Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)

Part VII


The Peaceful Warrior
Paper Collage on Drawing Board
14” x 20”
2006

It had taken Alan and me over five months to plan and prepare for our ten day walk across Southern Ontario to raise awareness about the clear-cut logging that was planned for the Temagami forestland. We had overcome many obstacles and challenges and in the end we had completed what we had set out to do. A short time later, Alan and I laughed when we thought about the fact that we still hadn’t been to Temagami to see what we had worked so hard to protect!


We wanted to travel together, but our work schedules didn’t allow that to happen. Alan made his own journey to the Northern Ontario forest and had many wonderful adventures. Joanne (my then girlfriend and my now wife) and I prepared for our own journey.

We found ourselves in the heart of the old growth forest for three life-changing days! We enjoyed a peace that we have yet to experience again, since that time.


I was in awe of the energy that I felt flowing from, through and over the land. Untouched in over 10 000 years, the trees, rocks and water sand a song to me about ancient times. I listened more closely and I could also hear the beavers, birds and dragonflies humming a tune about future days.

Our days were filled with sunshine and our nights were a window to the heavens. The waters were clean and the air was fresh and pure. I felt uniquely special for being able to experience this land in this way with the one I love.


As we were hiking along old hunting trails, endeavouring to find our way out of the forest, I heard a whispering voice in the breeze. This echo of the wind that blew through the trees’ branches asked me to share this story of love and beauty with the world. I acknowledged this request with a smile and a nod of my head, though at that time I had no idea exactly how I would do this.

A week later, I had a profound dream. A dream that would open up a brand new world for my mind and my spirit. A dream that would pull the blankets back, lift me from bed and lead me to my drawing table.

Joanne appeared in the entrance of our living room, rubbing her eyes, wondering what I was doing up at 3:00 am. “I had a vision come to me, just now, and I felt the need to draw it while it still remains in my mind,” I stated. “Who knows?… I just might end up being an artist!”

The End

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So… there you have it folks! The end of the seven part story that tells the tale about how one man surrounded by many family, friends and supporters was able to learn about and share inspiration about the Temagami forestland, and how that experience changed his (er – I mean ‘my’) life.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed it!

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I mentioned in my last blog how Alan and I had estimated that because of all the media support we had received, around 130 000 people had heard of Temagami for their first time. A very impressive number!!!!


Since then, I would estimate that I’ve been sharing tales across Canada, with the help of over thirteen different newspapers, a few arts and crafts magazines as well as radio and television interviews. In each of these interviews I always share the story of my first inspiration – Temagami.


I would now estimate that with these additional media spotlights that the forestland of the Temagami region has been heard about and read about by over one million people from around the world – some of my television interviews have been broadcast as far away as Australia.


One man shares a message with millions!!!!! Not bad considering I’m not a sports celebrity or rock star!

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‘Peaceful Warrior’ was created using paper collage techniques (using bits of paper cut out of magazines) that I have taught myself over the many years. I love how colours can be manipulated to create so many moods and depths to an art peace – notice how the sky changes from a light blue to a dark blue as it recedes into the distance.


This is the story of one tree (I’ve always compared this tree to be me – so in this way this art could be considered a self portrait) standing solidly as a protector of the forest in the far background. The sky is tranquil, dotted with a few fluffy clouds. The river meanders peaceful by the sandy beaches and the rocky terrain. All the elements that are ‘Temagami’ are present in this artwork. The concept of ‘reflections’ is also present as we see a small portion of the tree reflecting in the river’s water.

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I’ve mentioned how each of these seven artworks ended up being given to my close friends and family. I really wanted to keep this one for myself, cuz I just love it so much. But, I had already chosen my most favourite of this series ‘Earth Angel’, so I had to find a home for ‘Peaceful Warrior’.

This was an easy task. I had actually negotiated its new owners before my yearlong art tour began.

To prepare all seven artworks for this art tour, many of them had to be mounted, matted and framed behind glass. This was a problem for me, cuz I didn’t have any money to pay for this service. I approached a local art/framing gallery and asked if we could make a deal where they provided this service and in exchange I would provide them advertising at each of my exhibits. The owners thought that what I was doing was a wonderful thing, so they gave me much consideration. In the end, a deal was struck where they would provide this service for me, but in exchange they wanted me to give them 'Peaceful Warrior’ at the end of my art tour. A deal was made and we shook hands.

