Some years ago an American friend considered the map of Canada I had on my studio wall. Into this map, I had pushpins marking the different places where I had collected local colours. Given that almost all the pins were along the Canadian/US border, he noted that I hadn’t been very far north yet.
I’m not sure if people outside of Canada realize how much of the north is largely unpopulated and how difficult it is to visit these northern communities—travel is only open seasonally and flights are very cost prohibitive. While I would personally love to look for colour amid the northern communities, it would be a rare opportunity …
That’s why I was so excited when a package arrived yesterday, from my friend Ken, with bright soil samples from his recent trip to the Canadian north. Inside it were reds from Meadow Lake and a yellow from Resolute. Meadow Lake is in northern Saskatchewan and Resolute is in the far north of Nunavut—in fact is one of Canada’s most northern communities! Receiving such brightly coloured earths from such remote areas was really exciting
I can’t wait to create a map from each for the Atlas of Canada’s Local Colours … Thanks Ken!