Father's Day - A Day For Offering Thanks... But Tainted by Paradox

Traditionally in all family circles within our society... Father's Day has been set aside as a special day to recognize and fete all Fathers for the gifts they have offered their family members. Many fathers have blessed each of us with their generous, loving presence and wisdom since infancy and right up into our adult and married parental lives. "I" .. count my Self among those blessed individuals fortunate enough trough birth alone to have been accorded this rich blessing. My Dad was... and continues to be... even after his passing, a metronome which keeps and sustains the tempo of my own personal journey and principles. I carry his spirit and model of goodness in my heart... Forever!

"Keep Smiling" - watercolour on paper 10x14 inches  A 100th Birthday tribute to the "little BIG Man" who taught me to face the world ... aways with a smile and the courage to honour and speak to my own Truth and principles.

This Father's Day is special in our Sherman Family because my eldest son Andrew has blessed us with a first child of his own... Malcolm Justin Michael Sherman. With this happy event, the circle has come around full for Andrew and I. He now has a "bowman" to introduce our beloved River to when the time arrives to do so. I am exceedingly proud of he and Melissa and know that wee Mac will enjoy a life as filled with Love.. good memories and adventures as those that Andrew and I have shared together as Father and Son.

Happy First Father's Day Andrew! I am proud!

I require little space in this post to offer forward my gratitude and my remen\mbrance of my own precious Dad... for there never passes a day when his memory and presence are not in the fore of my everyday life and activities.Together... we "made it so" through a common journey which I continue to live out  for us both... and in his honour.

Ironically... and sadly for "Me"... my warm and fuzzy feelings about this Father's Day end in celebrating Father's day 2014 and in the next part of this post I will try to explain why this is so. I inherited a generous and giving spirit.As well, I inherited a peculiar sensitivity to recognizing need and others the needs and an absolute compulsion to serve their need.  It has been a gift which has served me well, but with that gift comes a price. One is totally vulnerable to the pain and sadness of those we serve and it often overrides our own sense of happiness.

"I am such a happy man. I love going to work each day, I have a beautiful wife, a beautiful son and another baby on the way... Rachel, we are so blessed." These are thoughts and words that could well have come from my own mouth.... but they aren't. They are the words from RCMP constable Dave Ross, age 32 to his wife Rachel. Ross, along with two of his comrades were mercilessly gunned down last week in Moncton, New Brunswick while responding to a call that a man was roaming the streets heavily armed.


All of these beautiful thoughts and another special Father have been ripped away from this grief-stricken Larche family circle... left to survive... if they can with the large gaping unfixable hole that scarce days ago seemed untouchable. It speaks to m of the uncertainty and unfairness of Life... but in all truth... "fair" is but a human word to cope with such a loss that is unimaginable... even surreal.

I am not the only citizen rocked to the core by this senseless tragedy and act of premeditated carnage. I feel a sense of shame for my self and countrymen that I have... even in a small way contributed to the media driven criticism of certain events in their handling of other dangerous incidents. They daily faced the possibility of the same fate with every call they answered. They and their families always expected them to return... to put down the garage door left open... to return to the barbecue they had left without questioning... to sit down together and have the meal that was interrupted by duty and to resume the family life they deserved and valued as we do.

Deb and I know this feeling in spades. Her son Spencer is a Sergeant at the RCMP detachment in Cranbrook, BC. We know first hand of the fear that a wife and family has to go to the door.... or to feel the overwhelming grief that floods out all good for a long time in their own precious lives. They are a very large family.... knitted together in a special fashion which only brothers-in-arms can truly feel or understand. That feeling of family and kinship applies as well to service men and women, firemen, police and all other citizens who put their lives in harm's way on our behalf.

I cannot presume to tell you how to celebrate your Father's Day in your homes. But wherever you are... hug and tell your Father/ Husband /Dad that you love them and how much that they mean to you. It could... when life has its miserable and unpredictable way... be that very last time you can do so. Do that every single day... as if it were possibly your last last meeting. In this fashion... you will both feel... deeply blessed and special. The families of Constables Douglas Larche, David Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan will be included in my own Father's Day moments of remembrance. I owe them and their families that deep debt of gratitude.