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‘Peaceful Warrior’ really struck a chord in my heart. Maybe this was because I did consider it to be a self-portrait. Needless to say, I have missed it over the years.


Because I love it so much, I have felt inspired to recreate this image on a number of occasions.


Every time this image came to life, the story of Temagami was told again.


Yes – the image was altered slightly. I got rid of the rocks and the river because the technique that I was teaching was very difficult for these grade 2 and 3 students.


The techniques that I taught during these classes were meant to resemble ‘paper collage’, just using paint and brushes instead.


The students loved to see how all their colour blending created such an unusual yet striking texture when the work was complete.


The Temagami forestland has been thriving and surviving on this planet of ours for over 10 000 years. I’ve only had the pleasure of making its acquaintance just a short 16 years ago. Since then, I’ve learned how to use the lessons that it taught me in many ways, offering inspiration to my fellow Canadians as well as the many international readers of this blog.

Continuously, I hope and pray that more people will become involved in this story and the many countless other environmental struggles that face our global civilization, so that the Earth’s inspiration will continue to flourish for all future generations.

‘Nuf Said

Jim

Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)

Part VI


Dawn Chorus
Colour Inks on Drawing Board
14” x 9”
2006

Upon completion of our exhausting journey throughout ten communities in Southern Ontario, Alan and I spent a period of time reflecting on our experiences. We discussed the events that had happened and we wondered about the things that were still to come.


We had set out to educate people and raise awareness about the issues of clear-cut forestry practices that were happening in the Temagami region of Northern Ontario and we both agreed that we had, indeed, accomplished that goal. With all of the support we received from many local businesses, the newspaper, television and radio media and community grass roots organizations, we calculated that between 80 000 – 130 000 people in Southern Ontario were now aware of Temagami’s existence and it’s struggle for survival. We were more than impressed!!

We spent many hours sharing stories of our adventures with our family and friends. Out of the many events that happened, two significant moments shine in my memory…

Our public presentation consisting of music, photographs and video recordings was a very dramatic expression, to say the least. I can remember, on several occasions, becoming very emotionally involved in the words I had prepared to share with our audiences.


At one of our venues a mother had brought her three year old son along to learn about Nature and humanities responsibility to act respectfully towards all of life’s wonderful creations… including the Temagami forestland. Later, when the presentation was over and we were about to have the ‘lighting of the torches’, this mother called me off to the side for some private words. With tears in her eyes she clasped my hands and leaning in she whispered softly in my ear, “Thank you.” She then hugged me, and looked down to her son and while smoothing his hair with her hand she said, “I’ll make sure that my son never forgets the lessons and understandings that were shared here, this evening.”

A few days later we were in the town of New Hamburg. It is a smaller town, but it showed us that it was filled with a lot of heart. Only seven people attended our presentation and no one thought that this was a bad thing.

A mother with two teenage daughters asked what our plans were for the night. I told her that Alan and I had a four hour walk ahead of us before we reached our prearranged campsite. The campsite was to be an area of untilled farmland at the back of a farmer’s field. She knew that we had to set off on our walk very shortly, and with gleams of star-shine in her eyes she simply asked if we could wait for half an hour before we departed. We did.

A short time later, I could hear singing and laughing, thumping and bumping and a lot of “Hooras!!!” in the distance. I nudged Alan and said, “It sounds like the town is having some sort of parade on the same day as our walk.” The sounds grew ever louder as they grew ever closer. Moments later, a group of five adults with twelve children loaded with hiking gear, tents, pillows, pots and walking sticks rounded the corner. We recognized several faces from our presentation. Alan and I looked at each other in absolute amazement!!!!

In the morning, the farmer who had shared his land with us, came to wish us a good day. He was rather speechless for a few moments as he looked upon our entourage of over twenty people, as we busied ourselves preparing breakfast under a row of trees that edged his field. He was delighted to sit with us to share a warm drink and listen to all the excited stories that the children had to share with him.

I smiled and my heart grew a size bigger, that morning.

(To be continued…)

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‘Dawn Chorus’ is, again, based on a photograph that I took while adventuring throughout the Temagami region…


I’d mentioned near the beginning of this short story series, that I learned about Temagami while attending presentations given by environmental organizations that had been working towards changing government policies to protect these endangered forestlands. While I was having my own personal adventures in this region, I happened along this group’s ‘protest camp’ that was set up just outside the next area that had been slated for logging.

