Painting at Macaulay Heritage Park

Welcome!

This week I worked on prepping a few canvases for my big World War One project in the church at Macaulay Heritage Park in Picton, Prince Edward County. I had planned to take the last of my nine Dance Partners (currently half finished), but I brought that with me on my second session there.

Backside.

Since my painting/drawing sessions at Macaulay (and the exhibition of all 100 paintings in November) were at the church, this post focuses on that building and the immediate grounds, rather than the rest of the heritage park (click the link below the pic below!).

Macaulay House.

Graves!

The homes across the street and modern cars in this shot are a great contrast to what could easily be very old graves* somewhere in Europe.

More graves.

Tablets!

Stained.

I find it fascinating to note that so many "charitable donations" are made where credit to the donor is loud and clear. The writing at the bottom of each window (not legible in this photo) lists the people who made this window possible. Now, I'm not religious, but this kind of "announced generosity" seems contrary to this passage from the bible:

Matthew 6:3-4 "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

It reminds me of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where that dude from the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword is challenging Indy about his motivations for looking for the Holy Grail and asks "Is it for His glory, or for yours?"**

Shiny.

There used to be a Bata shoe factory here in Picton, and the current shoe exhibit at Macaulay not only pays tribute to those long-gone days, but served as inspiration for the first "phase" of my War project, Dance Partners.

My favourite items in the exhibit.

These boots are from an era when seeing a woman's flesh would somehow freak people out; the reason they're so high is so that when a woman's already long and concealing skirts/dresses rose up oh-so-slightly, her ankles would remain hidden by the boots.

Moccasin-making tools.

Many kinds of shoes are represented here, including moccasins, but we all know what they look like, so here's a shot of the fascinating native tools for making them.

Also, snow shoes.

Also, this dress.

My set-up.

The day was rainy, but the big churchy windows provided ample light for me to work on those five canvases, and I'll set up there again today to actually paint that last shoe (amongst the shoes).

Bonus room.

If you can identify where this room is in the church, you get 10 points***.

*still, they are very old graves, nonetheless

**not that I care; it's just fascinating to note

***points are symbolic only and are not redeemable for cash

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