In closing this post, I apologize for any "downer" feelings that I might have brought to and shared with you. It is my greater wish to wish all Father's and their families a very enjoyable and Happy Father's Day from The Paint Box Gang in Rockport!

We feel blessed.... today.... that Spencer , Jody and our beautiful Grand Girls Ava and Ella are safe and spared this tragedy. But they... and we... are not untouched by the loss of three fine Fathers and the grief their wives and families will be forced to bear for the remainder of their lives. Their ultimate sacrifice matters to me.

Rich blessings to ALL!!!

In Synch with Summer

The prolonged seesaw battle between Winter and Spring has finally been resolved and out of that struggle... the coronation of Summer has finally begun. Our garden floral clock tells me so, but so too does the gradual arrival of the "summer folk" who annually migrate here to people the scattered island refuges.Their faces have been much missed and absent on the River and in the village since their sudden departure late last August and September.

Our Gallery is fully open and operational and we have finally begun to reap the rewards of our joint winter works programs created in our studio and en plein air. Our lines of cards are being well received at this point. Newly introduced products like my mouse pads and magnets... to our surprise have had to be reordered already. Very encouraging to us ... given the lateness of the natural world signs and the disorientation and hesitancy in the human world in response to the former condition.

We have worked long hours together to ready and spruce up the Gallery. Deb has completely rearranged the interior furniture and has created a more pleasing look and flow. The Gallery has been rehung in a fresh manner. Other product focus areas have been located strategically to create pauses in the flow which encourage thought and pondering. We have created new eye-catching features on our front lawn and on the facade of our renovated garage/gallery which displace any confusion in the viewer from the street's mind as to which function this structure serves. With our winter and spring goals addressed and met... I can now get back to my outdoor life of painting on location. I have greatly missed that... and look forward to totally immersing myself in that activity which gives me so much pleasure.

Here is a potpourri of photos and recent watercolour images to offer you some further insight into the above comments. I can smell turpentine... as I close this post! Let the (plein air) games... begin!

Welcome mat view for the Paint Box Gallery for summer 2014

View down "Plein Air Lane"

Deb's jewel box display

Take your pick Ladies! Let us give you a hand!

Another palette of Deb's Creations

New Magnets... looking for new Fridge door Homes!

Deb assembling our new box sets of my images for the four separate Rockport Cruise Line Tours

Window Art by Deb

A new artisan addition by a grade seven student from my past, Mark Roche of Brockville. Whimsical wooden "Churches and Cabins From My Mind".... crafted entirely from wood procured from weathered telephone poles! The detail is uncanny! They're hot sellers already! We plan to feature Mark and his work here at the gallery in July!

The card shop!.... Plain... and simply unique!

Below you can see the seven images that I created in late winter to present two more box sets each containing four images for the Rockport Cruise Lines. I now have created a box set for each of the tours that they offer. I truly enjoyed shifting gears out of my familiar oils to a watercolour and ink mode expressed in this jaunty souvenir format designed for card creation. Judging by their early popularity... they will receive the same attention and good sales that the earlier two enjoyed during last summer. Fingers crossed... but they are printed... available and the work is done!

The RCL "Chief Shingwauk"... the work horse off the cruise line on his eastern approach to the world famous Boldt Castle... crown jewel of The Thousand Islands!

The Boldt Castle Yacht House which holds a vast collection of classic wooden river craft... many owned by the original owner George Boldt.

A western pass of Heart Island and Bold Castle showing the Triumphal Arch of Honor on the left... The Castle sandwiched in the middle and the children's playhouse, Alster Tower on the right. A classic wooden runabout in the foreground leads the way to a Thousand Island experience and adventure!.

Here a A Great Blue Heron drifts lazily by the Power House on the island which is joined to the main island by a foot bridge. The power house never turned a volt of power on the island. But that's a story... for another day and post!

Stay tuned.....

Casa Blanca... a magnificent Victorian river home... once a private residence... now a high end guest home with a panoramic box seat on the International shipping channel. Elegant living from the Past... still offered to guests in the Present.

The House of the Seven Gables... once an opulent private river home... now a leadership training centre for world classed corporation executives.

