of art...

My friend Cam provided this inspiration. He knows exactly what I like to paint when I can't get to visit Georgian Bay and paint on location. Thankfully, I know the area well and have many memories from years of exploring that shoreline. 

In late summer of 2017, I was fortunate to be on a tour of Ontario Provincial Parks presenting "Tom Thomson Was a Weatherman". Killbear Provincial Park was one of my favourite stops! 

The summer staff were terrific and very energetic, but the younger generation does not know the Tom Thomson story. Killbear staff actually thought that Tom himself was going to deliver that presentation. I tried to spread the word, but maybe it is time to just move on and accept change.

The windswept white pine is barely discernible in this skyscape composition. The star of the canvas is the tall cumulonimbus tower sparked by the lake breeze convergence line just inland from the shore. These towers could easily produce lightning. I think these clouds are really beautiful, albeit potentially life-threatening. 

Tom Thomson and some of the members of the future Group of Seven painted in the Parry Sound area in 1914. 

The goal was to preserve the energy in those clouds and the pines within the brushstrokes on the 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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles"

#3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles"
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 9:30 am Saturday, July 11th, 2026

My friend Cam was prowling around the many beautiful locations on Georgian Bay. Cam always has an eye out for subjects that might be inspirational. Cam knows exactly what motivates my art. Windswept trees bend over rugged, pink-hued rocks along a shoreline, reflected in the water below, with lots of clouds in the sky.  

In this case, every element is interesting. Cam had me with the developing thunderstorms. I could not resist. The meteorology along the lake breeze front is always dynamic. The lake breeze convergence zone was one of my favourite and very dynamic forecast tools. 

Cumulonimbus clouds were developing on that convergence line, making this a skyscape rather than a lighthouse painting. The towers were twisting and tilting inland as they developed. The pines were heavily flagged by the prevailing, onshore southwesterly winds. 

The goals on this canvas were to loosen up my brushwork and to make those convective cells three-dimensional as they billowed out of the canvas toward the observer. The convective towers reminded me of castles in the sky. 

The Georgian Bay Snug Harbour is historic! It is a beautiful waterfront enclave about 20 km west of Parry Sound. It is renowned for its weathered boathouses, the historic Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse, and ideal access to the 30,000 Islands of the world's largest freshwater archipelago. 

Built in 1893, the Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse is a one-and-a-half-storey dwelling with a tapered tower rising from the centre of its roof. It became operational within a year, in 1894. Located at the southern tip of Snug Island and directly west of Snug Harbour in Georgian Bay, the lighthouse is ideally situated to direct marine traffic into Snug Harbour or onto Parry Sound. The combined dwelling and tower achieve a height of 14 metres (45 feet) from base to vane. The Snug Harbour Front Range Lighthouse is located on Walton Island just to the west. Three related buildings on the site contribute to the heritage character of the lighthouse: the boathouse (1920), the generator building (1920), and the storage shed (circa 1960). 

The oval inset includes the details of the heritage structures in the painting. 

I have interpreted Snug Harbour before in #2311 "Snug Harbour Range Rear Lighthouse", #2312 "Snug Harbour", #2316 "Outbound from Snug Harbour", #2556 "Snug Island Canoe Channel" and perhaps more where "Snug" does not appear in the title. Tom Thomson and some artist friends who would form the Group of Seven in May 1920 painted in the area around 1914.

The following summarizes some of the steps taken in #3028 "Snug Harbour Sky Castles". There was a lot of energy in the atmosphere. I wanted that vitality to come through in the brushwork. 

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather"

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather"
20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas.
Started at 10:30 am Tuesday, July 7th, 2026  

The heavily flagged tree on Charlton Lake, photographed by Richard McKenzie, caught my eye. A friend saw the image on a Facebook post and forwarded the link. The granite point and thunderstorm background really appealed to me. I reached out to Richard to inquire if I might use his photo for inspiration. Singleton was in the middle of an oppressive heat wave with high UV values and smoke from Boreal infernos. Any outside activity was discouraged given the Climate Crisis conditions. 

Richard responded: "Please do. I would ask for photo credit if it is for sale." Technically, all of my art is for sale, but I am very low-key about my art. Sales of my art have not gone viral yet.... Respect is my main request. I responded: "Absolutely. I will credit you in the blog as well, Richard. I want to tell the story behind the weather… and include your memories of that afternoon. I was a meteorologist for Environment Canada in my previous life. Now I paint… mostly just for me as I attempt to learn and get better." 

