The Kenora March Palette: 2009

15 March 2009

I began to publish the Kenora Palette Series in March 2008.

March is a magical time of year in Northwest Ontario, though you have to wander the back country trails to appreciate the beauty of our region in its fullest flourish. The magic is not usually visible from the highways, as it is too subtle and delicate to be captured by this method.

We are travelling out of town for several weeks at the end of this week, so I selected today as the last opportunity to capture the waning winter magic of our surrounding trail system.

Most of today's photos were taken on a network of local trails which Susan and her friend Linda Moncrief helped to clear, beginning this time of year in 2008.

What creates the magic of the Kenora March Palette? Certainly the gently receding blanket of winter snow is a key ingredient, but there is more. Another required component is the evening sun - now venturing further north - which highlights the subtle and always muted tones of bare trees and stark granite against the crystal white layerings of now soft and gradually disappearing snow.

The temperatures this time of year can be quite variable. One day will see -28 degrees Celsius, and the next will register -4 degrees Celsius. The, out of nowhere, as has occurred the past two days, the temperatures will jump well above zero, and the crystalline fabric of winter will recede so rapidly as almost to disintegrate.

Come with me now for an evening walk along the winter trails northwest of Kenora.

The following photo illustrates well the principle of the subtle glint of light illuminating the diffusely pigmented surface of the birch in the darkening forest.

The following closeup of the same tree makes clearer still the ephemeral nature of the evening light as it yields to the darkness that until recently has ruled and dominated our landscape, challenged only by the fleeting dash of the winter sun across the southern horizon.

Occasionally our pathway is framed by fallen trees or other markers offered by nature. This particular fallen red pine, almost exactly horizontal, is my favourite of them all, though the opening created is somewhat lower than head height.

A glimpse to the side almost anywhere along the trail will reveal the irregularities of the natural world softened by thick blankets of downy northern snow. These views are almost always pleasing, despite their ubiquity.

Here is another similar view, though at an entirely different location along the trail system.

I also enjoy the delicate textures created by contrasting elements on a much smaller scale, in this case a balsam branch fallen into the snow cover on the trail.

It would be neglectful, of course, not to illustrate the trail itself. This is a typical view.

This large granite boulder, left behind by retreating glaciers, remains a favourite landmark of Susan's and mine.

There are complex, fractal, infinitely complex textures overhead in addition to those layering the forest floor.

I am also drawn to simple images, though even a single birch against the snow is not as simple as it at first appears.

From simplicity to complexity... again. Note that the tongues of snow cover are clearly giving way to the resurgent forest.

Though following rules which remain fully submitted to randomness, the following image of a young grove of birch trees certainly offers the illusion of order and deliberateness.

I entered this image not for the composition of its visual elements, but for its almost flawless representation of the full palette of March, though the fresher tones of green are not so obvious here.

This naturally occurring arbour is just as intimate and nurturing in life as it appears in the image below.

Another image which captures the palette of March almost perfectly.

And here are some of the umbers and greens which were neglected in previous palette photos.

The trail itself, traversed by dogsled more than by motorized vehicle.

The bare forest against the sky.

Here is the perfect photo to close our review of the current March Palette series. The vapour trails of the technological world remind us that the sphere of the natural world is finite in scope. However, there is more to explore here near our home than we can exhaust in the time available to us. Wilderness, though often intersected by the marks and scratchings of men and machines, seems here still to stretch without end in every direction.

Thank you for joining me again for this review of the palette of Kenora (Northwest Ontario) in March 2009.

The Kenora palette series:

The Kenora March Palette: 2009

The Kenora Palette: After the June Rain

The Kenora May Palette Erupts into Green Tones, but also into Unexpected Hues

The Kenora Palette in May

The Kenora March Palette
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The Kenora Palette: After the June Rain

30 June 2008

It has been a lush and rainy June in Northwest Ontario.

It is easy to forget how our part of the world can be almost tropical in its characteristics, if only for a few brief weeks of the midsummer season.

Everything is richly green. Almost nothing is brown.

The lake is deep, lapping at the trunks of the hardy trees at water's edge.

The days are lengthy. There are a few hours of darkness in the middle of the night only.

This is the Kenora palette - after the June rain.

Here you can see the verdant hues as well as the deepening lake, behind the fragile birch trees in the foreground.

The expansive clouds play behind the backdrop of the greening early June forest canopy.

I found the play of sunlit lake water over ancient granite to be quite delightful. This photograph was taken just behind the dock at water's edge.

The elusive and delicate miniature flora breaking out through the expanse of granitic outcrop is almost impossible to capture with the camera. I cropped this photo to emphasize the tenderness of the blossoms synchronized with the faint thread of ageless rose-toned stone.

No less ephemeral is the explosion of delicate pink wild roses, opening up to greet us at every turn, and in every direction that we cast our eyes.

No less difficult to capture, though at the macro scale, is the carpet of fresh daisies which ornaments the cross country ribbon of the Trans-Canada Pipeline, which crosses no more than 200 metres from our doorstep.

