I was happy to be accepted into the McMichael Gallery En Plein Air Competition. We had to paint on the Kleinburg grounds between August 26 to September 26, 2021. I was only able to go September 21-23. It was forecast to rain on the 22nd and it did rain all day.
I set up with an umbrella on a tripod over my painting on the easel, and wore my yellow rain slicker.
There were not many people walking around the grounds that day, although there had been many, including a few artists, the day before when I looked for painting spots.
There are so many beautiful and evocative sculptures on the grounds of the McMichael Gallery. This piece by Mary Anne Barkhouse and Michael Belmore, which included bronze wolves, transit shelter, Duratrans, and metal pole, is one of my favourites. The wolves were clearly appreciated by many, since their ears were rubbed golden by many caresses.
McMichael Cemetery
The first spot I painted was the cemetery. It contains the gravesites of six members of the Group of Seven: Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley with some of their wives, together with Founders Robert A, McMichael and Signe McMichael. The wives’ names were always carved smaller and less deeply than the husbands’ names. Here is a snail on Arthur Lismer’s gravestone. There were LOTS of these snails out enjoying the rain!
In the spirit of en plein air, most of the painting was done right on the spot. I only touched up some edges and places that had been damaged in transit, bagged to protect it from the rain. Here is “McMichael Cemetery in the Rain.” I was standing with my back towards the wooden footbridge which comes across from Tom Thomson’s cabin, re-built on the gallery grounds. This was a peaceful, contemplative place. My friend, the great en plein air painter Phil Chadwick, told me he also painted at this spot in the competition one year. He called his painting “Circle of Friends.” Perfect! I felt that I was among them too.
Humber River
After a coffee and lunch to warm up, I went down to the river. This beautiful spot along the Humber Trail was quiet, except for the occasional dog startled to see me working on the bank. The water was flowing along, carrying a branch or stick every now and then. Black-eyed Susans and Goldenrod beckoned from the opposite bank. Some large logs were lodged on a sandy spit at the bend in the river, and reaching down towards them were some dead branches from a tree on this side.
Uninvited
After my painting day was over, my son met me in the McMichael Gallery. The fabulous collection of Group of Seven work was impressive… and we were incredibly moved and changed by the exhibit Uninvited. This introduction by Chief Curator Sarah Milroy is at the beginning of the exhibit. It’s on from September 10 through January 16, 2022. If you can’t get to Kleinburg, check out the virtual guided tour of the show online.
My son and I were back the next day to the same spot along the Humber and the river was rushing. A dam has obviously burst and the logs and spit were gone, all the lowest plants, and the branch on the right was submerged! Play this video to see a short clip of the torrent.