The painting is a skyscape for me, although that flagged tree is prominent. I charged right into the composition with a big brush and lots of oil. The toppled pine was taken away. The distant shore was made even more distant. The clouds and weather were the subject. 

An artist friend asked how I might modify the inspiration. The following graphic summarizes those thoughts. One never really knows if they will work for better or worse. After a week,  I was in danger of over-working the oils... so I stopped.The science within the image was included in the composition. The cloud bases of convective clouds must be at the LCL (lifted condensation level) for the air mass. Those bases are at a uniform height above the ground and are quite flat. Ragged pieces of SCUD (Scattered Cumulus Under Deck) can form at any level in the turbulent flow associated with cumulonimbus (thunderstorms) and cold fronts. Typically, SCUD is formed when rain-moistened air is lifted again to condensation, at levels below the LCL. It was a wild sky full of energy! I wanted to conserve that energy in the bold strokes of oil. 

Now for some explanatory science. In the Northern Hemisphere, thunderstorms generally move west to east with the prevailing jet stream. Except when they don't. The line of thunderstorms that Richard witnessed was moving from the north, probably along a cold front. The individual thunderstorms were tracking toward the southeast after being triggered by the front. Without real data, that is only a best-guess conjecture. The following illustrated graphics will save a lot of words. 

This first graphic details the viewing angles of thunderstorms and their motion relative to your viewing location. 

The next graphic is cobbled together, the best I can, being retired, from a supercell thunderstorm example. It depicts how the supercell might look from the north, the safe side of that very dangerous cumulonimbus. 

With this groundwork, we can better comprehend the thunderstorms that Richard McKenzie witnessed. 

With this information, the following graphic labels and explains the features in Richard's photograph.

Richard McKenzie tells the tale perfectly related in his Facebook Post: 

"For several times now, we have paddled to the end of Charlton Lake looking for the old pine tree that Franklin Carmichael used as inspiration for his painting, "Twisted Pine". We have been assured that we were in the right location but have yet to discover it. There are actual photographs of this elusive tree, but the latest that I have seen is 20 years old. I would be interested if anyone has a more recent picture. Anyway, on the return paddle, the sky darkened as storm clouds were threatening. We were paddling quite quickly, trying to outpace the potential downpour, but when I caught a glimpse of a bent-over, windswept pine with the ominous cloud backdrop, I had to yell back to the captain to slow down and pull over so I could compose another picture. Fortunately, I have a very cooperative skipper. We may not have succeeded in our original quest, but occasionally, other things appear that are just as interesting. Maybe more so. A few shots and then we were back to the task at hand... "Racing the storm". I guess the years of practice with my experienced shipmate must have paid off, as we did manage to get back without getting wet. Lol!"

Another friend I made when I painted and presented in Willisville in 2014 now enters the story. The following is gleaned from Jon Butler's Facebook post of January 2026 regarding the "Twisted Pine", the goal of Richard's paddle to Miller Bay. Franklin Carmichael had a cabin on nearby Frood Lake.

I had unknowingly paddled right by the "Twisted Pine" in 2014. I was staying at the beautiful Charlton Lake Camp and paddled and painted around the entire area for a week.  I managed 26 paintings that week. 

The location of #3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather" is at the mouth of Miller Bay in the upper right of the above map.

Jon Butler is also a friend of Jim and Sue Waddington, who authored “Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven”, a wonderful story of their passionate travels in search of iconic painting sites visited by the Group of Seven. Jon had guided the Waddingtons to the "Twisted Pine" in July 2007. The location of the tree was high on very slippery rocks, revealing the lengths that plein air artists will go to paint something they find to be inspirational. The story of the "Bonsai Tree" starts on page 160 of Waddington's "Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven". 

Jon Butler even guided our group into Lake Grace in September 2014. Jim and Sue Waddington, Ed and Mary Bartram, and a couple of others were lucky participants. 

We exchanged books and stories. I had the "Weather of Ontario" and "The Passion of Phil the Forecaster" books to share.  

The trip to Willisville in September 2014 was a special time. I was very fortunate to meet so many fine people and to present "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" at the Charlton Lake Camp. That portion of Ontario has a rich history and is beautiful beyond belief. There are several lifetimes of paintings to be found there.

