The final colour of my pallet that was still eluding me had been green. My only consolation in this frustration is that it has been is shared by every artist going back hundreds of years. There just aren’t many naturally green pigment sources out there. Historically, an artist’s choice boiled down to either malachite … Read more
With the city of Cambridge being the centre of the 100 mile ART Project, it was important to me that I find some pigment within its city limits. It was suggested that I contact Dufferin Aggregates, a local quarry, and see if I could search around their operation. In talking with Mark Graves, the pit … Read more
Before we headed back after visiting Kettle Point, Reiner suggested that we stop by the Hungry Hollow in Arkona. This is a famous location for collecting fossils that is made up of the same geological formation as Kettle Point but at a lower level geologically. Besides, it sounded like fun, so we headed over. After parking … Read more
This is one of the very unique places I have been looking forward to visiting for this project. Kettle Point takes it’s name from the round boulders, or “kettles”, that emerge from the underlying Devonian shale beds of Lake Huron. These natural wonders are actually concrentrations of calcite crystals which grew over many centuries around … Read more
It really is a small world: In reviewing some of the places that the 100 mile ART Project has gone, Maggie read about the Mastodon tusk from West Lorne and it turns out that she lived in West Lorne for many years. She went on to say that there were cliffs of clay around there … Read more
This week I received some unexpected help in the 100 mile ART Project: About 40 grade-seven students from Laurentian Hills Christian School in Kitchener! On Tuesday and Thursday of this week Mrs. Lisa Eelkema and Mrs. Shirley Huinink brought their students on a field trip out to Conestogo to collect some river rocks and then … Read more
I was very excited to receive in the mail my package of seeds from the Cottage Gardener this spring. Mary and Dan Brittain, the owners of this wonderful organic seed company, are one of the sponsors of the 100 mile ART Project. They had very kindly shipped me 360 woad seeds! Woad (Isatis tinctoria) makes … Read more
Visiting the LaFarge Quarry in Dundas is quite an experience. The quarry opens it’s gates twice a year to rock-hounders and, because I’m a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Gem and Mineral Club, I was able to attend. Everyone met on a side road, and when I arrived and saw the seventy odd cars already there … Read more
The town of Paris is a beautiful place to collect. The whole town seems to have the right mixture of straight, hard stone lines and soft curving hills, but I had a special interest beyond that in my desire to find the gypsum I needed for making the icon’s gesso. I had always assumed that … Read more
I knew that the village of Limehouse is located in an especially beautiful area before my son and I traveled up there to hike. My grandfather built his house on the edge of Limehouse (and Stewardtown) because he liked the area so much and as a boy this meant that I took many day-long excursions exploring the local geography. … Read more