Dutrisac Bay Sunset

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4 x 6 inch oil on canvas

17 September 2009

Dutrisac Bay, we drove into a commercial campground/trailer park, as the sun was setting,looking for a beach to hunt crayfish and a lake view for a very fast oil painting.

We were given permission to park our rig and told that the rocky shore was to the left, and the sandy beach was to the right.  As I approached the beach, the wind was strong in my face and the waves were whitecapped all over the angry blackish blue lake.  The sky glowed peach under, behind, and through purplish-grey clouds with a hint of green.  I parked my stool in partial shelter of the corner of a marina building, took a photograph, and began to paint  as fast as I could, leaving the strange row of trees on a mid-distance island to add later from my photo.

At one point I noticed a movement near my feet, and there was a Toad of about 5 cm long, beautifully patterned with tan, olive, black, and white.  It was heading past me toward the beach.  I wonder what it does there in the evenings, and whether it noticed the wind...

As it got dark, I added some white caps, sharpened and darkened the horizon, and packed up - only half an hour this time, but I got the canvas covered and the colours all right!

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