This larger than life limestone statue perched high on a cliff in the Canadian Palisades. This unique sculptural attraction depicts Saint Lawrence... guarding over the River which  bears his name. In his hand can be seen a book. He is the patron saint of librarians. In the other hand he holds the brazier on which he was martyred by the Romans and was thereby elevated to sainthood for his act of fidelity and love of God.

These are but a few of the sites and reasons for making Rockport and Thousand Islands a possible vacation destination in your future travels. You could also make a visit to our Gallery and home... always... open to our Friends!

"Yours to discover... Ontario!" Come visit!

Good Painting... to ALL!!

"Salt and Pepper"....Straight from the Heart...

Just as these simple spices inhabit and offer special flavour to daily life... there exists among our fellow men and women... individuals who add to the quality of life of so many others,. They accomplish this simply through the manner in which they conduct their lives and the wisdom that they so generously offer through their writing... thinking and actions.

This past week I received the sad news that a Canadian artist/writer whom I deeply admired had succumbed with dignity after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. Robert Genn embodied that unusual blend of intellect... artistic vision... and sense of pure Humanity dedicated to the service of Art and fellow artists.

That news and personal sense of loss comes on the heels of the news earlier in the week of the passing of the American spiritual leader, artist and writer, Maya Angelou... another huge contributing sphere of influence in the formation of my thinking and value system.

What drew me to these individuals was their ability and willingness to speak directly from their hearts transparently about those elements and pains that most of us choose to hide from view. Mostly, we view these things as "personal" and  no one else's business. We are taught early on in our lives to "keep secrets" and to suppress fears and pain because it might make us appear weak. Safe perhaps... but when hidden the risk of festering and becoming a worse problem is more often the reality.

Often in life... mentors and heroes are "ordinary" people whose spiritual depth... understanding of life and great sense of Truth and Dignity lift them above the masses who simply trudge through life. In so conducting their lives in this fashion... others gain and find personal comfort and understanding simply through the transparency of their honesty and sharing. They teach by leading... and remind us that past pain can be overcome with redemption and work.

I will deeply miss "Salt and Pepper"... but the taste that they leave in my "palette" will remain and will most certainly be passed forward through my own modelling of their simple truths and lessons of humility. Perhaps this is sole claim to which we can all aspire to attain some degree of lasting purpose... aka... immortality.

I wish to close this post with two quotes from these remarkable individuals which I feel best reflect the deepest sense of their similar high system of values and  Humanity. Perhaps in sharing them with my friends here on my blog... their marvellous spirits and message will be further used and valued in the future... that they will never unfortunately see.

Maya Angelou... April 4th, 1928 - May 29th, 2014

"National treasure"... dead but never forgotten at 86 years.

"I have learned that people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Never forget that each of us has the power to do good works no matter our circumstances... gender...  race, creed, skills or intelligence. In doing so with constancy... we leave behind us good feelings and lasting impressions of our "having been"... in the hands of others to further their own journeys. That is a measure of immortality to which each of us can... and should aspire.

Robert Genn Canadian Visual Art icon and writer... a piece of Canadian Culture painting on location in the Natural World that he so loved and felt at peace with... at Lake -of-the-Woods

Robert Genn, May 15th, 1936 - May27th, 2014... passed too soon at 78 years.

"The thing about art is that life is in no danger of being meaningless."

We shared a common belief that art and Nature were binding forces of good that could be shared by all... with no borders of ability or age. Creation is a deeply personal interface with one's soul and the environment and people that we encounter on our journeys.

Post Script taken from  a recent Robert and Sara Genn letter

"Love me truly!

Remember my constancy,

With all my heart

I am with you

even from far away."

A fitting epitaph for each of these remarkable lives.

Rest in peace ... I have been deeply blessed by your gifts to "Me" and will continue my own journey in your honour and with your spirit of goodness.

Good Painting!... to ALL!!

Spring... Floods In!

Quite literally... Spring has flooded into the Thousand Islands area displacing the much reluctant winter to finally depart. Flooding can be seen wherever one looks. Towns and villages along rivers were encroached upon ... and many even threatened by rising waters of rivers and creeks. Farmer's acreages in the area became small lakes... in some cases leaving the homestead as an island... cut off from the main road. Numerous detours were necessary on many roads not usually affected by spring runoff. Waters on the Saint Lawrence River, on which Rockport is nestled ride higher than usual. All of this was due to an unusual large amount of snow and ice... and a too rapid spring melting and run off. A very hot sun in the past weeks has begun to offset this worrisome annual event. Things are drying up.