I was invited to spend some time with this group and soon I was looking for an area where I could set up my tent. I found a large clearing along the edge of a wide river – it was a very peaceful place. I spent a lot of time with the people in this group – all of us excited to be sharing stories of our individual experiences over the last several months.


Together, we went for hikes through the forests. We got lost on one occasion causing all of us to have to cross through a swamp to find the trail, again. We spent the evening cooking dinners over a fire that was surrounded with wet boots and socks!

I also enjoyed many moments on my own. For hours I sat by the slow moving river, looking across the shore to the forest on the other bank. I meditated in my own fashion and found myself lost, on several occasions, in the rhythms and heartbeats of this forest. The energies of growth and vibrations of the Earth slipped in and out of my mind and my soul. I felt that I had ‘touched’ the Earth for the first time in my life.

I woke rather early, one morning, and I crawled out of my tent, wrapped in blankets so that I could experience a morning sunrise. As the sun began to push back the night stars a thick, eerie and mysterious fog began to form on top of the surface of this river. I took several photographs to try to capture this evolving moment. ‘Dawn Chorus’ is based on one of these photos.

Like many of the artworks created in this ‘Group of Seven’ series depicting the beauty of the Temagami forestland, ‘Dawn Chorus’ is based on concepts of reflection. While other artworks were designed around just one reflection, I felt compelled to add a second reflection to this art peace.

Near the top of this artwork we see a reflected ghost-like apparition. This is the fog that rose and settled upon the river. As we travel down the art we see an upside down silhouette of the forest. This is the forest reflecting on the surface of the river. Also reflected on the river is the morning sky, filled with gentle clouds and the bursting colours of the morning sun.

The second reflection found in this artwork is found near the left side. Quite simply, I added a mirror line and reflected the original reflection a second time on a vertical axis. The idea manifested in my designing mind and I just thought that I would look nice – adding more textures for the viewer to enjoy.

The title ‘Dawn Chorus’ came to mind on the morning when I experienced this sunrise. As the moment was unfolding I was thinking of Earth spirits – the undulating fogs looked like shape-shifting beings/angels/spirits - a choir, singing a chorus of celebration for the dawn. A chorus that embodied the word ‘hope’. As these thoughts were flirting with my brain I could here the banging of a deep drum and feel the electric pulse of Dave Sharp’s guitar while Mike Peters leans towards a microphone….

Dawn Chorus (excerpt)
By The Alarm

The tension in this world
Keeps me from sleep
I’m hungry and cold
There’s a weight hanging over my shoulder
A rain black cloud of doubt

Have I got enough love? Have I got enough hope?
Enough strength to face the world each day?
I know there’s an answer somewhere in this night
I see it each time I look in your eyes

I’m walking in a wild place
I am banging on the gates
On the other side of the tracks, babe
Hoping that someone’s gonna hear me pray

Oh there’s a dawn chorus breaking out all over this town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it2aSevdVAo

At that time, gazing across the river, I was naming the photograph I had just taken. It wouldn’t be for another decade when I would revisit this inspiration to bring this title to life again as it entitled a new peace of art.

This artwork was presented to not just one childhood friend, but two! Teresa H. and I have known each other since elementary school and while in high school Teresa met her husband to be, who is also a friend of mine. Eric is a member of the Green Party of Canada and Teresa is a teacher, so I was very happy to know that this artwork would be residing in a home that could appreciate its significance.

Jim

Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)

Part V


Three Soldiers Standing
Needlepoint
9” x 7”
2006

It was about one month before our “walk” throughout Southern Ontario was to begin. My partner, Alan and I were very excited to realize that our efforts in creating ‘The Temagami Trail Tribute’ would bring to the public’s attention this ancient forestland’s struggle for survival as bulldozers and chainsaws were being fueled. We had the venues for our presentations in ten communities organized, travel and documentary equipment had been sponsored and now we were ready to focus on promoting these events.


Our next efforts concentrated on talking with reporters from each of the communities we were to visit. The overwhelming support that we received was very surprising and we were both greatly encouraged.


Each community newspaper wrote an article about our upcoming walk and what our goals were. These stories educated the public to realize that our environment was in jeopardy and many readers were inspired to learn more by attending our presentations. Reporters also attended our event and later, other stories were published to continue spotlighting the issues concerning clear-cut forestry practices in the Temagami region.

