Rhumba Moon, 10 x 14 inches, watercolour on Arches paper
So many times on so many canoe trips I've lain on the warm granite rock or a sandy shore gazing up into the fuzz of stars in a black unobscured northern night. The moonlit nights with all the myths of transformations and with its cool light bathing everything in its palette of luminous white are always a favourite. I remember paddling years back in the light of the moon, there wasn't a breath of air, everything was still, just the rhythmic sound of our steady paddle strokes and our hushed voices" can you see the islands?" You see, we were still trying to get to a campsite in Quetico after pushing really hard to travel perhaps a little too far that day. I was traveling with an old friend Dave Howard who I've done many of my northern Quetico trips with and on this particular trip my nephew Matthew Squirrel and his buddy were along. Dave was slightly in front paddling on the calm glasslike surface. The only thing breaking the becalmed surface was the spreading ripple as our canoes cut through the water headed towards indistinct black forms which we knew from previous trips were islands further along on the lake. They were our destination. I've always wanted to paint that scene. This night scene from a northern granite point brings back memories of that particular northern paddle.
The title "Rhumba Moon" inspired by a favourite song, recorded in 1978, "Rhumba Girl" by Nicolete Larson.
Rhumba Moon, 10 x 14 inches, watercolour on Arches paper
So many times on so many canoe trips I've lain on the warm granite rock or a sandy shore gazing up into the fuzz of stars in a black unobscured northern night. The moonlit nights with all the myths of transformations and with its cool light bathing everything in its palette of luminous white are always a favourite. I remember paddling years back in the light of the moon, there wasn't a breath of air, everything was still, just the rhythmic sound of our steady paddle strokes and our hushed voices" can you see the islands?" You see, we were still trying to get to a campsite in Quetico after pushing really hard to travel perhaps a little too far that day. I was traveling with an old friend Dave Howard who I've done many of my northern Quetico trips with and on this particular trip my nephew Matthew Squirrel and his buddy were along. Dave was slightly in front paddling on the calm glasslike surface. The only thing breaking the becalmed surface was the spreading ripple as our canoes cut through the water headed towards indistinct black forms which we knew from previous trips were islands further along on the lake. They were our destination. I've always wanted to paint that scene.
This night scene from a northern granite point brings back memories of that particular northern paddle.
The title "Rhumba Moon" inspired by a favourite song, recorded in 1978, "Rhumba Girl" by Nicolete Larson.