As we drove into Brockville earlier this week, I was overwhelmed to discover the flood of new pinks and greens in the canopies of the hardwoods and softwoods along the Parkway. No longer did their bare skeletal branches claw harshly at the skyline. The myriad of soft new spring pastels created a new and uplifting harmony... replacing the scraggily memories of a very long and cold winter. On the ground within the depths of the woods... fresh and delicate ferns had suddenly jumped from their winter hiding places... their fiddle heads changed to limy green fronds... ever reaching skyward towards the light. Ever more exciting to me was the sudden arrival of a vast carpet of trillium wildflowers... the provincial flower of the province of Ontario in which we live. This sight always whets and excites my desire to paint and I have in the past recorded this very special spring moment. A flood of floral friends tells me that Spring is fully rooted firmly ... though briefly in our midst!

A snippet cluster of the spring woodland carpet

Trillium carpet at Butternut Bay

Here is one of those painted memories... "A Trillium Triptych" - 3 oil canvases 16 x 44 inches

This floral explosion repeats itself even in our gardens. Each day another variety reveals itself briefly as a bud... then by day's end stands inches taller. Within a few days it produces its distinctive flower. Such power in this new sun!

In the backyard new faces and voices have joined our winter resident bird friends... all sporting their new plumage finery and making their presence known with territorial and mating behaviours. When joined by our Chipmunk buddies, Mr Chips and Scamp and a number of greedy squirrels... our deck and yard is a big top circus entertainment centre that quickly melts our weary winter worries away. The pure Joy of Spring quickly floods our hearts and souls...

 Deb's long awaited Ruby Throat Hummingbird "Mrs Bossy" has returned... just three days later than last year by my daily journal - AMAZING! Deb  had the feeder out and full of her favourite "roux brew" within the hour after coming to us at our patio table. Small miracles... large blessings! Deb's heart sings... every morning at our morning "Coffee Clutch"!

I love the bright American Goldfinch guys with their cheery "tweet-ing" n' "twitter-ing"... here shown busy... on line! HA HA!!

A surprise trio of Baltimore Orioles... shown below competing with the humming birds for the sweet treats at their two feeders. Such beautiful melodic music... right through the entire day until dark!

A quintet of White Crowned Sparrows with their chippy attitudes offer vaudeville absurdity and comic relief

 Here is the new feeder... a belated gift to Gramma by her grand Gals from Cranbrook, BC .This very special treasure and these Easter paintings on canvas... flooded our hearts and the floor as well with Spring treasures of Love... Joy and Hope! Thank you Sweet Girls... from your loving Gramma and Booce! These are real treasures! You sure touched Gramma's Heart!

Me and Gramma... by 8 year old Ava

My Shapes n' Colours by 4 year old Ella

Tourist activity in the village has jump started into high gear as well... as hordes of visitors deposited by tour buses flood into this very small hamlet and fill it (uncomfortably) at times for residents to overflowing. But this influx provides the necessary income for many businesses and individuals... including our gallery operation. So grin... and bear it!

This weekend is a holiday in Canada... Victoria Day Weekend.... traditionally the starting gun opening for summertime festivities in Canada. It will also be our official "Grand Opening" for Summer 2014. Deb and I just finished repainting the floor and rehanging my art... installing her stained glass and setting up displays of her jewelry and gorgeous new lines of handmade cards. The Gallery looks energized and I think... visually attractive to the eye. Time will tell... but the work has been done... a long winter now ready to yield dividends for our commitment and sacrifice. 

If you want to predict your future... Create it!

At The Paint Box Gallery our mantra is... 

"Art Matters... as does quality... service and our customer opinion.

Wishing everyone Happy Spring. May many blessings flood your life!

Good Painting... to ALL!

"My Parents... led me to who I am."

This provocative thought was a page header title for an article in the August 17th, 2013 Toronto Star. The article preceded my Mom's birthday by two days... so my mind was already in a reflective plane of thought about her. As I have related in this blog countless times before, my Mother greatly influenced and shaped me as I was growing up. Certainly... some of that "shaping" was the necessary and day-to-day kind that all mothers take on in their rearing roles. Yet there were so many other more sublimely offered lasting lessons that came more from the way that she conducted her own life... as I watched quietly and admiringly from a distance. She taught... and led by example... with me..and host of other admirers following. Mostly... that occurred without her knowledge that I was doing so.

