The Naked Silo

At the end of the tour When the road disappears If there's any more people around When the tour runs aground And if you're still around Then we'll meet at the end of the tour –TMBG, "The End of the Tour" This was my final day of painting en plein air for my 33 on 33 project (here's my final and comprehensive Map of Stops ) and I was at the Glenora Ferry , the easternmost end of Highway 33 in Prince Edward County. The ferry takes you across the Adolphus Reach to Adolphustown, where Hwy 33/Loyalist Parkway continues on to Kingston. View from the queue. I've taken this ferry many, many times and it's my favourite way to get to Kingston because I get to ride the tasty ferry and the rest of the drive is gloriously scenic, being alongside the water. The Murray Canal, The Regent Theatre, and the Glenora Ferry were the only pre-determined stops for this project, all others being decided as I went along, so I knew this would conclude my jour

32 footsteps leading to the room Where the paint doesn't want to dry 32 footsteps running down the road Where the dirt reaches the sky –TMBG, "32 Footsteps" While scouting a location for my second-last stop for my 33 on 33 project, I was drawn by this amazing sight heading east towards the Glenora Ferry: Majestic in the morning. That lone tree/island became my subject for today's painting, but the sky changed abruptly by the time I set up my gear, so –apologies and regrets– the final painting isn't as dramatic. [A] dock of the bay. Sorry, Otis, I have no time to waste. Like yesterday, today's painting features part of Picton Bay (here's my Map of Progress ), and this dock belongs to the Glenora Marina , a friendly place where they warn you of imminent rain in time for you to seek shelter so your painting doesn't get wrecked because you're listening to music on your headphones and you can't hear the thunder and didn&#

And though I once preferred a human being's company They pale before the monolith that towers over me –TMBG, "The Statue Got Me High" Nearing the end of my 33 on 33 project I only had to choose two more stops before I reach the Glenora Ferry on Wednesday. Today I stationed myself at the intersection of Highway 33 and Glenora Estates Road (here's my Map of Progress ) at the top of a hill overlooking a residential area that is largely on the waterfront of Picton Bay. Facing east. Rain was again forecast, but I set myself up outside and managed to finish in the invigorating summer morning air, well before any sign of rain. Neighbourhood art project? The neighbourhood recycling was picked up just before I parked and the randomly-tossed blue boxes looked like a half-assed Douglas Coupland installation. My set-up was beside the road facing the water, just out of frame on the right. Scenic? On the other side of Picton Bay, along Highway 49 is

When the ship runs out of ocean And the vessel runs aground Land's where we know the boat is found Now there's nothing unexpected About the water giving out "Land's" not a word we have to shout –TMBG, "Women & Men" The Picton Harbour was an easy choice of subject as I continued to make my way east along Highway 33 and was my last stop in Picton (here's my Map of Progress ). This stop was the shortest distance from my home –about 3.5km away– and was two days after the longest day of the year. This coincidence was something I realized only about a week into my  33 on 33  project, which is too bad, since I would have scheduled my shortest trip to take place on the longest day, had I been aware. Rosebud. I've passed the Picton Harbour almost every day since moving here and had always wanted but never managed to go down there and take some photos to make some paintings one day. Most interesting thing there besides the glassy water

She's a different kind of girl The kind you see in pictures I think you might have seen her Richard's on Richards –TMBG, "Vancouver" Aside from my starting point at the Murray Canal and my ending point at the Glenora ferry dock,  The Regent Theatre  on Main Street in Picton was the only subject I knew without a doubt that I would be including for my  33 on 33  project. No comment on this week's movies. This year the Regent is just shy of celebrating its century of operation, having opened its doors in 1918 by the Cook family, working out of a former grain store and office building that was itself already 80 years old. A major renovation and redesign completed in 1922 saw the addition of the vast auditorium and art deco motifs. Here's a cool video briefly detailing its history. Theatre Regent Theatre Theatre. Ground floor on the left is the box office for live-on-stage and live-by-satellite events at the theatre, and on the right is The R

I've been leaving on my things So in the morning when the morning bird sings There's still dinner on my dinner jacket 'Til the dinner bell rings –TMBG, "Dinner Bell" Yesterday I talked about how it might be forgivable for a big corporate business to move into a historic building if it meant the building would remain intact and its architecture preserved (for example: a Starbucks moving into the Brick Church on Main Street Picton would have been more preferable to having the church torn down). But would it be forgivable if this kind of thing went unchecked? Development overload. Good thing the nightmare scenario in the image above hasn't happened...yet. I created this Photoshopped image the summer they tore down the church as a sort of cautionary tale of rampant development and history lost. It's also almost the exact angle I used for today's 33 on 33 stop on Main Street Picton (here's my Map of Progress ). What I turned into a Star

Standing in my yard Where they tore down the garage To make room for the torn down garage –TMBG, "A Self Called Nowhere" Call me sentimental But I want to go back And commemorate the place With a historical plaque –TMBG, "Canajoharie" Today's stop for 33 on 33 was no accident or improvisation. I planned this site very soon after I began this project. I painted an empty lot. They tore down the church to make room for the torn down church. In August of 2010, the current owners of the 135-year-old "Brick Church," a Picton landmark, made a decision that would forever change the face of Main Street: despite popular opinion that it should be preserved as a Heritage or otherwise significant building, they hired convicted environmental criminal Jim Sinclair to tear it down...on a Sunday morning. Read about this madness here and here and here . Something I noticed during the controversy, before the demolition, was that a certain coun

Through the overgrowth Of the underbrush Shone a fossil tooth That I must have dropped Very long ago Which reminded me How we wound up where we are now –TMBG, "Canajoharie" It sounds kind of monumental when I put it like this: it took me 26 days to reach Picton . Named for Sir Thomas Picton (who was a big jerk according to the account of his career in the New World ) and known as the town where John A. Macdonald managed a law office for his uncle, Picton is Prince Edward County's largest municipality and it's postal code (K0K 2T0) encompasses such a large area that even Small Pond Arts is considered to be within its limits. Welcome! I initially planned to be at the roundabout on the outskirts of town, the junction between Highway 33 and Sandy Hook Road, but parking close to it wasn't an option and there isn't much to see there, anyway. Conceptually, painting in the middle of a landscaped roundabout is a great idea, but the painting wouldn'