#3027 "Charlton Lake Storm Weather" brought back a lot of memories of that earlier trip to the La Cloche area.  My special thanks to Richard McKenzie for allowing me to interpret his very special image. These memories came back to me while interpreting the image Richard had to paddle back to capture. I also remembered my Dad while painting on the stretchers bars, and the easel that he crafted. 

Good times!

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock"

#3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock"
12 X 18 inches oils on canvas.
 Started 10:30 am Tuesday, June 30th, 2026

My friend Cam was cruising around on a sunny Sunday afternoon, just lovin' life! Cam knows what I enjoy interpreting in oils and is always on the lookout for me. I use his suggestions for Studio paintings when conditions encourage me to stay inside. Singleton was in the middle of an oppressive heat wave with high UV values and smoke from Boreal infernos. Any outside activity was discouraged given the Climate Crisis conditions. It would be impossible to paint those scenes on location as well without a very sturdy "painting barge"! The water would be much too deep for my field easel. 

This inspiration is from 3 pm on Sunday, June 28th, 2026. The meteorology of this particular afternoon was described already in #3024 "Cousin Islands Flags". The weather was explained in the context of looking southward to an approaching storm. This view was looking northward, away from that significant system. The weather to the north on the sunny side of the deformation zone looked completely different! This highlights how important it is to scan the 360 degrees of the horizon when making an observation and attempting to understand the weather. 

I suspect that the passengers on the Island Queen were thrilled with the wonderful scenery and weather. They were probably oblivious to the clouds just to their north. Those were developing thunderstorms triggered along the Georgian Bay lake breeze front. The air mass was very convectively unstable. 

This painting is all about the weather. Please let me interpret what I see and how I do it using some meteorology. Someday, it might save your life. Shocking but true.  

The vertical cross-sectional conceptual model above is vital for vertical motions. Satellite views and associated conceptual models are essential for deciphering the crucial horizontal winds that trigger the release of convective energy. 

Thunderstorms are fascinating. Many conceptual models detail the life cycle of the various types of thunderstorms and how to predict their development and movements. 

Start the interest in weather very young.

I gave countless presentations during my career with Environment Canada. Severe convection and climate change were my favourite topics after "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman". By far the scariest talk was about the climate crisis! The Earth is currently in the verification stage of that terrifying very-long-range forecast first prepared by oil company scientists in the 1960s. See "Big carbon's strategic response to global warming, 1950-2020."  

Some of the material from those presentations was included in the "Weather of Ontario" published by Lone Pine in 2009. 

Most of my humour was edited out of the final publication. After all, weather is a serious business and becoming even more vital with climate change. One line was left in. I employ the following phrase in every presentation where it might possibly fit: 

• "Everyone wants to see a tornado before they die...
• (long pause to let the mental image of a violent tornado sink in) ... 
•                                                                     but not just before they die."

Although exciting, I never practised storm chasing. Potentially placing yourself and others in harm's way did not make sense to me. Life and health are too important and precarious to be jeopardized for a thrill. As a severe weather meteorologist, I much preferred to study severe storms via satellite and radar data, protected by hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres. That data and science would then allow us to communicate what actions might be taken in the interest of safety and security. 

Every thunderstorm is potentially life-threatening. Lightning strikes occur 44 to 100 times every second. Globally, lightning claims an estimated 6,000 to 24,000 lives each year. The United States averages 20 lightning deaths per year, but with much higher lightning injuries, perhaps totalling 300. Canada typically records around 10 or fewer deaths annually. Golfers are lightning-prone! Lightning can easily hit a 9 iron!

Lightning requires cloud-top temperatures colder than -20°C - something readily determined from satellite imagery. Supercooled water droplets, carried by strong updrafts, collide with ice crystals and graupel (soft hail), driving static charge separation that transports positive charge to higher levels within the cumulonimbus. Lightning activity increases sharply when cloud-top temperatures fall below -55°C!

The following graphic from the Encyclopedia Britannica is a great basic summary. Note that "heat lightning" does not exist. The associated flash witnessed is just too far away to be heard - typically beyond 20 kilometres. Atmospheric temperature lapse rates, with temperatures warmer near the ground, bend sound waves away from the Earth's surface. The speed of sound in air varies directly with temperature.

The sound of thunder also varies according to the orientation of the observer to the flash. If the strike is oriented perpendicular to you, expect to hear a short, loud crack. If the flash is parallel to your line of sight, a long, drawn-out rumble is heard. 

