Three Sisters Whitefish Lake ( Red Canoe Portage Series)

Title "Three Sisters / Whitefish Lake" 8x10" acrylic on canvas.

This point of land actually exits in the natural world and is located on Manitowick Lake. In late August the whitefish come to a shoal here to feed and this is one of my favourite areas to fish for them.
Although there are no pictographs painted on the cliff walls I believe this area to be a place of power. I always leave here feeling energized!

Water Reflection

Looking at water
is like looking for
my soul
mysterious
and slightly
out of reach.

music website http://www.doncharbonneau.com/

Mystic Waterfall

Title: Mystic Waterfall 16x24" acrylic on canvas with painted sides.

Mystic Waterfall

We could hear the waterfall

a good distance down river.

We paddled hard as the

current got stronger.

Around the next bend

we came face to face

with a wall of water.

We paddled to one side

of a quiet pool

and just sat there

in our canoe

listening to the water

coming down.

With a gentle power

it carried away all

of our troubles, cares

and worries.

You'll find them somewhere

downstream

all washed up.

music website http://doncharbonneau.com/

Train Stories

Photo: Don at Hawk Junction A.C.R. Station / Photo credit Jude Charbonneau

Title:"Somewhere on the ACR" 8x10" acrylic on canvas board./ Title: "Engine 49" 8x10"acrylic on canvas.

I'm in the process of writing songs for a new album which will have a train theme. If you have a train story you would like to share please send it along using the mail form on my website here at http://www.doncharbonneau.com/ and click on Train Stories.

These are two pieces I will be using on my new music CD "Train Stories". I plan on having a small painting for every song that will be on this new album.

Engine 49

I grew up in a small railroad town in Northern Ontario and have many fond memories of trains. Our house was just across the street from the Railroad Station. My step grandfather " petit Nan" was a night watchman for the lumber mill which used the railroad to ship their lumber.

I used to accompany him on his rounds and remember him setting his watch by his favourite train "Old Engine 49" ...was always on time. Great stuff for a song!

"Place of Power/Devil's Chair Lake Superior"

Title: "Place of Power/Devil's Chair Lake Superior" Acrylic on canvas with finished sides.

The Devil Chair is located at the entrance of Guargantua Harbour on Lake Superior. I spent time camping here while boating on Superior. This is a traditional place of power and the imagery is still very much alive in my memory. I recorded the song titled the Devil's Chair on my first CD in 2004. This song was used in a video that was filmed in this area a couple of years ago. You can view this video here (takes 15 to 20 seconds to load)
http://www.doncharbonneau.com/media/video/devchair.wmv

Video Credits: Paula Truss http://www.thenorthviewtv.com/

The Devil’s Chair

He was coming home in the early spring

With a load of fur in his old canoe

Guargantua he was heading for

Off shore wind was blowing fair.

He was two miles from the Devil’s Chair

He was two miles from the Devil’s Chair

Wind suddenly turned around

Gitchee Gumme now was blowing strong

He became afraid for his life Forgive me Lord if I have sinned

But my wife and children I do love My wife and children I do love.

He was two miles from the Devil’s Chair

Oh Manitou what have done

Have I not sang your praises enough

This last tobacco I do offer

For two more miles of safe water

He was two miles from the Devil’s Chair

Fragments

Fragments

You'll see them everywhere

once you learn how to look for them.

They are a part of our world

and exist at the very edge

of our perception.

Some artists attempt

to make them real

so that you can see

what they look like.

On their canvas they appear

as smears and blotches

colours that have no reason

to be blended together

Yet the very nature

of colour is abstract

but survives very well

in a real world

where really

there is only light.

This is where my

fragments exist.

Don Charbonneau

Don's music website here at http://www.doncharbonneau.com/

Red Canoe Portage Series

Title:"Red Canoe" 4x6" acrylic on card paper

Back in January I started painting a series of paintings titled Portage series. I wrote several small poem fragments to acompany these pieces. The red canoe can be found in several of the paintings sometimes just as a blur. This in an ongoing series as I find myself coming back to this subject.

The Red Canoe

The analogy of the canoe as a
human body
fragile craft
always moving
to it's destiny
we all eventually reach
but for each of us
at a different time
yet always at the same moment


Don's music website is located here http://www.doncharbonneau.com/

Fall Colours

Title: "Fall Colours" 8"x10" acrylic on canvas.

Birch trees make an excellent subject for painting. Each one has an individual characteristic...fragile but yet they are able able to survive on what seems to be bare rock and in the harshest of climate. I plan on doing a whole series on this species and have used them in song and poetry.
This story/poem was inspired by a fall fishing trip with my sons.

Birch Trees and Suspended Walleyes

It was early fall and
we were coming around a point.
Suddenly,we found ourselves
confronted by a wall of colour.
The birch trees had lost
their summer green
and transformed into these
electric colours
of gold, yellow and orange.
A few small soft maple
dotting the shoreline
seemed to be on fire
burning so bright
in this fall sunlight.
We tried fishing here
and found the walleyes
weren't feeding.
I suspect they were just suspending
and enjoying the fall colours.

Don's music website is located here at http://www.doncharbonneau.com/

Old Woman Bay Lake Superior

Title:" Old Woman Bay Lake Superior" 8x10" Acrylic on canvas.

My wife and I went for a ride down Highway 17 to Old Woman Bay yesterday. It was a beautiful early spring day with still plenty of snow on the ground. Old Woman Bay is located about 10 miles South (East) of Wawa on Hwy. 17. I've painted a few scenes from this area this winter and probably will do a few more in the coming years. I did this painting on my return and thought I would help spring along by not painting snow!

I have a memory of Old Woman Bay that goes back to my late teens. I owned a motorcycle and enjoyed taking trips down this coastal highway. One day a friend and I made an afternoon trip on our bikes to the Old Woman. There was an an artist camped there and doing some painting. He was in the process of cooking his lunch which he stated was his favourite...mushroom soup and a grill cheese sandwich! We stayed and had a cup of tea with this older gentleman. I don't remember his name...I know A.Y. Jackson of the Group of Seven used to paint in this area around that time...could that have been him?!!!!!!!!!!

This painting is available for purchase by contacting Don at doncharbonneau@sympatico.ca

View more of my art and music on my website http://www.doncharbonneau.com

Spruce Point Whitefish Lake

Title: Spruce Point Whitefish Lake ~ 12"x16" acrylic on canvas.

I spend a lot of time on Whitefish Lake guiding fisherman during the months of May right into late September. I never tire of looking at the shoreline as it is forever changing with the weather as well as the seasons. I believe the beauty of this country finds a way to exist in my consciousness and becomes another wonderful memory. This is where this painting came from.

This painting is available for purchase please contact doncharbonneau@sympatico.ca

Don's music website is located here at http://www.doncharbonneau.com/

Winter Michipicoten Harbour

Title: Winter Michipicoten Harbour/8"x10" acrylic on canvas. Created winter 2009.

I painted this from a photo I took a few weeks back at Michipicoten Harbour on Lake Superior.
This used to be a very busy port with ships loading iron ore pellets at this location. The harbour is quiet now since Algoma Ore closed it's iron ore mine here in Wawa ten years ago. The old dock pilings are deteriorating and Lake Superior is slowly taking it back one piece at a time. The harbour is located eight miles from Wawa and is accessible year round by a gravel road.

I will be doing more painting in this area later this summer as I plan on offering guided excursions on Michipicoten Bay. Interested in a painting excursion here or the Wawa area please contact me for more information.

This painting is available to purchase by contacting the artist at doncharbonneau@sympatico.ca

Don's music website is located here at http://www.doncharbonneau.com/