Musings from "The Rock": Exploring Newfoundland, Part 2

"O lands! O all so dear to me-what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is."

~Walt Whitman

On the first Sunday that we were in Newfoundland Robert and I decided to drive across the entire province to Gros Morne National Park. Initially it wasn't on our itinerary but we were compelled to go from what we had seen and heard about it. We knew that there was a remarkable tour of the fjord as well as hiking the many trails accessible within the park. We also planned to loop back along the northern coast of Newfoundland to visit Twillingate and Fogo Island as well.
Sunset over Wesleyville. Another day in paradise.

Newfoundland has hardly any police or traffic in general. We saw not one police cruiser checking for speeders or driving around IN TWO WEEKS. It was quite unbelievable. We did see one though so we knew that they were in the province somewhere! Plentiful was the wind, clean air and unspoiled views. 

Before we went to Gros Morne however we spent a few days exploring the nearby towns of Greenspond and Newtown. 

We saw many flag poles like this flapping furiously in the wind. This is at Greenspond

We took an amazing hike in Greenspond which has been hiked for over a century if memory serves. Greenspond takes its name from two of the original families to live in the area, the Greens and the Ponds. We took to its quaint charm immediately. Our hike took us over rocks to a boardwalk which petered out to a well trodden path that formed a big loop. Similar to Alaska, the lack of pollution provides a crisp view of what is on the horizon. Rob thought something was wrong with his eyes as he was not accustomed to seeing so far, so well.

I was struck with the beautiful colours in Newfoundland. Perhaps it was the light hitting or simply psychosomatic but whatever the reason I found the clarity and colours of everything around me richer, more acute, and this resonated deeply with me as an artist in particular. I kept a detailed list of potential paintings that I would do as we traveled; meticulously went through all of my photographs each night to determine potentially viable images and noted them accordingly. By the time we left I had about 27 ideas that I was satisfied with. From those I aim to do at least 15 good paintings. 

The beginning of the great walking/hiking trail in Greenspond

Our attention was captured just as much by the smallest beauty as any grand ocean swell.

It was lovely to look out and see simply beauty and no large buildings anywhere!

We saw many people picking berries to make cloudberry, partridgeberry, blueberry and marshberry jam. It was great to snack and hike at the same time!

The lighthouse which stands atop Bennett's High Island. We watched its beacon every evening from the studio across the bay.

Back in Wesleyville, Jim and Cyril, two of David's childhood friends gave us a tour of the small island that dot the bay around Wesleyville. I instantly adored these two guys. They were the salt of the earth and only too happy to show us around in Cyril's hardy Sea Runner. It was wonderful to see the studio and shoreline from the water and to amble around Bennett's High Island and Swain's Island nearby. 

Swain's Island. Once populated by 400 of the most resolute souls imaginable, now it is is quiet, with a small cemetery that documents the often too short lives of the people who once lived there. 

Worlds colliding: Cyril on his cellphone. 

As soon as I met Cyril I knew I had to paint him. That hat! You simply cannot meet someone with a great hat like that and not paint them. Cyril was benevolent, humble and so kind to us. Jim too was so thoughtful, informative about the local history and gave us the best jar of  homemade blueberry jam we had ever had! Look for portraits of these two extraordinary guys at my exhibition next autumn at Abbozzo Gallery.

Robert and I took a walk up through Wesleyville as the sun went down, always on the lookout for shots for paintings. Everywhere you turned there was a picture waiting to be taken. Above, the view towards one end of town across the cemetery. We were standing up near the large watertower in Wesleyville that can be seen from miles away.

The water tower in Wesleyville

New-Wes-Valley is a relatively recent name that encompasses about four small towns in this area of Newfoundland. I believe Brookfield, Greenspond, Wesleyville are among those considered a part of New-Wes-Valley.

I think that I will stretch my experience in Newfoundland into four posts so that I can share even more pictures with you. 

As the sun set on another beautiful day on The Rock we were excited to begin our journey to Gros Morne, all the while appreciating the unique character and geology of the little towns dotting the Northeastern side of the island. Wherever you are in Newfoundland, you are where you need to be, away from the hustle and bustle, re-examining your mind and motivations for why and how you live. I was at peace in Newfoundland, of that I am sure. At peace and motivated to recapture a bit of the magic that I felt there with my work. Stay tuned.

Sunset over Wesleyville after another idyllic day.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks"

~John Muir

Here is some information on my solo exhibition in November 2009. If you have any questions please contact Abbozzo Gallery. You can read about some of the paintings I have created for this exhibition on my other blot, here. 

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Have a wonderful day and take good care,

Heather

Musings from "The Rock": Exploring Newfoundland, Part 1

Dusk in Wesleyville, Newfoundland

"Do not go where the path  may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."~George Eliot

My second major journey of 2008 was to Newfoundland in September. My good friend Robert and I flew to Gander and spent the next two weeks exploring a large part of the northern portion of the province.

It was through the generosity of my Oakville, Ontario dealer Abbozzo Gallery and David Blackwood,  that I was able to travel to Newfoundland. David is Canada's most celebrated printmaker. His etchings and paintings positively glow with an almost ethereal light amidst a palette of warms and cools. You can click on David's name above to view his website. His work is exquisite in its depiction of the unique geography and his own personal connection with his home province of Newfoundland. I strongly encourage you to look at his work. You will not forget it.

