starting point and signal hill

This is a post to catch up! I have been remiss about posting. It’s been hard to connect to email.

 

Here’s Terry Fox’s Mile 0, not far from mine.

And here’s Julie, having run around Cabot’s tower on Signal Hill. The wind was impressive.

Here’s a couple of views of a boat from Signal Hill.

And I think that more or less catches us up, so the next post can be about the painting on May 2 (okay, I know it’s May 5, and I’m in Cornerbrook. I have no idea how I’ll actually catch up. It’s been very eventful. I’ll do my best…)

snow

Spring is late here in the Maritimes. Snow on the ground and ice in the water. I think I will invest in a hot water bottle to warm up stiffened fingers while I paint.

We made good time out to Isle Madame. Such a beautiful place, where I’ve met so many warm and friendly people through Julie. One more day here till we head up to the ferry to Newfoundland. What a privilege to get to explore the country like this.

You may ask, why are you doing this so early in the season? I left Montreal around May 24 when I painted that section, and I want to arrive at about the same time of year. Please wish me weather that’s as good as may be, the wind blowing in a kind direction as I’m painting, and ingenuity in finding ways to paint with enough comfort to paint well.

 

new kind of camping

I’ll wait to post this till the morning. It’s the first time camping in a Tim Horton’s parking lot for me. We’re not to far past Montreal.

This journey has a ways to go before the painting starts. The idea is that the painting will go from East to West. So the first painting will be from Cape Spear, then every 50 km. The whole series will span the country, East to West to North (Inuvik). But this stage is important too. I guess sleeping in a Tim Horton’s parking lot and composing a blog on their wifi is a pretty Canadian experience, eh? There were even a few flakes of snow.

Julie is a valiant driver. She drove for hours this evening. I hope she has a lovely sleep up there above me in the pop up bed.

I hope I stay warm enough. No luck adding the picture tonight – stay tuned.

Here is the picture:

 

 

Thank you Canada Council!

I received the wonderful news this week that the Canada Council for the Arts will be supporting this Maritime section of the road paintings. Youpi! Doing it without funding last summer made a pretty big hole in my savings so I am very grateful indeed to have help with the expense of following this vision.

next road(s)

In about 10 days I will leave to fly to Ontario to meet my travelling companion. We will drive to St. John’s NL and paint the road every 50 km to meet up with my current series at Montreal.
I have mail ordered materials to arrive at her house. I have sent three totes, holding paint and the slotted boxes that will protect the travelling paintings. I should have taken photos of them for this blog!
Sadly, Itsy will be staying home. Airline flight is hard on dogs. He and Dean will guard the bike shop.
Here is a photo of some of the paint I’ve laid in for the journey, and Itsy, who just stuck his head under my arm. It all seems a bit fictitious still, but I guess all plans are until you live into them.

Itsy will get to come along when I paint one last segment – Prince George to the Alaska Highway, in July. When these two segments are complete, the series will extend from Cape Spear to Victoria, and from Vancouver up to Inuvik. This longer Get There From Here is booked for Abottsford, Medicine Hat and Swift Current in 2016 and 2017.

Stay tuned.

Paintings from the Yukon River trip with David Neufeld, late July, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the privilege of making another river journey with Western Arctic and Yukon Historian David Neufeld.

We had painted the river at intervals the summer of 2012, as part of David’s place-based historical practice. He is writing a book about the history of the Yukon River. This time, we stayed put for a few days at Blanchard’s Woodyard just north of Minto, on the other side of the river from the Hell’s Gate Rapids, and at Fort Selkirk. It was a wonderful 5 days for me. The quiet of Blanchard’s Woodyard was the perfect tonic for how worn down I had gotten along the road. And in Fort Selkirk, I got to perform in an ad hoc ukulele concert in the tiny old Catholic Church.

These paintings are all 9×12″, oil, $275 ea.

I’m planning to include them in my upcoming solo show at the North End Gallery in Whitehorse, YT in February of 2015, but please contact me if you’re interested in them sooner.

Cliffs across from Fort Selkirk

 More cliffs across from Fort Selkirk

 Rainy Day, Island from Blanchard’s Woodward.

 David’s boat, from Blanchard’s Woodyard

Cool Clouds, from Blanchard’s Woodyard

Evening Cliffs, from Fort Selkirk

geography

Geography changes rapidly here, and doesn’t always get caught by the road painting. Suddenly the trees were shorter…then suddenly I’m in the desert.

There could be lots of ways to explore this area that would be fun. I feel like a bit of a spoilsport with my focus on work, but so it goes.

Kim, the curator in Swift Current, talked about explorers, how scientists and artists worked together then to explore (and colonize) the “new world”. In a way, I’m exploring areas that have already been surveyed and developed. Still, there remains something unknown about them.

Laundry June 14

Who knew chain link was so handy? I was out of socks, so it was time.

 

almost ready to go

Okay – I think I’m almost ready. Cabinets cleaned out and organized.

Bless her generous heart, Shelby Blackjack offered to send Itsy the dog along with me. Here is his seat. Hm. I think I can make it a bit more level…

 

 

Anyways, watch for pictures of Itsy Blackjack in this blog. He is very pretty.

Here’s a bed in the back of the truck (those other things at the foot of the bed will move) for Itsy and I to sleep in, on the drive down.

Today’s plan – stop for a dip at Liard Hot Springs, camp at Summit Lake/Stone Mountain in the Rockies. No internet there of course, so it may be till Tuesday when I post again.

 

Truck outfitting begun and one raven

 

Okay, it’s all going a little slowly. But yesterday I got the back of my truck cleared out. I put the sorels and crazy carpet away. I know, I know, but why tidy until you need to?

This is the newly tidy back of my truck. The styrofoam will make a good base for my thermarest on the drive down to Portage La Prairie, providing additional comfort and insulation if it’s cold in the Rockies. When the back of the truck turns into a studio, it will be something to sit on while painting. I won’t be able to sleep back there anymore because it will be too fumey. Then I’ll camp in a tent, stay with friends, sleep in the cab of the truck (which isn’t as bad as it sounds when I’ve got it set up right), or in the event of persistent bad weather, maybe, once or twice, stay in a motel.

I’ll try to post a picture of the cozy bed all made up and the totes of art supplies when I get to that stage.

Thanks for following the blog. I promise it will get more action-packed once I hit the road on Sunday. In the meantime, I’ve also been making encaustic ravens to take down to the St. Albert Art Sales and Rental department of their Public Art Gallery. Here is one that will be making the trip with me:

16×20″, 2014
encaustic on panel