Fogbank

Partridge Island is tidal, in the Bay of Fundy off Parrsboro, NS. It’s connected to the mainland by a sandbar formed during the great Saxby Gale of 1869.

There are whackin’ great tides in this bit of ocean, and they move fast enough to catch the unwary. There are standing waves and riptides and all kinds of atmospheric effects from weather hitting Cape Blomidon across the water. The cliffs conceal a treasury of fossils and gemstones, but they’re also prone to mudslides. In short, it’s a wild kind of place.

The moment a painting is born, it’s measured against our expectations, not its own virtues. We mean to paint about one thing; instead, our subconscious minds lead us to explore a different issue altogether. Later, we’ve forgotten what was in our imagination, and the painting stands or falls on its own merits.

That was the case with this painting. It wasn’t what I expected—a shimmering fog bank, a herring weir, and the ghostly outlines of an island. Instead, it’s more muscular, and therefore truer to its origins.