My intent with traveling to Newfoundland was to shoot reference for an exhibition of paintings to take place in the fall of 2009 in Oakville at Abbozzo Gallery. We spent a total of two weeks in Newfoundland, covering huge distances and meeting many wonderful and unforgettable people along the way.

The road to Wesleyville

Every time someone who has visited Newfoundland speaks of it they almost become wistful, as though it holds a special place within their heart. I understand why that is now. The land seems to exist between two realities...it is so unique that Robert and I often felt as though we were in a different reality entirely. The province is huge, and we were under no illusions that we could breeze around the province within two weeks. Thus we stuck to the top half of the province and explored the northeastern section, over to Gros Morne National Park, up to Twillingate and Fogo Island in the north and then back to our home base of Wesleyville.

Sunset over Wesleyville 

The atmosphere is so acutely pure and unblemished in Newfoundland. Between the fresh air off of the taiga in Alaska and the clear skies of Newfoundland my lungs enjoyed a respite this year from the often smoggy air of Southwestern Ontario where I live. 

A view of Bennett's High Island off in the distance

Wesleyville is on the north eastern shores of Newfoundland and is a sweet little hamlet with about 1,500 residents in the summertime. David visits and works from time to time at the studio and a raft of other artists, writers and creative folk have darkened its doors over the years. I was quite honored to sign the little piece of illustration board that so many others had signed before me. Everyone from Farley Mowat to Rex Murphy had visited before us. We settled in quickly and set out first thing the next morning to explore Cape Freels, a beautiful area up the coast from Wesleyville.

 We really noticed the wind while in Newfoundland...throughout the day we were almost blown off of our feet periodically as we climbed hills and traversed Gros Morne and Fogo Island. When we visited Cape Freels the gales swept in off the water and made our walk a challenge. We saw little fishing boats out on the bay fishing for cod, the fishermen in yellow rain gear bouncing amid the sprays of water. They waved to us. It was the beginning of experiencing the terrific warmth of the people who call Newfoundland home. 

An abandoned lobster trap at Cape Freels

Kittiwakes searched for food ahead of us as we walked along the shores of the cape.

One of the many signs in Newfoundland that were bare...the atmosphere had long since obscured what had been written on it. This further  made me feel as though I was in another land altogether off the map.

"The Rock" in all of its splendor...gales, ocean, rolling crests of earth that seemed themselves to have been shaped by the very gusts coming in off of the water.

We came upon this little cemetery out at the end of the cape. The stones were propped up with pieces of wood to ballast them against the elements that continually push upon the land. We noticed that many of the people who had passed on died very young. Life would have been extremely difficult in times past and the mortality rate was very high. I remember seeing these stones and thinking that it was a beautiful final resting place for these people who had died so very long ago.

I loved the pattern of the blowing sand across the beach ahead of us. It was quite cold but we loved every moment of it.

The colour of the water struck me particularly on this day. It was almost purple, perhaps due to organic matter being churned up but I was not sure. Regardless, it had a beautiful weight to it, as though it was pushing against the sky with its inky hue.

I am drawn to photographing signs of places I pass through. I think that they reveal some of the nature of the place...a window into a bit of its personality perhaps. I liked the improvised "o" in this sign in Pound Cove. 

On our way back to Wesleyville from Cape Freels we stopped in Newtown, a cute little town with a gorgeous church defining its skyline. It was pretty quiet everywhere that we went in Newfoundland. People were out working and the activity of the summer months had died down substantially. Subsequently we really enjoyed the quiet, fresh air, smiles and waves of passersby and pristine views at every turn. 

Although I am a figurative artist and I usually paint people in my work, I did not want that to dictate what I would paint for this show. Thus I let myself be inspired by what I encountered, be it a beach, a berry picker by the road or the setting sun behind darkened hills that would end up on my canvases. 

A solitary little boat by the inlet on the way into Newtown. I loved the ochre colour of the fading grasses on the wane from the summer months.

You can see the beautiful church in Newtown behind this intriguing building built on this rock jutting out of the water. It seemed ready to collapse at any moment. 

A sweet little Newfoundlander puppy in Newtown. 

At the end of our first couple of days in Newfoundland Robert and I tried to absorb all of the unique character of this truly special part of Canada. I surge of patriotism for a place I was fortunate enough to call home welled up in me and I realized how lucky I was to be in a place of such simple beauty, such kindness offered whenever required, such endlessly changing skies and a quietness that helps stress melt away.  Paradoxically I was inspired and charged with an energy to get out and snap pictures of everything I saw. I took over 900 pictures in two weeks, and of those I will distill my reference down to about 15 paintings of very special places and people I met along the way. I will write more in the next "chapter" of my travels in Newfoundland soon. 

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."~Helen Keller

Here is some information on my solo exhibition in November 2009. If you have any questions please contact Abbozzo Gallery. You can see a selection of writings about these paintings on my other blog, here.

Newfoundland Portraits

November 5-22nd, 2009

Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville, Ontario

Opening Reception November 6th, 7-10pm

Have a wonderful day and take good care,

Heather