Jim MacDonald introduced me to Thoreau and Emerson

1914 White Frost #tt1914

By the end of 1914, I knew where I was going and how to get there as an artist.

I like the people of Algonquin Park. Genuine with rough edges still in view. Just like my boards.

Jackson said of Bill Beatty, 'He is so soaked in monochrome that mild things excite him.'

Deal with the crisis of the day, then have tea.

1910 Hotel on a Hill

Vulgarity, misapprehension and ignorance are old acquaintances

I mastered painting on unfinished boards. I painted to the loss of oil leeching into the wood

Some say my colours are exaggerated, but that was the very colour in the light of the moment.

I couldn't play the game in Toronto anymore. That's why I left.

1914 Giant's Tomb Georgian Bay #tt1914

Both Varley and I liked our drink and women

In the summer of 1914 while returning to Algonquin, I met Premier Borden in Muskoka

Why does a Nation have to define itself by War? Why not by Art?

I had a love of music, especially the Mendelssohn Choir in Toronto

1917 Spring Break up #tt1917

@mowatlodge - where the living is cheap and the sketching is good.

You cant work in peace unless you have a bear trying to steal your bacon.

I left Seattle in 1904 and ended up in Toronto in 1905.

Sometime I feel like a phoney and fear my work will be revealed for what it is.

All the big lumbermen are on Grand Lake.

1914 The Last Fence #tt1914

1905 Lock on Welland Canal

In my youth I had bouts of illness that kept me home from school.

I shared Studio One with Franklin Carmichael until he got married. Then I moved into the Shack.

The typical Canadian is materialistic and conventional.

In the city, one loses connection with the sun and sky

1917 Early Spring #tt1917

By the end of 1914, I knew where I was going and how to get there as an artist.