I fight the River
I fight the river
this circle becomes
oval
elipse
line
stretch out that line
suddenly it is:
3 - 4 - 5
then 0; the mirror.
Dots and streaks become
the horizon where
pink is the one miracle
until the pale green
smashes pure cobalt.
the wind challenges my eye
it runs at it
then veers away
to sharpen
the water a steel blue
suddenly the warmest gold
at my toes tickle
the entire world green -
it all turns infectious
but just for a moment
until I decide on a cloud
right in the centre
easy there
something to anchor
the scene until
it all explodes.
Why I paint the River
I started to focus on the Ottawa River because of the rich violets and rust colours that underlay the reflection of the sky. I paint from a limited number of locations. I do this because I do not want to focus on landscape features beyond the surface of the river. I believe that reference to the shoreline takes away from the unique stamp of the water. The turbulence and pattern of water flow emphasize the abstract pattern of the paintings.
Many residents assume that the rust colour of the Ottawa river is pollution. It has a deep brown purple colour due to Tannins that enter the river through wetlands.
I recently read a statement from the Canadian painter Mary Pratt about water. She says that water does, by it own reality, run free, lying like a skin over most of the planet. The river carries rainwater back to the ocean. In doing so, it carves and reshapes the land.
The Algonguins lived for thousands of years along the Ottawa River. Here are a couple of statements they made about the transformative quality of the Ottawa river:
Muxumsa Wunchènewànk, our Grandfather in the West. He was placed there to control the power of water. He brought a watery and softening influence to the Creator's vision. He gives us autumn, gives us death, and readies us for renewal, and gave us the waters, our life's blood, healing, intuition, emotions, dreams and visions, and rain.
Muxumsa Wapànewànk, our Grandfather of the East. He was placed there to control the power of the wind. He gave forth breath and mind to the Creator's vision. He gives us springtime, the breath of life, birth and new beginnings, and brings forth the light, the winds, our minds, creativity, knowledge, music and songs...
http://henryhahn.net/myths/lenapecreation.html