Blog #4
Blog 4
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It has now been a full year since I began work on the four paintings and almost six months since they were unveiled at the Our Watershed Our Future event at the Eagle's Nest. As I reflect on the overall process of creating the four scenario paintings, I must first thank Kathryn Lindsay and Allison Quinlan who guided my vision so that the end result conforms faithfully to the scenarios as they had been developed in a community consultaltion process.
One feature of the paintings that was my own addition to the scenarios concerns the health and depiction of the White Birch in the bottom left part of the paintings. Research indicates that while the White Birch has been under assault by parasites for decade it can survive with the proper care. In The New Rural scenario, the WHite Brich has been cared for and a stewardship program is in place (depicted by an elder helping youth plant seedlings). In Entrepreneurial Boom. it has received no care, though the dead limbs of the birch have been cleared from a bike path. In What's Ours Is Yours there are no White Birches as they have been cleared to set up wind turbines. In The Great Divide, there may be some healthy birches in the west because the wealth concentrated in that area has allowed for care of the treasured tress, but in the watershed's lowest reaches, no care has been given.
It's always a joy for me to learn more about my environment and so it has been with the Bonnechere River Watershed. I will conclude with some phots of my favourite spots on the river at the Fourth Chute.
