A completely different dawn today and one that over the years has been fondly named a ‘Rothko Morning’.

“I use colours that have already been experienced through the light of day and through the state of mind of the total man. In other words, my colours are not colours that are laboratory tools which are isolated from all accidentals or impurities so that they have a specified identity or purity.”
* Mark Rothko, source of artist quotes painter of the Sublime: ‘Working notes’, undated; as quoted in as quoted in ”Abstract Expressionism Creators and Critics”, edited by Clifford Ross, Abrams Publishers New York 1990, p. 173.

First Photo – April 19

One of the many challenges when photographing in the dark is making sure everything is in focus. The tripod, cable release and level help alleviate the other ones.

Second Photo – April 19

The small white patch in the lower portion of the photograph is a reflection from the first open water on Cranberry Lake at the narrows. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, before they put the dam in on Frood Lake, Franklin Carmichael and fellow painters Joachim Gauthier and A. Y. Jackson would have to portage over the narrows on their way to Cranberry and Grace Lake. Grace Lake is in Killarney Provincial Park. Here’s a photo from a few years ago of the narrows.

A Passage to Grace

It was 1c and with the steady wind from the north it felt like -10c so the fingers were frozen and the hot coffee was enjoyed that much more. There were very few stars in the sky, as you can see from the earlier photos, however a couple did appear as I took a photo of a tree at my back. The wind was strong and steady enough to move the branches but not the trunk of the pine.

Third Photo – April 19

Up at 4:30 a.m. and home before the sun came over the horizon!