Voyageur View
by Phil Chadwick
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Dimensions
10.000 x 8.000 x 0.250 inches
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Title
Voyageur View
Artist
Phil Chadwick
Medium
Painting - Oil On Panel
Description
It had rained hard the previous night but cold air mass stratocumulus and remnants of fog and stratus were a welcome shield from the blazing sun of the previous few days. My goodness, this was a fun trip that was full of irreplaceable memoies. I just had to record it in oil only hoping that some of the feelings would make it into the pigments.
This is a quiet and sheltered bay on the outlet of a short portage. It probably looks the same today as it did in the time of the voyaguers. The voyageurs were French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade years. Voyageur is a French word, meaning "traveler".
The voyageurs were regarded as legendary, especially in French Canada. They were heroes celebrated in folklore and music. For reasons of promised celebrity status and wealth, this position was very coveted. James H. Baker was once told by an unnamed retired voyageur:
I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me, fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs, have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all of my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I would spend my life the same way over. There is no life so happy as a voyageur's life!
Despite the fame surrounding the voyageur, their life was one of toil and not nearly as glorious as folk tales make it out to be. For example, they had to be able to carry two 90-pound (41 kg) bundles of fur over portage. Some carried up to four or five, and there is a report of a voyageur carrying seven for half of a mile. Hernias were common and frequently caused death. Most voyageurs would start working when they were twenty two and they would continue working until they were in their sixties. They never made enough money to consider an early retirement from what was a physically grueling lifestyle.
Uploaded
July 20th, 2016
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Viewed 914 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/20/2024 at 8:21 PM
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Comments (1)
Susan Esbensen
Lovely cool notes of abstract reflections dance atop the water, draw the eye to shore, and free it to climb the trees to the sky! Well done Phil!
Phil Chadwick replied:
So nice to hear from you Susan. Your support and astute observations are uplifting. :>)
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