I remain deeply grateful to "Her"... each and every day that I face now without her encouraging and loving earthly presence. I remember her blessings in  my own fashion... separate from any of my siblings. I honour her by trying to conduct the kind of life which blends the good things that she presented... but without ranker... I forgive those few things that she carried out in her own life... that I didn't admire. Strange... that on Mother's Day... that I should choose to reveal that she had some qualities that I have not carried forward. There are no saints really... just "good people"... who demonstrate their sense of Humanity... which includes making mistakes... and then.... making up for them.

What I have come to understand after becoming a parent myself... is that children do not come to you with any sort of manual. Most everything we use to accomplish our rearing task is done in trial-and-error fashion... and often on a minute-to minute-basis. Logically then... ALL of us have screwed up along the way on the job one way or another. Many of our rearing strategies were learned from the way we ourselves were raised. Thus nurture helps shape or own way that we parent.

I'm sure that each of us... mother or father have had those moments when we genuinely feel that we failed to hit the mark... and in hindsight (which is always 20-20) would have handled a issue in question differently. It is totally amazing to me... today... to see how much smarter my parents were... on a day when as a teenager... or even as an adult, I felt that they knew nothing. Age along with life experiences should increase one's level of wisdom. I marvel at how wise my parents were... and how trivial the very few mistakes they made were in comparison to the sound preparation and advice they offered me in my growing years.
I feel ... forever grateful and blessed for the contributions and sacrifices that they each made... either singly... or together on my behalf.

On Sunday. Mother's day, 2014... when I visit them at their resting place... I will offer my thanks to them both. I will silently remember their gifts and our wonderful shared and now treasured moments together. I will pledge to them... my continued effort to care for my own children and partner... so that at the end of my journey their teachings and my own may together shape the future of their own wee ones. Already, both Deb and I can see firsthand that some of our "not-so-wee"ones are already well underway.... and in so doing offer the Sherman and Marginson names great honour.

The Toronto Star have dedicated a full page each day over the last weeks to a visit to the kitchens of fallen Canadian Afghanistan soldiers. In those kitchens mothers and fathers have been allowed the privilege and dignity to offer insight into the special lives and the loss that they have had to shoulder. It is so very poignant to hear their words and to bear witness to the way they have coped with this unspeakable loss to any family. It makes my life seem so much simpler... and the small daily blessings that I take for granted too often - gifts of immeasurable wealth and richness. Let us.. in peace and safety... think on this special day... of the countless mothers everywhere around the world who face similar loss and grief whether due to war or illness.

I would like to share this lovely quote from another Toronto Star story of last year. It is a tribute to her lovely son plagued during almost all of his nineteen years of life by schizophrenia. Kit's battle was an impossible one for him... one that ultimately he lost that battle. But never did his family... and particularly his mother give up on him. They supported him right through to the tragic conclusion of his struggle. On the Friday night before he died he told his mom that he loved her.

The family shared their story openly with the readers of the paper. It touched my heart greatly... and I have kept this quote and Kim's smiling picture in my studio. In Lesley Skelly's own words... one can begin to more fully understand that intangible and unmatched special bond between a mother and child:

"LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS THERE ARE STARS IN THE SKY, SAND IN THE DESERT, AND WATER IN THE OCEAN."

Let us be thankful for Mothers (and Fathers) who share this rarest of rare form of love for their children. Let us honour them by serving others with the same love... kindness and generosity that we ourselves received through them.

I love you ... forever Mom! Happy Mother's Day... to All Mothers!!!

"Heard It on the Grapevine"

My Mom gave me my love of the Natural World... and all of its birds and creatures.

"Simply Daisies"

We shared a love of wildflowers.. especially simple field daisies. This was a Mother's Day gift I did for her kitchen in 1986. It now hangs in our own.

 My Mom and Dad... together left the gift of music in the souls of all Sherman children

"Make a joyful noise!..."

