Double Rainbow Over Joe Lake
Tom Thomson spent much of his time on Canoe Lake. Since camping is no longer allowed on the lake, I spent much of my time one lake north on Joe Lake. The home of Joe Lake Dam, Mark Robinson’s cabin, the Algonquin Hotel, Colson’s Store as well as both the Canoe Lake and Joe Lake train stations. All very important places in the world of Tom Thomson.
This scene was painted from a campsite facing east. Several of my studies are painted from this campsite. This being one of my favourites. It was a dramatic weather kind of day that climaxed in a double rainbow. As you know, rainbows don’t last forever so I hurriedly painted capturing as much of the moment as I could and the rest from fresh memories. The sky moved faster then my brush was capable of.
That winter, back in my studio I converted the painting in the large oil here. Not all is as appears. I had almost completed this painting when I went explored the internet in order to resolve a particular problem I was having when I had the realization that I had painted what I thought I saw rather than what I had actually seen. Our brain’s knowledge of something is often stronger than what our eyes see, and if not very careful, the mind will win the battle of sight. For example, we know the sky is blue so when we paint it, we paint it blue, when in reality it is often ievery colour but blue. Artists are required to train their eyes to see. To see beyond what the mind sees. In this case it was the rainbows. I now know that the colours in the second (double) rainbow are in the reverse order of the first. It is in fact, reflecting off of the water droplets that then creates a mirror image of the original rainbow, and is therefore reversed. This fact both fascinated me and frustrated me. It meant wiping out the whole second rainbow and starting again., which I reluctantly did. Changing the study was not even considered, as I don’t believe in going back into a painting done on site. So, the order may be wrong, but to most of our minds it will still read right.
I should add, I decided to include my canoe. I wasn’t on the water at the time, but a white canoe did paddle through the scene as I painted. Also, in the deep shadows on the far shore is where the first campsite of the project is located. As you can see, there are several special things packed into this one painting.