One of my favourite walking destinations, Trout Lake, might be taking a hit from our extended dry weather. I’m reluctant to do reconnaissance because coyotes with young broods are actively on the prowl there. This scene, from months back, will have to suffice.
If it looks like a candidate for “drain the swamp,” it’s actually the reverse. For a number of years, a wetlands reclamation project has been in progress there, under City of Vancouver auspices, building on the work of an ecological organization.
It’s only natural that Summer Campers exploring different landscape forms would check out marshes and different artists’ views of them. Early in my browsing, I came across Russian-born Canadian artist Paraskeva Clark. She is barely known but her name was familiar to me as one among several overlooked 20th century female artists featured in a 2023 exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Her painting “Reflections” was surprising and intriguing:
Next, I went back to Trout Lake for a comparable image to work with:
As I began developing the scene “in the manner of Paraskeva Clark,” I spent a lot of time considering what made her piece so distinctive.
Her style was certainly not coming across in mine. Should I have chosen another Trout Lake view, with strong diagonals and tighter composition?
Now, what about Paraskeva, the artist? She scarcely looks like the type to go about in muddy boots.
I gave just a few sessions to a kind of quick study for her portrait, which might be useful later on. Or not.
The best way to celebrate marshlands might be with another book title – an absolutely fascinating recap of history, geology, and strange lore. Its biggest revelation for me was how much of middle North America was once bogland, and inhabited bogland at that.
Let’s rise above it all now – and take a cool Summer Camp paddle among the clouds.
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