Our newest member... Wee Mac! I've yet to hold him. Andrew is the best "Mom"... a guy could ever have! Loosen up the grip Dude! Give us all a hold! HA HA!! Enjoy this time Son. It is precious... and fleeting!

Note:  The Meetin' yer Grampa  outfit... Canadian Tuxedo and Jeans... Grampa -style!!! HA HA!!

Happy 1st Mother's Day Melissa! He's a keeper!... and to "You" Lisa for being the special Mom you have always been to my other three grandchildren. Lastly... but certainly not the least... Happy Mother's day to "You" Deb for being a Mom to each of my children and your own... in the very wonderful and loving manner that you have dones so. Thank You!

A Day With Frederic Remington

I was indeed blessed in so many ways during the period that my younger brother Donnie visited us here in Rockport... and not just in terms of the warmth we felt in having him present, but as well in terms of other events and the many places that we visited together while he was here. No... it was not a grand tour of our old neighbourhood and our common Brockville, Ontario roots. Both of us have long been away from having a need to retrace earlier footsteps back there except to visit my folks grave. We both have moved and grown on in our separate life journeys to new people... places and significant spaces.

Don had only one request in our vacation itinerary. That was to cross the river to Ogdensburg, NY to tour the Frederic Remington Museum. Don is an ardent horseman who actively has saddled up each winter to participate in "cutting out" competitions in Yuma Arizona where he winters. He proudly shares our Grandfather Sherman's passion and horseman genes... or jeans - both work... and his love of these intelligent creatures. Remington surely felt the same... as was evident in his magnificent visual record of the role that the horse played in taming the Wild West and in Plains Indian life. It has been recorded that he commented that he hoped his epitaph might read, "He knew the horse." That certainly could be said of him!

I had toured the Remington Gallery earlier with my daughter Allison on one of her research-gathering expeditions to support a book publication dedicated to historical river architecture along both side of the St Lawrence and The Thousand Islands. I did enjoy the visit ... but mainly that enjoyment was based upon sharing the experience one-on-one with Allison. On this occasion though, I was to able to glean new insights and reflection into my own work through viewing the masterful Remington masterpieces.... merely a nose distance away. There were none of the usual high profile gallery restrictions re: space from the work, or even taking photographs. All of the very knowledgeable staff of volunteers on hand were ever so willing to chat and share their knowledge with us. All of these factors allowed me to come away excited and refreshed from the new knowledge which this experience revealed to me.

 I made my way slowly around the gallery several times. On each occasion, I  saw a different facet of the exhibition and Remington's own artistic growth and development. On my first tour around, I was overwhelmed by the power of his draughtsmanship... attention to detail and always impeccable design and composition. That awe was further deepened when my eye caught sight of these early sketchbook pages which Remington completed as a 15 year old cadet at the Highland Military Academy in October of 1876. Though it is obvious in these sketches that the romance and idealism of war and a soldiering life intrigued him greatly, he held no academic aspirations and could not tolerate its rigid restrictions. He felt more committed to the two "D's"...day dreaming and drawing.

The sketches shown here certainly confirm his unusual interest in military themes... but with a "rather average" proficiency and undeveloped skill in illustration. This sketch book is the launch pad for his voyage of self-discovery and mastery. It is totally amazing to compare these first humble and youthful attempts to the exceptionally competent level that he was able to achieve in less than ten years.We all have to start somewhere I guess... no matter where that might end!

He went of to Yale and excelled on the football field and did gain some art training, but left Yale... again feeling constricted and unmotivated by college life. His restless spirit yearned for more... and that included the desire to marry his future wife Eva. Her father scorned his hand in marriage request... citing the young man's financial instability. Determined to win the day,  Remington headed to the west... vowing to return a "successful millionaire" and to win Eva's hand in marriage.

Notes! Notes! Notes... Notans! Notans! Notans!... Sketch! Sketch! Sketch! = EXPERIENCE

He did in fact immerse himself fully into western cowboy life...mastering many of the skills of that lifestyle and during this crucial period, he built up a huge portfolio of work based upon his many contacts and experiences. By 1888, his drawing ability had improved to a level significant enough to garner him illustration assignments on a regular basis... working in pen and ink for Harper's Weekly and Century Magazine... just to name a few. Black and white illustration work allowed him to find a "day job"... but Remington realized early on that development of colour was essential to expanding into the fine art area.

