Paintings of Manitoulin Island 2018

My watercolours from 2018 get a separate page as they marked a new beginning. It had been many, many years since I had worked with sustained focus. I was spending the summer in a trailer just steps from the shore of Lake Huron. It took awhile to awaken the skills from beneath the rust in my fingers. One day I went out to Black Rock, near Simcoe Point on the west side of Providence Bay, and the sketch I did there showed me I was getting somewhere. Soon after, I made my first hike east of the marina towards Providence Point and found the views that absolutely captivated me. I would hike out with prepared boards, make a number of loose sketches and photograph those views, then return to my camp. Once I'd finished those paintings, I'd go out again, each time getting a little closer to the point before I had to start sketching. Eventually, I began painting scenes from places around Providence Bay. Below are the 35 paintings I completed that summer. In October, I went south for the winter and kept painting from the trove of photographs I had collected.

5-7 July 2018. Reflections.

Collection of Bob Smith.

20/21 August 2018. Trees And Milne.

7/8 July 2018. Dusky Road, Prov.

20 August 2018. Lime Waves.

26 July 2018. Fields And Wires.

23 July 2018. Fields for Toronto.

Collection of Bruce Gosbee.

26 July 2018, #2. Low Barns Near Prov.

14 August 2018. Rocks And Reeds.

10 August 2018. Red Grasses Of The Meadow.

20 August 2018. Receeding Rocks.

18/19 July 2018. Purple Rocks. Purple Rocks.

Collection of Gigi Sartor.

3 July 2018. East Of The Marina.

2 August 2018. Black Alvars.

Collection of Val Fullard.

31 July 2018. Sparkle Wave.

1 August 2018. Dance Of The Light Dots.

15 July 2018. Rock Of The Point.

10 July 2018. SplashingWaves.

17 July 2018. It Vanishes.

Collection of Dr. Robert Ferrie.

2 July 2018. Just Past The Marina.

Collection of Claudia Strelocke.

4 July 2018. Out Near The Point.

Collection of Ian and Wendy Greyson.

19 July 2018. 3 Big Rocks.

13/14 July 2018. Flowers On The Rocks.

Collection of Gigi Sartor.

12 July 2018. Alvar Loop.

16 July 2018. Spots of Alvar.

9 July 2018. Up On The Tower.

Collection of Pam Jackson.

24 July 2018. Near Tehkummah.

11 July 2018. Waves Of Sky.

Collection of Dan D'Agostino.

11 June 2018. Black Rock.

Far Way To Mindemoya.

11 June 2018. Black Rock.

17 July 2018. Field On Government Rd.

30 July 2018. White Rock. Black Rock.

31 July 2018. Waves Of Sand.

31 July 2018. Colour Under The Waves.

19 July 2018. 3 Big Rocks.

"Fantasia for 2018", the last painting in the above gallery, was painted on New Year's Eve.

Back in September as my days at camp on Providence Bay were drawing to a close, at the urging of erin-blythe reddie, I showed my summers' work to Nicole Weppler at the Gore Bay Museum. Nicole, who I had been told booked her exhibits two years ahead, exuberantly offered me an introductory show for the next season.

In June, when I made the painting of the view from Black Rock and found my expression again, I began to dream of establishing myself as a working artist on Manitoulin Island. Nicole's offer took my dream one step closer to reality.

As evening drew on that New Year's Eve, I returned to the sketch of Black Rock, and seeking to celebrate a fine adventure, I painted a whimsical ode to the fine summer of paintings and sunsets and to the beauty of Manitoulin Island, where I planned to make a new home.

Gerry Smith

Artworks