30-30 Rule

• If you see lightning and count to 30 before hearing thunder, the storm is within 10 kilometres. Go inside.
• Wait time: Stay inside for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back out.
• Lightning can strike up to 16 kilometres from the rain. Blue sky overhead does not mean safe.

I loved giving weather presentations... but not as much as painting. The above material is included for those interested in the weather. My PowerPoint presentations included countless images, animations and sound effects to drive the message home. I certainly got carried away then, but also now with the story behind #3026 "Island Queen at Harold's Rock". But safety comes from awareness and knowledge. Perhaps this information will do some good when you least suspect it.

The thunderstorm behind the Island Queen was on the verge of producing lightning. The 30,000 Island Cruise Lines that built the Island Queen is a third-generation, family-run, Canadian business for over 50 years - starting in 1972. 

The Island Queen provides an exceptional sightseeing experience among Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands. Georgian Bay. The 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay are the largest concentration of freshwater islands in the world. The area, appropriately awarded World Biosphere Reserve status from the United Nations, is a worthy destination, especially for artists. Tom Thomson and some of his artist friends who would form the Group of Seven in 1920 spent some time there in 1914. 

Just a few of the steps required to turn the inspiration into oils follow in the collage ... 

For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick  

#3025 "Cousin Island with Light"

#3025 "Cousin Island with Light"
10 X 9 inches, oils on stretched canvas.
Started 12:15 pm Monday, June 29th, 2026

Trees, rocks, water and clouds comprise most of the subject matter that I enjoy painting. Each one is unique and a new challenge. The raw elements speak to me of the nature of Canada. 

There are a lot of these inspirational scenes around Parry Sound. I could spend several lifetimes within the Parry Sound Archipelago.  Those 30,000 islands comprise the world's largest freshwater archipelago, on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. The islands are all that remains of a billion-year-old mountain range which once matched the scale of the modern Himalayas. There are dozens of those islands already recorded in my art, leaving only about 29,950 islands to go. I had better get busy!

The meteorology of this particular painting was described already in #3024 "Cousin Islands Flags". I will focus more on the history of the area, which I find equally fascinating. 

The body of water that gives the town its name was surveyed and named by Captain Henry Bayfield while his crew surveyed the area between 1822 and 1825. In geography, a "sound" is a large, wide water inlet that is deeper than a "bight" and wider than a "fjord". Captain Bayfield wished to honour the Arctic explorer Sir William Edward Parry.  

In 1857, the modern townsite was established near the Ojibwa village of Wasauksing ("shining shore") at the mouth of the Seguin River. The developing town assumed the name of the surveyed "sound". Frankly,  I prefer the indigenous name for the area. 

Parry Sound slumped a bit in economic activity shortly after World War I, when J.R. Booth built the rival town of Depot Harbour on nearby Parry Island. An accidental fire destroyed that town on August 14, 1945. Parry Sound recovered. 

The Georgian Bay area is spectacular. I paddled it a lot in the 1980s and 90s but not nearly enough. Tom Thomson and members of the Group of Seven painted in the area around 1914.

Now, back to some interesting meteorology from a different point of view - looking eastward instead of southward, as in #3024 "Cousin Islands Flags". 

This painting was looking in the same direction that both the trees and the clouds were tipped.  As a result, the lean of the pines and the arch of the upwind flank of the cumulus are not obvious in this composition. The gravity waves included in the upper right are within the anticyclonic companion portion of the deformation zone and are sufficient to place the scene within the weather. I had better describe those cirrus bands in more detail. 

This graphic is rotated so that the orientation
of the deformation zone matches that displayed
 in the Water Vapour image below. The gravity
waves would be oriented southwest to northeast, 
and perpendicular to the deformation zone. 

Parry Sound was under the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. That portion of the deformation zone downstream from the col is associated with weaker ascent or even descent, especially if the flow has a southward component. The cirrus cloud tends to be less extensive and thinner, making the gravity waves more apparent. Note that the upper winds become more parallel to the linear confluent asymptotes, further away from the col. The gravity waves must be perpendicular to the linear deformation zone. Bands of clouds separated by blue sky tend to be obvious even to the casual observer. Similar gravity wave patterns within the thicker layers of cirrus associated with the cyclonic companion would be hard to see - cloud bands within layers of cloud...

Subtle cloud features allow an accurate placement of the scene within the weather pattern of the day. The story and interpretation must always be true if you paint what you see. Nature is always right!

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 so very much for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick