Algonquin's Peak & Some Media

Algonquin Splendor © Michelle Basic Hendry

I have been away from the blog for a little longer than usual. This wasn’t my intent! I have been busy with new paintings which I hope to have completed before the weekend and I have been learning CSS to improve my website through on-line courses. My weekends have been full and away from the computer. So I need to catch up!

On September 18th the September/October issue of the “Beyond the City” magazine was released and my work and myself were featured. This full colour glossy magazine is distributed across cottage country from Haliburton, to Parry Sound, Muskoka and Collingwood. I was very excited to see the exhibition had generated so much interest! The four page article featured four of my paintings and the photo shoot for the article was done at the site of the painting “Twilight”. During the shoot in August, some people stopped on the side of the road to see what was going on! They loved the painting and were given invitations to the show.

Feature story from Beyond the City Magazine – photos by Bev McMullen

Trying to take advantage of some beautiful weather and the peak of the Autumn season, my husband and I have been traveling as much as possible! This past weekend was spent in Algonquin Park. We somehow managed to snag a waterfront campsite and were kept company by the local wildlife – including very friendly chipmunks and a whole bunch of ducks.

Algonquin Ducks © Michelle Basic Hendry

The sky was overcast for the first two days, but this did little to dull the spectacular show the Park is famous for at this time of year. The last week in September is almost always peak week in Algonquin. In spite of the occasional shower, the display was rich as was the earthy smell of the bush that saturates the air when the leaves begin to fall.

Two Rivers Trail © Michelle Basic Hendry

Across from our campground is a trail that leads up to a steep granite cliff. From the top, the drop down is sheer and dark. I am certain the snow melts last there in the spring. The view is of painted ridges mixed in a carpet of red, orange, gold and green – maples, oaks, aspens and pines…

Two Rivers Trail View © Michelle Basic Hendry

For the first time in a while, my visions for my palette are composed of different colours and my subjects appearing untouched by the hands of humans.

I was fortunate to be able to return on Monday to capture images with the added gold of the steeply angled afternoon sun. The picture at the top of this post has to be my favourite of the entire trip and one of the last images I was able to capture before dusk forced me home.

Algonquin Wetland © Michelle Basic Hendry

Driving in this area at dusk is risky, especially at this time of year because the deer begin to migrate to their winter feeding grounds to the south. Had I not been driving the two times deer leaped out onto the road in front of me, I would have had a couple of good shots of a doe and a very young stag.

Smoke Creek © Michelle Basic Hendry

Thanks to a chance visit with photographer George Popadynec, I was sent to Smoke Creek to find the sun casting light straight down the water in the image above. The last photograph was of a tree that was glowing as if lit from within across the bridge over the Oxtongue River at the western edge of the highway 60 corridor.

At Oxtongue River Bridge © Michelle Basic Hendry

It is effortless to imagine why Algonquin Park has attracted artists of all media into its boundaries for over a century.

The next post will be the first of a few new paintings!