During our time in Woodstock, Ontario the local radio station caught wind of our expedition and soon Alan and I were sitting in front of microphones with many thousands of people hearing our story. Because of this unexpected interest in our journey our audience, that afternoon, was significantly larger when compared to other venues.


The local police helped with our walk, as well. After each presentation we asked those in attendance to join our walk for a short distance. Our small groups numbering from seven and sometimes up to twenty-five people filled the roadways for a kilometer or so and this turned quite a few heads. The police helped to clear traffic as our group traveled through each town with lit candles and torches.

Although Alan and I were the leaders of this substantial effort, the successes that we reached came about because of the voluntary actions of a great number of caring people. We knew that alone we would not be able to ‘change the world’ and all of the support we received made us feel united with the people who would.

(To be continued…)

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Three Soldiers Standing is the smallest of the seven artworks created in this series. It’s small in size, but it still took almost a month to complete.


I dabbled in the world of needlepoint for a couple of years and I really enjoy all the different ways that coloured threads can be used to create interesting textures. I don’t think I used the traditional ‘cross-stitch’ even once during my self-taught training. The stitch that I’ve used in this artwork I have named ‘the log stitch’ cuz it looks like lots of different sized logs placed either vertically or horizontally on the canvas.

The title comes from the three large White Pines that are found in the foreground of this distancing landscape – they are a bit darker than the rest of the trees in the foreground. The news article (above) has the caption “Temagami trek ‘last stand’ against forest destruction”. A ‘stand’ refers to a group of trees. The three White Pines reminded me of soldiers ‘stand’ing on guard and protecting the forest, thus the title ‘Three Soldiers Standing’.

The title also was inspired with thoughts of hope for the Temagami forestland. Because of ongoing positive developments founded on the work of so many interlinked environmental protection groups, I believe that our future will include the Temagami forestland! More work still needs to be done – much more work – but the first initial steps have been laid and all of this positive action has inspired these ‘Three Soldiers’ to remain ‘Standing’ for as long as it takes to bring peace and under‘Standing’ to this ancient forestland and our distancing future.

This series of seven artworks was entitled ‘Reflections of Temagami’ and in each artwork there is a reflection. Most of the artworks use a reflection as a main design feature, but this artwork doesn’t. The reflection in ‘Three Soldiers Standing’ is very subtle, and you can see it along the edges of the two small lakes.

Again, this artwork was given to a close friend, after my year-long art tour had completed. Joe M. and I have known each other since Kindergarten and we had a chance to meet up at another friends wedding, a few years ago. Joe lives in the U.S. close to the west coast, so we rarely get a chance to visit. I could have mailed the artwork to him, but it was nicer to have been able to present it to him in person.

Jim

Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)
Part IV


Forest Breathing – A Detail
36” x 48”
Acrylic Paint on Canvas
2006


Alan and I had decided to create a walk throughout Southern Ontario to raise awareness about the Temagami forestland and the threat to its survival. This walk became known as The Temagami Trail Tribute!


Since Alan and I had never done anything like this before we first had to create a plan of action. We decided to focus our action on education. To do this we created a forty-five minute long presentation, using slides and music, to tell the story of how this problem came to exist and our hopes for a peaceful solution. The Klienburg Art Gallery donated many slides of the artworks created be THE GROUP OF SEVEN artists which were used in our presentation to showcase the beauty of our Northern forestlands.


Next we had to figure out how long our walk would be and where it would take us. Many days were spent looking at maps of Southern Ontario as we calculated how far we could walk in a day and where we would be spending our nights sleeping. We decided that a ten-day walk, visiting ten communities between London and Toronto would be a challenge that we could accomplish.


After communities were chosen, we began contacting people within each community to arrange venues for our presentations. We received support and encouragement from everyone we spoke with. Every venue was donated to our cause and soon other businesses were helping us reach our goal. Novack's donated rain gear and hiking boots and Stan C. Reade donated film and camera equipment. Ecosource Paper, from British Columbia, donated all the hemp paper we needed for our promotional needs.

One day I was making photocopies on the 'tree-free' paper and a gentleman inquired about what my partner and I were doing. He was so impressed with our dedication to such a noble cause that he paid for all of our flyers. All of this support was very encouraging and inspirational, but we still had a lot of work ahead of us…

(to be continued…)

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My favourite subjects in high school and college were designing and drafting. In these courses we learned how valuable it is to create ‘detail’ drawings. A detail is like a zoomed in look at a particular area of a previous drawing. That was my inspiration for creating ‘Forest Breathing – A Detail’.

