My Pointer Boats Saw Blade Painting was recently completed and will be installed by CPAWS-OV with more trail markers along the Dumoine River.
Wally Schaber and CPAWS-OV proposed a project to take century old saw blades found in the Dumoine Valley forest and return them to the new trail with painted images that depict life on the trail 50-5000 years ago. I offered to paint one of the blades and other artists are doing the rest.
The blade was cleaned and sealed first using a Rust-Oleum product. I used acrylic paint for the scene, referring to a couple source photos Wally provided to me. I also looked up Tom Thomson’s Pointer Boats painting for inspiration! After the painting was done, I sealed it using many thin layers with Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Matte Coating.
More background from Wally
“There are over thirty campsites or historic features along the trail that we wish to celebrate with a name and a sign that explains their significance. This will be done in a variety of ways from small 6”x3” plaques to a major welcoming kiosk at the Grande Chute bridge and a smaller one at the Ottawa River. Between those two extremes will be 3’x3’ old photo and text panels (perhaps on aluminum) explaining significant historic features like stopping places and a variety of ways to mark and name campsites.
“Mileage and general trail markers also blaze the entire trail. CPAWS will act as the interpreter of natural significant features and has already put up some very interesting bilingual panels in the north.
“We don’t want to visually pollute the trail but there is so much history and so many significant natural features that we don’t want people to rush through the hiking experience and miss these stories. Where possible we will use old tools and natural materials as signs… such as the saw blades and old horseshoes for trail markers at important junctions.
“The saw blade signs are appropriate for campsites celebrating the logging era but for campsites celebrating an Anishinaabe name, we will use a birchbark sign with an appropriate painted image, protected by plexiglass.
“POINTER BOAT CAMP… IMAGE ON A SAW BLADE…
The next campsite is interesting in that it has a canal long enough to pull two or more pointer boats into the camp. This site was obviously a river drive camp. The Pointer Boat was an Ottawa Valley invention and intricate tool on the Dumoine.”
