After visiting the cheek to jowl State campgrounds in New York and Pennsylvania in August, it was a treat to canoe out into the peace and quiet of northern Georgian Bay’s archipelago.
At some point in the past some really, really, strong individuals arranged a few really, really, massive stones into a fireplace complete with seating with, of course, a wonderful view. The sketch was an attempt to capture the tangle of trees on the opposite shore.
A quick sketch from a great hike along the south rim of Letchworth Canyon in New York State. It’s about a 600 foot/183 metre drop to the Genesee river, impressive enough that it’s billed as ‘The Grand Canyon of the East.’ A wee bit of exaggeration there, it was a kilometre shallower, shale, not sandstone and the only Indians we saw were on a tour bus and wearing saris. We were lucky enough to see this old coal burning engine pulling a great variety of historic passenger cars on an outing from Buffalo.
Letchworth Canyon, PA
At the moment, what I like about this print is the total absence of snow. Perhaps even more is that it reminds me of a sunny afternoon sitting on a huge rock with a friend drawing rocks and trees and water and rocks and trees and water, but mostly enjoying the sun.
Outside the wind chill makes it feel like -30C. I’m back inside now, huddled over my mac for warmth and wondering why my ancestors paid good money for passage from England to this frozen real estate when they could have just stolen a loaf of bread and been given a free trip to warm, sunny Australia.
I spent a (much warmer) day last March wandering around a bush near here sketching the aftermath of a snow storm. This three colour print is from one of the sketches.
No matter how nice an air mattress I drag along when I’m camping I wake up about 4:30 – 5:00 am then turn from side to side to side like a rotisserie, trying to get comfortable. I never do so I get up. The upside is that I have lots of drawings done in the early morning calm. I liked the tree in this sketch and so, pining for the north, so to speak, engraved it. It’s 6.5×9 with five tones of grey ink on Stonehenge paper.
There’s a voyeur aspect to train riding that I like; mile after mile after mile of backyards. If you were on the right train you’d see mine. I did the drawing last summer but changed it to a winter scene to cover up all the stuff that was scattered about and to spare me the pain of engraving tree leaves. The lazy way to clean up a yard.
As you move away from the mainland to the edge of eastern Georgian Bay the pines give way to cedars and vast expanses of rock ground smooth by glaciers. I spent a few days canoeing, enjoying the sun, doing ink washes of cedars and trying not to scratch multiple spider bites.
The ubiquitous Georgian Bay cedar. This is a three colour engraving that attempts to juxtapose the permanence of the rocks with the impermanence of the life around them. 
Georgian Bay is the place to go if you like drawing rocks, a landscape of rocks ground smooth by the glaciers then cracked over millennia by ice and heat.
This ink wash was done in the Bustard Islands but could have been done anywhere on the east side of the bay.
A quick oil as the sun was going down. This was in The Outer Fox Islands, a beautiful collection of islands on Georgian Bay.
Love the name ‘Outer Fox Islands.’
Nice when the moon is out, when it disappears the islands and mainland become one big, black shape.
4/c, 6.5×8.5 engraving.
I posted this as a reminder that winter can be beautiful. It has dropped to -21C/6F and, more than anybody, I needed the reminder.
This is a 12×18, 3 colour engraving. The van I was sitting and drawing in had a great heater!
A great print by my friend/student, Maria. It’s her third print which makes me think that it won’t be long before she’s teaching me.
13 x 8.375, 3/engraving; all engraved from the same plate.
Georgian Bay gets rough in a hurry and finding a flat camping spot out of the wind on an island like this is great.
A huge thunderstorm with torrential rain is quite enjoyable from inside a tent. Bring a good book.
3/c, 8×13 engraving.
THIS THURSDAY!!! July 23 at Gallery M in Cambridge there’s a great opening. Wonderful Gallery, nice people, great Art. You’re invited.
clive lewis, printmaker 