I really enjoyed creating the canvas ‘Forest Breathing’ and I knew that there were more ideas in that painting that my brushes couldn’t explore the first time around. I wanted to explore different colours and different ways of applying my brush strokes. I didn’t want to recreate the same painting, so I thought of ideas that I had learned while I was in college studying architecture.

I bought a different sized canvas – larger this time – and although I used the same colour slide image to create this painting, I zoomed in on just one smaller area, creating my detail.

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As I mentioned, in my last blog, I decided that I didn’t want to sell this group of artworks, after my year long tour through Southern Ontario was finished. I had decided to give them away, to family and close friends.

This artwork was given to a friend who I have known since Kindergarten – almost my whole life.

Mary-Jane S. lives close to the town where we went to high school and she is now a teacher in a local elementary school. Joanne and I have visited with her and her family on several occasions while enroute to my parents’ house.

I often wonder if Mary-Jane has ever used this painting to teach her students about the Temagami forestland, and the importance of preserving natural environments.

Jim

Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)
Part III


Earthangel
Coloured Ink on Drawing Board
16” x 28”
November 2006

I left the Temagami information session in Toronto with a smile on my face and determination in my heart. “We will save this ancient forest!” I thought to myself, “We will!!” though I had no idea HOW.

One month later a curious event took place… It was my day off work and I was enjoying the sunshine as I walked along the Thames River Bike Path, here in London, Ontario. Along came this beautiful Husky dog, bounding my way, and close behind was her owner. I bent over to scratch Mia behind her ears and Alan and I exchanged friendly words.


Soon we were talking about the architecture of the future and being done with the subdivision sprawls that are overtaking this city. Alan was a recent graduate in the field of Aquaculture and he shared ideas about using this education to build a clean water existence in homes and communities that would benefit Nature. We both knew that these ideas would take decades to achieve. We both agreed that it was hard enough trying to encourage people to recycle and be nice to each other and here we were dreaming about PEACE ON EARTH and which ideas would lead us there. We both wanted to do something positive.


I told Alan of my most recent educational experience where I learned about the Temagami forestland, located in Northern Ontario and how this unique species of forest is being threatened with extinction by the hand of man. He listened intently as I explained how a natural forest breathes and lives. I asked him to join me and my ambitions to raise awareness about these issues with others.


I told of my most recent ideas inspired by peaceful warriors of the past. I wanted to create a walk, similar to other great walks that colour Canada’s history. This walk would be a tool to share the story of Temagami’s struggle for survival and to share a vision for peaceful understandings leading to positive action for future generations. Alan smiled. THE TEMAGAMI TRAIL TRIBUTE was about to be realized…

(to be continued...)

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To create my ‘Reflections of Temagami: A Group of Seven’ artworks for my then upcoming 2007 art tour, I was using the colour slide photos I had taken – while in the Temagami region - as my inspiration. But, I had to be very selective as to which photos I would use. In keeping with my idea, any image that I selected had to have a reflection in it.


This is the photo that inspired ‘Earthangel’. You can clearly see that the majority of this photo is of the water, with the forest being reflected on it. My main focus while taking this photo was to capture the reflection of the shoreline, with all the wonderful textures of the rocks. The reflected blues of the sky were an added bonus.


As with ‘Forest Breathing’, I felt compelled to rotate this photo 90 degrees. I spent many moments enjoying how this rotated photo filled my imagination with delightful thoughts and impressions. Within the rocky shoreline I saw head, chest and belly of an organic beast. The tree trucks were arms held aloft and covered with the greens of the trees to become wings for my rock being. This creature looked like it was flying through a sky filled with the deepest of blues.

Since this creature was flying, I thought that it was an angel soaring over the Temagami forestlands, filled with my prayers of hope for its salvation. Since its body was made of the rocks, soil, bushes and trees of the Earth I thought that the final artwork should be called ‘Earthangel’… my personal prayer.

So… I had my inspiration. Now I needed to figure out what medium and which style of rendering I was going to use.


I woke up one morning, and as I was rousing around I was wistfully enjoying a quilt that my wife had made and hung in our bedroom. This quilt is quite a delight for the eyes – it’s one of my favourite art peaces that adorns our walls. I became taken in by the colour shifts throughout the quilt – colours beginning in a mixture of purples, slowly shifting into dark blues.


