TREADING WATER: PART THREE

Pic Island - Lake Superior Landscape                          Pencil Drawing  2023

 I finished off the drawing using the paper stomp to smudge the sky, together with an eraser to lift some of the smudging and give a bit of shape and body to the clouds. The stomp was used to soften the lines of the shrubbery in the foreground. I added a few grasses here and there, then called it quits. It's important at some stage in a drawing or painting when you begin to get a bit fidgety, and start looking around to add something here and there, that you simply accept that whatever your working on is finished. To carry on just creates confusion, and can go beyond what you were looking to achieve, and end up a mess. With this drawing I didn't expect a masterpiece, it was simply a bit of an exercise for an ageing artist to see if I could remember how to make a sketch, or drawing. It seems that I still have a bit of an ability. Now, to stay alive until spring provides an opportunity to get up to Algonquin to make a few on site sketches.....

Older Graphic Representation Of Pic Island, Lake Superior.        Graphite Drawing

In between working on this sketch/drawing I read a bit about artificial intelligence, and just how it's going to replace many who work in the arts. Frankly, I don't believe that it will replace the artist, but I do believe that A.I. will become a collaborative tool, much like many of the existing graphic programs have become. Some may see A.I. as a threat. I personally am excited, while at the same time disappointed, as by the time that A.I. is widely used as a studio assistant, I will have had my moment.

Watercolour Field Sketch  Lake Near Kenora Ontario. August 20, 2003

We were on our way to Quetico, or somewhere  thereabouts, when we ran into road construction, and were forced to stop while machinery maneuvered about. I looked over at the side of the highway and saw a lake off in the distance, so we pulled over to the side of the road, and I made use of the time stopped to make a small watercolour.  I've often wished that we had the time to stop here for awhile to explore the lake. Sometimes, however, we run out of time. Perhaps, next time around, .....or maybe you can go up and explore on my behalf.

The Old Man’s Diary

July 2022,

summer long awaited,

now, 

seemingly in a rush

to join with spring and winter, and

drift away 

to time that has passed.

Time,

timeless, but

as we age,

approach our event horizon,

value diminished,

like a freight train out of control

it speeds into darkness

with nothing in sight.

Wishes,

promises,

threats,

fall on deaf ears,

as life as we knew it

turns on its heels, and

we are left,

eyes wide shut,

to enter the darkness

alone.

But,

with moments left to spend,

comfort takes hold

knowing that we’ve done our best,

enjoyed the trip, 

we settle in, and

enjoy the ride

to its very end.

Time,

always forward,

never back.

*****