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 Algoma following in the footsteps of the Group of Seven

Day 2  September 17

We were up bright and early, off to breakfast in the hotel restaurant, during this COVID time this was no simple task as you can imagine.  The weather was once again amazing.  Our hotel was just up the street from the Art Gallery of Sudbury so a visit was definitely in order.  There we viewed locally made crafts and they had in stock a book by Jim and Sue Waddington, “In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven” of course this was a “must purchase”.

  We were on the road again by noon on our way to our first painting stop in Willisville Mountain, in the La Cloche area.   There we met up with our guides Jon and Kerry Butler.  Jon, a photographer, is an expert on where the Group of Seven painted.  Both he and his wife, a painter, spent many canoe trips following in the groups footsteps and locating exactly where they painted.  We met at the foot of Willisville Mountain and bushwhacked (no trail to follow) our way to our first painting location (no easy feat), Jon gave us a very informative lecture about the group and then it was painting for us.  How exciting it was to be sitting there, on the granite shelf where they had sat and look out and see what they saw.  We were looking at a vista of Frood Lake and just above it Cranberry lake.  The weather was spectacular, warm and clear, perfect for painting.   Everyone was so mesmerized and concentrating so hard on their work a bear could have walked by and we wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

Me having a well deserved rest.

My 1^st plein air painting of the trip a 6 x 9 inch WC of our view of Frood Lake and Cranberry Lake on top of the granite shelf

Alas all the sun was waning and we had to leave and find our accommodation for the next 3 nights, Forbes Holiday Resort, in Whitefish Falls.  These were fishing cabins on the North Channel, ours was a lovely large 3 bedroom with kitchen, living room and a very nice shower room.  I was lucky to room with my friend Bonnie and we met a new friend Patricia Watt, who stayed with us.  The 3 of us had a wonderful time.  Because of the COVID restrictions we each brought our own food and due to the size of our cabin we were able to stay 6 feet apart at most of the time.  In the evenings we did manage to enjoy a little wine with our supper (and after supper and for happy hour) after all we were on vacation.

A mirror image of our cabin at Forbes Holiday Resort a 5x6 inch Plein air pastel

Stay tuned next week for day 3.

MY FUN TRIP TO NORTHERN ONTARIO

September 16 ON OUR WAY – a travel day

It all started about this time last year when some of us artist types were throwing out ideas of where we could go to plein air paint.  Our good friend and illustrious leader Margaret Ferraro decided to run with the idea of Algoma – Following in the footsteps of the Group of Seven was born.  I must give all the credit for arranging this trip to Margaret, she did a great job.  Margaret is a pastel artist and teacher who lives and works near Barrie, ON (once of Ottawa but alas no longer), she organizes travel painting with small groups in and out of Canada.  All the trips I have been on with her have been awesome.

The first day my travel companion, Bonnie Dillon, and I left Beckwith Township around 0930 in the morning, the car as usual was packed to the rafters with our must have painting gear, clothing and food, we were ready for every imaginable situation, weather etc.  We had to make a stop in Golden Lake to pick up one last vital piece of gear, it was back roads all the way for us gals, fortunately we both enjoy travelling that way. My GPS then took us via more backroads (that are not even on the map), to the other side of Pembroke and on to the TransCanada Highway (17). Believe me these were some very interesting side roads which set the tone for the rest of out travels. We were very excited.

We had a difficult time staying true to our destination with so many lovely things to see along the way but we made it into Sudbury later in the afternoon with only time to check in to our hotel and meet the other adventure painters for supper.

There were to be 10 of us including Margaret Ferraro.

No time to paint on this leg of the journey, as we had people to meet in Sudbury, ON. But I have included a small watercolour painting I completed shortly before (maybe even the day before) we left, it is called Algoma Bound.  It served to motivate me on my way.  

Stay tuned for Day 2 with more pictures and paintings to follow in next week's blog post.