The background of this quilt was made using squares. Each square was made using five different angular shapes. A lightbulb lit up over my waking head!!!!!


I used the same idea – just arranged slightly differently. This square – made up of five different angled shapes became the blueprint for the texture used to create ‘Earthangel’.


I allowed myself to be able to rotate this design to look like this…


… and this…


… and this, to allow me to have four possible ways to use this one design. This proved to be very helpful when designing the most intricate part of ‘Earthangel’ – the tree trunks/wings.


I decided to use coloured inks for this artwork. By adding small drops of water to my inks I was able to create the many different tones of blue used to create the sky. When looking at the above detail you may think that I used three or four different tones of green, but that is not the case. Only one tone of green was used.

One thing that I learned about painting with coloured inks is that deeper and richer colours can be created by painting an area more than once using the same colour. There is a limit though – at the limit an area can be painted only four times and then it becomes saturated. Any attempt to paint an area five or six times will see the drawing board being worked on, fall apart in little clumps of soaking paper.

By using this technique I was able to quadruple the number of coloured tones to be presented in the final artwork.

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As all of the seven artworks were being completed, I began to wonder what I should do with them. Should I put them up for sale? Should I donate them to a charity after the art tour was finished?

I finally decided to give them away to my friends, who I know would respect and cherish them. The first in this series of seven ‘Fallen Comrade’ was given to my parents. ‘Forest Breathing’ was given to my friend Jim Mikol – he appears in the above newspaper article. ‘Earthangel’ ended up being my favourite of the seven and so I decided to keep this one for myself. In a future blog I’ll continue to mention who the other artworks were given to.


Here’s ‘Earthangel’ as it appears on my dining room wall. This photo was taken just two hours ago.

But wait!!!! What’s this???? Who’s this bald guy???

Yup! It’s me, but what’s with the sporty bald look?

Indeed… that’s another story!

Jim

Temagami and Me

(An Artist Should I Learn To Be)

Part II


Forest Breathing
Acrylic paint on canvas
24” x 36”
2006

I was spending a bit of time at a local book store, searching for books that would explain why our environment was in such peril, when I spotted a small folded flyer that told the story of Temagami.


The Temagami brochure was filled with lots of information that peeked my desire to learn more. There was a phone number available for those who wanted to attend an upcoming meeting. After a few phone calls I found myself on a train bound for Toronto.


I was glad to attend a gathering of wonderful people, curious to find ways to become involved. I listened as slides were shown, to tales that explained the uniqueness of this forest. I learned about ‘species of environments’ and that Temagami was an OLD GROWTH RED AND WHITE PINE species of forest. I was shocked to learn that only 1% of this species remains on our Earth.


Temagami is the largest of the last few remaining stands. I had a difficult time understanding how this situation came to this critical point. It seemed obvious, to me, that under such conditions all actions should focus on the preservation and expansion of such life reservoirs. I learned that once an area has been clear-cut and the roots dug up and burned in lines of fire that stretch across the horizon that heavy rains wash much soil away leaving exposed rock where nothing will grow.


The moment when I became hooked by desire to find positive ways to protect this ancient history was when I learned how a forest breathes. The speaker began talking about all the animals, birds and insects that work in unison within a natural environment. She told how old decaying trees feed the roots of new saplings as they reach for the sky through the hole in the forest canopy that was created by the fallen tree from over twenty years previous. I thought about the forests that I’ve hiked through in Southern Ontario and then I understood the vast differences between a naturally balanced habitat and a managed tree plantation.

I still had a lot more to learn, but now I felt that it was time to do something… before it was too late!

To be continued…..

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‘Forest Breathing’ was inspired by a photo that I took while adventuring through the Temagami region. The photo was a bit overexposed and that gave it a washed out look – making it look almost monochromatic (one colour). When I turned the photo on its side, my imagination saw a variety of animal faces – almost like a totem pole. I found this inspiring and soon my paintbrushes became rather busy.

I decided to make the painting monochromatic, using only two tones of one hue. Those of you with a sharp eye will notice that a blue and a magenta hue also grace this canvas. These colours were added, in small doses, to make the painting just a little more interesting.


I painted ‘Forest Breathing’ in a style that I have called ‘contour’ painting – referring to contour lines that you can find on any topographical map. First I apply one strip of paint around a shape that I’ve traced onto the canvas – as my guidelines. Once that wiggley line of paint has dried I paint another line right beside it… and so on, until the entire shape has been filled it.

Jim