On the Job With Dad Day... in Kettleby!

Bryn's admirable effort... at the lay in stage... lots of potential!

Dad's effort... with a bit of work to finish

Kettleby ... in a bygone era

Village General Store, Kettleby c 1930 - watercolour 20x25 inches by Peter Haworth, a Canadian artist I much admire for his water colouring efforts

Two hearts... as "One"!

Bryn at the easel.... "into it"

Curtis House -1890

The Italian Bakery (Old General Store)

Our subject for the day- John Stone Clift's Home and Blacksmith Shop - 1890

Looking down Main Street, Kettleby

The weather stills holds as I write today's post... blue skies... sunny... +12C degrees... but the four successive days of hard overnight and early morning frosts have all but eradicated the colour. Pockets of oaks... poplar... birch and tamarack/larch provide much of the remaining colour... and for that... I am grateful!

Bryn and I enjoyed a wonderful paint out together at Kettleby on Wednesday. The weather was sunny and bright... but the winds remained gusty and chilly all morning. I pulled the van up close behind our easel setup together to help serve as a partial windbreak... but we were in the shade of a house and large trees... so that heightened the cold of the wind.

We chose a subject which combined the 1890... century home and shop of village blacksmith John Stone Clift. It has been updated... still to period tastes and stylism... in a board and batten construction. My guess is that it was a simple frame "centre plan" clapboard home... typical of the period throughout most of rural Ontario.

This style of one and a half storey home, typically had a central entrance on the facade, located below a dormer window located directly above in the half storey. You entered the home to be greeted by a staircase that led to the second storey. The dormer window provided the necessary light for this staircase. The low ceilings in each of the two upper bedrooms followed the slant of the roof. The ground floor consisted of a parlour and dining room to the front which were lit by front windows.... and a kitchen/pantry area to the rear.

While painting... we were visited by local octogenarian resident Mrs. Marjorie Burkholder, who has lived her entire life in the village... in the same house as a child... during the whole of her lengthy married life... and now alone. She readily shared her vast knowledge of her village's history and fellow residents. Her pride in her heritage and her obviously sharp mind and memory are something which I greatly admire. There still survive... places and people who embrace "the older ways"...and live contentedly in quieter places. Kettleby and Marjorie are examples of this anachronistic phenomena... where Time... seems joyfully and willingly... to stand still.

We enjoyed a wonderful hot beverage break midway through the morning at the busy local Italian Bakery... house in the old General Store... and went back at noon to warm up... and to enjoy a delicious hot lunch. After lunch we did a tour about to look at other homes... stopping at each to read the historical plaques on the facades of each building. Little has changed in Kettleby... and newcomers have been happy to embrace the villagers need... as a whole to maintain their identity. We didn't even have to take down our easels during the whole day. We presented no threat to the comings or goings... and were made to feel welcome everywhere we went.

Bryn managed to get his panel to the lay in stage... and I purposely stopped a bit on the unfinished side for me... to enable us to continue the paintings back in the studio on his next visit. I took supporting digital images which can help with reaching a suitable studio finish... but at the same time maintaining the plein air freshness.

I asked what he had learned from "being on the job with Dad" experience. He said he had learned a lot about mixing colour... about brushwork and about aspects of composition and... the effects of cold on paint... and a lot about the history of Kettleby from Mr's Burkholder. Tongue-in-cheek... and he's a master at this... he laughingly replied..."And I learned that I won't be joining you for winter paint outs!"

I too... learned lots ... watching Bryn work... listening to his questions... watching him learn from the Kettleby experience and history lesson. Parents should avail themselves of more opportunities to work side-by-side with their children. Each learns to appreciate... and to better understand the other!

The cold did bother him... as it does most folk... and "Me" on occasion as well. But I look forward to winter painting... and being "out there"... with that winter world... all to my Self!!!

I'll post the finished pieces next week to show their final state!

Until then... Good Painting to All!!