His contrite inability to "become schooled" continued as he searched on his own to create his own palette and painting style in oils. As I toured and looked more closely at the exhibition seeking to understand his path to this end... it became obvious that he merely approached the colour issue by gradually shifting the spectrum tonally using watercolour and India ink washes and the "grisaille" techniques. Both approaches helped him to develop a  painting process based upon a monochromatic (one colour/black) approach. This learning strategy helped him create nuances and variations to  model form... volume... and create light and shadow.

Watercolour monochromatic painting. Note the attention to detail and the overall move of calm he creates in his varied poses. He creates a "moment"... one of of rest from a long and dry ride on the plains.

Another grisaille piece which compositionally juxtaposes a static foreground pair with a diagonally moving middle ground group receding to the distance ... all wedged by a wall of firs and distant mountains. Again notice the individual and realistic quality that he creates for each figure in the composition.

Black and white interpretation greatly enhanced Remington's ability to enter the activity of adding paint to drawing and design. Colour, as you well know and understand complicates most artists' initial entry into a development of a painting style. I share Remington's belief that beginning painting from this perspective is empowering. Books on colour theory are good for some artists... but others like R and I do not thrive on this approach. Painting experience... is as valuable as schooling... and "book learning." Set your own tempo and goals. Develop self-discipline by scheduling regular times to paint. Just plan... and paint!

I could spend  months of posting my thoughts and impressions following each tour, but I hope now to encapsulate my findings with a quick summarizing view and check list on Remington's method:

1. He was passionate about his subjects... horses, cowboy life, the disappearing Wild West and Indian way of life, outdoor subjects and landscape painting
2. He developed his artistic tool box choosing his own ideas, time frame and preferred mediums
3. While he shared his own  path with other notables such as NC Wyeth and Charlie Russell, he remained true to his own personal search for expression rather than to copy... never comprising his ideals
4. He travelled broadly in America and Canada... but spurned things European and embraced painterly  impressionism and other movements which shaped western Art in his time only near the end of his life
5.He focused upon and constantly refined basic elements which shape all "good art"... resisting playing it safe
6. He worked prolifically and maintained a very demanding schedule in painting and sculpting, producing nearly three thousand works of art and 23 sculptures
7. He made time to seek solitude to think... observe and gather ideas from the natural world

I have been overwhelmed by this unique learning opportunity and will long benefit from this experience. The opportunity to probe the painting surfaces of his many paintings... particularly his St Lawrence River landscapes and his sublime and ethereal nocturnes (at which he excels). These in particular offer future food for thought and direction for my own work. I better understand my own process and directions... something that I too struggle with on my journey.

What Remington achieved in his too short forty-eight year life span provides a model for all of us who struggle to find our Selves. Art is a journey and should not be considered a destination. Such a point of view marks the end of learning and future growth and development. Here is part of the collection that I viewed. I offer it to you for your own search!

This is a statement he made in regard to creating his bronze sculptures. Each of those sculptures freeze the action... every creature and figure anatomically correct... a bounty of exact detail to wrap these forms in unparalleled excellence. The same can be said for his paintings in each of the genres.

Mortal wounding and ambush on patrol...

Pointers making their way through the icy waters and shrouded in fog... one moment and one floe at a time

" Hauling in the Gill Net"... frozen upon the very crest of a wave... a moment in time

"Howl of the Weather"... the bow penetrating the wave... frozen at the end of a long prying stroke

Midnight Rendez-vous faces fade into the shadows... lost edges prevail over line... an intimate moment

Remington's Boat House-Studio on Chippewa Bay, St Lawrence River

Quebec Club ... shadowed shore captures the transient end of day light... a golden moment

The Rough rider Charge on San Juan Hill... an important oeuvre... one which catapulted Teddy Roosevelt in his gubernatorial campaign. Reminiscent of the quality of great Civil War and British commemorative battle paintings. Many figures capturing many instants.

This "cowboy coffee" moment painting captures that round the campfire end of day ritual that these range riders cherished. It is Remington's last painting... and fittingly... it remains unfinished. Such should be the ending note in the lives and work for all artists.... an unfinished moment! Our last masterpiece remains ever in the making!

Good painting!... To ALL!!