1047 Rainy Day Forest

From 2009... The rain was continuous and cool. Plein air opportunities were going to be limited. I headed down an icy road south from Highway 60 looking for a place to paint the Oxtongue River. I was concerned that the Subaru would break through the ice crust that was about a foot thick above the bed of the road. There was certainly a lot of slush underneath the ice crust from all the rain. The storm that was foretold in the previous paintings with Lawrence Nickle, certainly developed. As a result I only took time to do this "out the window sketch" of the forest. This is the first time that I really used my steering wheel easel. It was fantastic. The temperature remained a steady and cool plus 8 Celsius throughout the painting.

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1042 February Ice

The ice was not safe. It was snow covered and even subtle currents in the “Back Pond” would be enough to make swimming holes. I didn’t venture out as I had forgotten my bathing suit which is what I would have needed. The muskrat “push-up” was a fair size indicating that the muskrats had been anticipating a long and cold winter. They were partly right although Thursday was mild with light southerly wind and temperatures to plus 7 Celsius. It was a pleasant day although the overcast altostratus blocked most of the heat from the sun. Another winter storm was on the way as well as a return to winter and blustery northwesterly winds in its wake. Until then, it was a nice day to be outside and bare handed, painting.

This view is looking northwesterly across the Back Pond at the Broome-Runciman Dam. The parking lot was littered with refuse  - too bad! I picked up most of it...

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#1717 "Sunset Waves Nite"

I thought that I should explain what I saw and painted... you can stop reading at any point when it becomes boring...

A winter storm was approaching Singleton Lake. The large arch of the deformation zone marched steadily from the western horizon. The warm conveyor belt must have been especially warm as it created a significant stable layer that in turn generated gravity wave clouds. Even though the storm was steadily advancing northeastward, the winds in the atmosphere frame of reference were perpendicular to the gravity waves. The clouds looked like a zipper, unzipping. I guess this was unusual enough for me to want to record this in oils. The night was fast approaching and it would soon be dark. I made a few notes so I could paint this on another day.

This is a very interesting deformation zone. I believe that the atmosphere relative winds were northwesterly perpendicular to the gravity waves. At the time I should have watched which way those clouds were moving. This means that the col of the deformation zone was thus further to the northwest. This has the implication that the thrust of the system would be over northeastern Ontario and not over Singleton Lake. The anticyclonic minimum was causing the deformation zone to curl anticyclonically. This diagnosis was also consistent with the thinner cloud layers in the warm conveyor belt of the approaching system.

The zipper pattern in the gravity waves was caused by a slight convergence in the system relative winds with the point of the zipper identifying the convergence line and slightly strong winds. The reverse is also true when the zipper is pointing upwind or upstream.

The setting sun was illuminating higher and more distant cirrostratus along the horizon. This is consistent with the katabatic or inactive nature of this warm front with less cloud along the leading upper edge. The setting sun was setting this cirrostratus on fire. This cloudy fire was reflected in the open water of Jim Day Rapids. The snow on the ice of Singleton Lake was not nearly as good a mirror as the calm water.

These are the kind of thoughts you can have when you have time to sit and reflect, so to speak, on the lessons that the clouds tell. The bottom line was that Singleton Lake was going to get into the warm sector of the approaching storm. A bit of a thaw was on the way. Meanwhile, northeastern Ontario would receive the brunt of the storm with freezing rain, snow and otherwise wintry weather. The cold front would come through in a day or two and bring winter back to Singleton - as it should be.

Note that the bands of cirrostratus convert to cirrocumulus on the opposite side of the deformation zone. It is a different air mass with a different characteristics on the other side of the deformation zone. The drier air was more unstable. Note also that in the atmosphere everything happens in waves at regular intervals. The meteorological processes are more of a ballet with everything in perfect balance.

The title focuses on the idea that the sun was waving good night as it exited below the western horizon. The clouds are the only way that the atmosphere can communicate, so to speak. "Nite" is just an informal, simplified spelling of night and I wanted something different in order to keep my titles unique.

1713 December Morn

I paint a lot of sunrises and sunset. The light is best then. The shadows are long and the lighting unusual. It is the time to paint. But I needed to have a unique title for this painting and ol' Neil Diamond was playing at the time. September Morn was easily adjusted to December Morn which is only appropriate given climate change.

