Wild Northerner Magazine Summer 2016 | Page 30

Where exactly did the Group of Seven paint their magnificent landscapes? Here is one example of a painting in the Wawa area by A.Y Jackson near where he once owned a cottage.

For ‘Shoreline’ (1955) drive south of Wawa on Highway 17; five km; and find the road heading west to Michipicoten Harbour. Drive about 1 km and you will come to an intersection. Turn right (north), drive to the small wooden bridge; that is Silver Falls; drive on past the cemeteries, up the steep hill and down to Lake Superior. You will come to the municipal beach. At the shoreline walk north all the way to the far end of the beach and up and over the rocks to the tiny cove. Take along page 89 of the book or the photo. This location is WGS 84 Zone 16 T E 0659744 N 5313795 or N47° 57’ 27.1” W84° 51’ 36.8”. You have arrived. You get the measure of the artist. Momentarily you’re in the very space that produced the work. Here is the map for Red Lake: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1iB-v6OIVgCzZHDD2k6e48PFs0_E&hl=en and for Wawa: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1xJIRGzysYY-t6cMDL68bRYHj3rM .

“Following the Group has taken us all over Canada. They found so many beautiful and interesting landscapes. The country in so diverse and they have shown this to us. The painters realized that this country couldn't be properly represented in the traditional way. Of course there were pastoral farms with cattle grazing that they could have painted, but they realized that there was so much more. To show this raw beauty they had to go out into the woods. They had to experience it. By camping where they camped, hiking up the hills that they climbed, we, in some way, have learned to appreciate this beauty as they did.”

What’s next for the art detectives now retired? “Sue and I would very much like to go back to the Arctic. There are many more locations to find and photograph.” The couple has solved almost 200 puzzles. “We are going to keep doing this until we can’t move anymore,” Jim says.

So if you are looking for gift ideas you could choose the Waddington’s coffee table book; Google: Art Gallery of Sudbury (to order a signed copy). A sleuth is also one of the English language’s trove of strange collective nouns, used to describe a group of bears.) Like various media forms there’s a difference in the artists’ motivation and how we choose to appreciate their creativity. Contact the author at [email protected]; see www.steerto.com and on Facebook, Steer to Northern Ontario and Back Roads Bill Steer.

Follow in the Footsteps

is one example of a painting in the Wawa area by A.Y Jackson near where he once owned a cottage.

For ‘Shoreline’ (1955) drive south of Wawa on Highway 17; five km; and find the road heading west to Michipicoten Harbour. Drive about 1 km and you will come to an intersection. Turn right (north), drive to the small wooden bridge; that is Silver Falls; drive on past the cemeteries, up the steep hill and down to Lake Superior. You will come to the municipal beach. At the shoreline walk north all the way to the far end of the beach and up and over the rocks to the tiny cove. Take along page 89 of the book or the photo. This location is WGS 84 Zone 16 T E 0659744 N 5313795 or N47° 57’ 27.1” W84° 51’ 36.8”. You have arrived. You get the measure of the artist. Momentarily you’re in the very space that produced the work. Here is the map for Red Lake: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1iB-v6OIVgCzZHDD2k6e48PFs0_E&hl=en and for Wawa: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1xJIRGzysYY-t6cMDL68bRYHj3rM .

“Following the Group has taken us all over Canada. They found so many beautiful and interesting landscapes. The country in so diverse and they have shown this to us. The painters realized that this country couldn't be properly represented in the traditional way. Of course there were pastoral farms with cattle grazing that they could have painted, but they realized that there was so much more. To show this raw beauty they had to go out into the woods. They had to experience it. By camping where they camped, hiking up the hills that they climbed, we, in some way, have learned to appreciate this beauty as they did.”

What’s next for the art detectives now retired? “Sue and I would very much like to go back to the Arctic. There are many more locations to find and photograph.” The couple has solved almost 200 puzzles. “We are going to keep doing this until we can’t move anymore,” Jim says.

So if you are looking for gift ideas you could choose the Waddington’s coffee table book; Google: Art Gallery of Sudbury (to order a signed copy). A sleuth is also one of the English language’s trove of strange collective nouns, used to describe a group of bears.) Like various media forms there’s a difference in the artists’ motivation and how we choose to appreciate their creativity. Contact the author at [email protected]; see www.steerto.com and on Facebook, Steer to Northern Ontario and Back Roads Bill Steer.

Follow in the Footsteps

AY Jackson Dikenson mine