1917 Northern Lights. #tt1917

August 5, 1877 I was born on a farm in Claremont, Ontario.

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

The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses ~ GTR brochure

I would lose interest in painting in the summer. Uninteresting greens gave way to other pursuits. Fishing, women and dancing.

Art is deeper than steam, electricity, balloons and astronomy

1916 Winter in the Woods #tt1916

I never had a good ability to paint the human figure. Perhaps, a blessing in the end.

In May 1915, after the sinking of the Lusitania, electric signs advertising German beer in Toronto were removed.

Jackson lent me his books on Impressionism.

I was quiet, modest and never understood by many people.

1916-17 Maple Saplings, October - canvas

I had earnestness, instinct for design, feeling for colour and knowledge of the North.

I detest subterfuge and snobbery but I am sensitive to ridicule.

My blue palette: Cerulean, Cobalt, Prussian, and Ultramarine

I never had a good ability to paint the human figure. Perhaps, a blessing in the end.

1914 Petawawa Gorges, Early Spring #tt1914

It was my feeling that radical art could come from our knowing our country better, not by adopting foreign influences.

The essence of life is creative but our manner of living is not creative.

Unlike my artist friends, I never took any formal training.