It was a rare December day to be kayaking but that is what I was doing. The cloud was spilling over the upper ridge in heavy sheets of cirrostratus. A system was on the way and the kayaking weather could not last. The cliffs of the south shore of Singleton Lake were impressive, even at this distance. The white pines on the point were very exposed to the winds which kept the gaps in the branches large enough to paint through.
Oils on burnt sienna oil tinted foundation on panel - 8 X 10 (inches). Started 4:00 pm Tuesday January 19th, 2016. The painting place was in the Singleton Studio out of the wind and the occasional heavy snow. The scene location was from my kayak on the morning of December 12th, 2015 in the southwest bay of Singleton Lake near N44.518097 W76.118637. looking southeast across the point of land which is very nearly cut-off to be another island on Singleton Lake.

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1699 Cirrious Skies

From December 2015 - With a simple change of one letter the title can be changes to a misspelled "Currious Skies" which alters the meaning... in a meaningful way. The curious looking sky could have been serious. It certainly foretold a change from the past several days of summer-like weather in December.

Cirrostratus was invading the sky from the southwest heralding a low pressure area. A system was approaching with weather. The clouds were really racing along especially for high level, ice crystal cirrus. The lines and gravity waves shifted continually before my eyes as I painted. This told me that the physical and meteorological processes creating the clouds were also very dynamic. Deformation processes were certainly at play along with the gravity wave ups and downs along the stable layer at the bottom of the warm conveyor belt. A diagnosis of the accompanying satellite imagery confirms the meteorology of the situation.

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1696 Parry Sound October

From October 2015 - This is another of the 30,000 Islands reputed to be found in the Parry Sound area. It is a very good thing that I quite enjoy painting scenic trees and rock. I certainly like the flagged nature of the trees that endure the strong and sometimes hurricane force onshore winds. The row of stratocumulus clouds is aligned with the onshore winds in the unstable boundary layer of the atmosphere.

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1108 March Lights the Shadows

From March of 2010.
I had some more time to paint and it was a beautiful day to do just that. I headed toward Jones Creek and the mighty St Lawrence River. There was a brisk east breeze so I set up within the forest of the old Browns Bay Campground. This wind is officially called the cold conveyor belt of the approaching storm - an important part of the conveyor belt conceptual model of a mid latitude cyclone.
It was still chilly at zero degrees Celsius but it was very pleasant with the sun on my back. I was looking north through the forest at the bend in Jones Creek which was previously known as the Toniata River. I have canoed this waterway many, many times. I had to gradually shift my easel toward the south to keep the sun on the canvas. A couple of dogs came to pay there respects while I painted.
The sunlight of March heralds the end of winter. There was far less snow in the forest than I expected. The same light cast the shadows which were an important part of my subject. If you put this all together, one has the title which may seem cryptic at first. The word "lights" is a verb here but one might think of it as a noun as well. Both uses of "lights" were intended. It was a fun day.

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1107 Crash of the Cataract

From March 3rd, 2010 - I was starting to loosen up with my brush so I grabbed a panel from the back of the grey Subaru. This is the view looking southwest across Lyn Falls and down the narrow channel carved between the granite ridges during eons of spring floods. There was still a lot of snow in the woods but the sun found its way through the bare trees to try to convert some of it to liquid to supply the cataract that crashed at my feet. It was a beautiful day and in addition, I think I caught the magic of the moment in my somewhat crude brush strokes.

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1106 Spring Pro Rogue

From 2010... It was my first chance to paint in a couple of months. In a way, my art had be prorogued by lots of things - mostly work. It was a beautiful March day and I could wait no longer. The sun was melting the snow cover and that in turn was flushing as fast as possible down Lyn Falls. The spring and snow itself had been prorogued by the cold weather of February. Everything was on hold pending the arrival of some sunny days and temperatures soaring above normal. The temperature climbed to plus 4 Celsius while I painted. This allowed the spring fever to start and also to covert the snow into its liquid form so that it could rush to the sea. In many ways the day was a rejuvenation of my art, the spring and the snow.

I didn't worry about details and tried to let the background roar of the cataract find its way on to the canvas. Mainly, I wanted to have fun and bask in the sun as it climbed above the tree tops.

The word "prorogue" has been added to the Canadian vocabulary through the dysfunctional political system. I decided to use it in a positive fashion. This was the first dy back "to work" for the politicians who enjoyed a six week Olympic style, extended holiday.

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