The daisies are ever a willing subject for the eye of the camera.

It is difficult to portray the plenitude of the daisies and their brightly hued companions, all in primary tones, as the subjects are so fine against the vast expanse of the reclaimed meadowland... but there is seemingly no end to them.

The rose's subtle preparation prior to its bloom is brief and enticing.

So far I have only hinted at the magical dance of the lake, which is our rich and deep source of coolness and comfort in the steamy midday heat of June.

My traditional canoe has been abandoned in favour of the more versatile and responsive modern-day kayak. Accordingly, the canoe has in fact long languished at the lakeshore, awaiting that mix of adults and children who will again perceive its utility.

The dock itself is my reliable place of leisure and reprieve.

I remain fascinated at the persistent expressiveness of the delicate but hardy grasses, which attain secure footing even at the water's edge.

Everywhere, there are miniature and delicate gardens for the eye that would seek them out. With ample rainfall, no garden setting is too adverse.

Equally at home in an environment of blunt and unapologetic adversity is the sinuous vine in its self-assertive journey across the lichen-spotted rock face.

In fact, only the incessant trampling of the human foot can deter the lichen from setting their tenacious fibrils on the fractal surface of the barren rock.

The enduring red pine, the sage old man of the northern forest, casts its wizened and twisted branches hither and yon across the northern face of the cold deepening lake.

What then is there to explain the bold exuberance of the tiger lily? It requires no explanation, makes no apology. In such an environment there is no argument to be made against simply being. If one is to exist, then let it be boldly.

After the Kenora June rain, all in fact is magic.

Let us then rest in that cool, deep, still and ever curious state of knowledge. The Kenora June rain has visited itself upon us in its intensity. The pure beating heat and relative aridity of July awaits, but with it, the certainty that in mere weeks, a cooler August will follow. Intensity, followed by intensity, but no more - then by moderation. That is all. That is sufficient. This is what we know by instinct. No words need express it.

The Kenora palette series:

The Kenora March Palette: 2009

The Kenora Palette: After the June Rain

The Kenora May Palette Erupts into Green Tones, but also into Unexpected Hues

The Kenora Palette in May

The Kenora March Palette
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The Kenora May Palette Erupts into Green Tones, but also into Unexpected Hues

29 May 2008

The muted greys and off-whites of the early spring Kenora palette have exploded into a range of diverse green and other less predictable accents.

The following photos were taken during late May walks around our home.

It is intriguing to see how rapidly the landscape is altered by the explosion of green, which occurs in the space of only a few days.

Note here how the spruce cones are now joined on the forest floor by the earliest sprigs of new, green growth.

Winter greens remain in evidence against the bark of this long-dead birch (we live on the margins of the birch range, and the mature birches rarely survive for long in our climate).

The first green buds assert themselves here, already accompanied by the spider's web.

A wildflower seizes the opportunity to express itself against the austere backdrop of granitic bedrock.

Blades of grass do the same.

Here I have presented the lake itself as a palette. Note that every colour of the surrounding environment can be found in the rippling surface of the lake water. (Our homemade dock awaits in the background.)

New growth accompanies the decay of former life.

The northern sky seems thin and ethereal to me, and to some extent, this is literally true. The sun's angled rays have little to impede their journey to the earth's northern surface.

The diverse hues of lichen on granite are understatedly rich.

Susan created this sculpture while clearing the earth to the northeast of our house.

The contrasts of light yellow-green, dark sombre green, off-white and empty blue are to be found everywhere.

No hint of spring here.

But new growth will not be deterred.

Granite at times takes on biological form....

While the forest floor explodes with new life.

Organic eruptions in red and umber tones challenge the cliché of green....

While birch does not shy away from shades of mauve and pink.

Unexpected grey-white, yellow-white and red-orange aspects of the Kenora May palette approach the indescribable.

Present manifestations of granite recall its prior liquefied state.

Human intervention creates an orderly contrast to natural patterns....

But the timeless forms from past geological ages inevitably prevail.

The birch trees stay fresh by unwrapping themselves.

Only a week later, far richer greens are to be seen.

The richness of the subsequent week seems unending.

Finally, by May 28, our dock is in the water.

I very much regard the dock as a work of art...

Even the rope strewn at dockside.

The austere geometrical forms of the dock and rope call to mind the works of Mondrian.

A shorter journey than a trip to New York's MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).

Art is everywhere, and without artifice....

Let's now bid adieu to the waterside, the palette of the lake, and the wispy balsam branches, which seem to have been sketched in by Tom Thompson.

In fact, simple, beautiful forms are to be found everywhere.

So, let's close with the unassuming herb garden, situated literally in a rock pile near our northeast drain spout.

Hopefully you have found joy and delight in the modest but surprising forms and shadings of Kenora's late May palette.

The Kenora palette series:

The Kenora March Palette: 2009

The Kenora Palette: After the June Rain

The Kenora May Palette Erupts into Green Tones, but also into Unexpected Hues

The Kenora Palette in May

The Kenora March Palette
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