Long Lake Beaver Lodge

Oil on linen (6 x 6 in.)     $275      
5 March 2016 finds me painting with Phil Chadwick on still-frozen Long Lake, near Outlet, south east of Lyndhurst, Ontario. We are facing the south west end of the lake, and facing the breeze as well, which chills our faces and fingers even though the temperature isn't much below freezing. Occasionally the sun gleams through the clouds, making golden sparkles on the distant edges of ice where the shallow end of the lake has begun to melt. Phil stands at his easel while I sit beside him on my painting caddy, holding my canvas, palette balanced on my knees.

A Beaver lodge breaks the flat profile of the icy lake. The snow has already melted from the sticks on its south side, perhaps helped by the warmth of the Beavers inside. We didn't venture any closer than about 100 metres from the open water, so this was painted at quite a distance!

Just off the dock of our friends' cottage, we noticed canid tracks that are so large that they must be Wolf - or what passes for Wolf around here when it cross-breeds with Coyote. At first the tracks seemed to drag as if the animal had been lame, but where the pace appeared brisker the drag marks disappeared, and the stride was long!

I climbed up the steep snowy bank among the trees to photograph mosses and lichens sheltered by the Cedars from the recent fresh snow, and also a small dead Cedar leaning out picturesquely at the lake edge.

Phil and I will be here again to teach a plein air painting workshop at the end of April. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me.

Dear supporters and patrons of my art,

This 6 x 6 inch original oil painting, "Long Lake Beaver Lodge" is available for purchase at $275. If you would like to purchase it, please contact Aleta