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First Steps

Posted on by Edward Wedler

About two weeks ago, Anne and I began our two-year FootSteps East journey in Herring Cove, Nova Scotia — the area in which artist A.Y. Jackson painted back in 1919. We logged this paint-out to our newly-created FootstepsEast Facebook Page, to our ESRI Footsteps East StoryMap and to our Google FootSteps East Map.

Here is an excerpt from the first map I have created in preparation for Footsteps East. The map pins look a bit strange, but let me explain.

The pins sit over some of the paint-out locations of members of Canada’s Group of Seven Artists. Each coloured square represents a different member. I experimented with several different pins and ended up with this design in order that multiple artists could be shown at the same location, without overlapping/obscuring map pins.

This map will help plan a travel route through Eastern Canada.

Zeroing in on Herring Cove (our first step), you can see that I have included our journey’s log and sketch on the map.

Also shown at Herring Cove is the A.Y. Jackson map pin.

Once we have painted at three locations, I will make the map and social media links public.

This coming week (21-26th June 2022) we get to meet plein air artists from across Canada and the USA, in a competition to paint the landscapes around Parrsboro, Nova Scotia (Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival). We are up against some seriously talented pros.

For August, Anne and I have collaborated with King’s County Museum to design “Brush with Nature“. This is where regional artists come to paint features of natural/historical interest in a LONG BRUSH event (01-18th August 2022) within Kings County and a SHORT BRUSH event (Saturday, 20th August 2022) at Miner’s Marsh in Kentville. The first Call to Artists has already attracted some great local talent.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Anne is my painting buddy and we share this Footsteps East journey. Bob is my Geographic Mentor sharing his wit and wisdom.

REFERENCE

McMichael Gallery, Group of Seven website
https://mcmichael.com/collection/group-of-seven/

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Author:

As an artist, I explore the nooks and crannies of our geography on foot. I interpret and paint our urban and rural landscapes in watercolour, with a splash of ink and a dash of mixed media. I love the left-brain-right-brain dance of watercolour as it mixes with some control yet yields some surprising results, and I savour the spontaneity of plein air art. My dream is to "slow travel" across Canada and Australia, to masterly paint and cavort with like-minded artists and art lovers along the way, and be continually inspired by the contemporary and historic giants of the art world (I patiently seek a benefactor and the support of fine art collectors to fulfil my dream).

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