Winter in Muskoka, Richard Karon

TOM THOMSON AND THE SPIRIT OF NATURE

MUSKOKA AS WALDEN

THE SOFT AFTERNOON LIGHT MAKES THE SNOWSCAPE, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, APPEAR ALMOST SILKEN; A LOW LUSTER HUE, AGAINST DULL GREEN AND GREY SKY, THAT LOOKS TO HAVE BEEN SMOOTHLY APPLIED BY STEADY HAND, AND THE WEAVING, OVER AND THROUGH, OF AN ARTIST'S BRUSH. AND IT IS WARM ENOUGH TODAY THAT THE MELT WATER HAS BEEN DRIPPING DOWN ONTO THE RASPBERRY CANES IN FRONT OF MY WINDOW. I HAVE BEEN READING FOR ABOUT AN HOUR NOW, POKING THROUGH MY ART BOOKS, AND OCCASIONALLY LOOKING UP TO SEE HOW ATTRACTIVE THE SCENE APPEARS, FURTHER OUT ON THE BOG. ABOUT AN HOUR AGO NOW, SEVERAL DEER AMBLED ALONG THE RIDGE, ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE CATTAIL BASIN.

IT WAS KNOWN, BY THOSE CLOSE TO THE ARTIST, THAT HE WOULD BECOME QUITE WITHDRAWN FROM SOCIAL OCCASION, WHEN A PARTICULAR MOOD ENVELOPED HIM. A STORM-FRONT MOVING OVER THE LAKELAND, SEEMED TO DRAW HIM INTO ITS DARK, LOFTY CURRENTS. HE WOULD GET AS CLOSE TO IT, AS HE COULD, ALMOST AS IF HE WANTED TO UNDERSTAND IT FROM A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE, MORE THAN SIMPLY ITS SCIENTIFIC, CLIMACTIC PROFILE. HIS WAS THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ARTIST, WHO PAINTED AS IF HE UNDERSTOOD THOSE SOFT, WHISPERING VOICES WITHIN NATURE, AND RESPECTED THEIR SAGE ADVICE.

WHEN CANADIAN LANDSCAPE ARTIST, TOM THOMSON PAINTED THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, FOR EXAMPLE, HE WOULD VENTURE OUT TO SOME DARK AND ISOLATED LOCATION, IN THE BITTER COLD, AND SLIDE DOWN INTO THE BEST POSITION TO WATCH THE MAGICAL LIGHTS WAVERING OVER THE HILLS AND VALLEYS; THE THICK FORESTS BORDERING THE SHIMMERING LAKELAND. HE WAS DELIGHTED THEN, WHEN SOMEONE SAW HIS ART PANELS, AND MADE COMMENTS ABOUT THEIR HAUNTING, LONELY AND COLD QUALITIES. HE REACTED THE SAME WHEN THE YOUNG DAUGHTER OF A PARK RANGER, ONE DAY, COMMENTED ON THE COLORATIONS USED BY THOMSON, IN A DEPICTION OF A WILDFLOWER FROM A NEARBY MEADOW. THE FACT THE CHILD THOUGHT HE HAD BEEN PARTICULARLY ACCURATE WITH THE HUE AND SHADING OF THE COLOR, IMPRESSED HIM GREATLY. WHEN ON ANOTHER OCCASION, A PARK RANGER, APPROACHED HIM, WHILE PAINTING A SCENE ON ALGONQUIN'S SMOKE LAKE, AND SAID THAT THE ART WORK WAS AN ALMOST PERFECT DEPICTION OF THE LANDSCAPE IN FRONT, THOMSON NOT ONLY INVITED HIM TO STAY AND HAVE SOME FRESHLY BAKED BLUEBERRY PIE, HE GAVE HIM THE ART PANEL AS WELL. THOMSON WANTED TO REPRESENT THE TRUE EARTHLY DYNAMIC OF THE SUBJECT LANDSCAPE, AND ITS NATURAL QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES, AND WHILE NOT CREATING PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES, IT WAS STILL IMPORTANT FOR THOSE LOOKING AT HIS WORK, TO FEEL THE ART REMINDED THEM, OF THE OCCASION THEY, FIRST WITNESSED THE LANDSCAPE. THE PARTICULAR LIGHT OF THE DAY, THE SKY, THE CONDITION OF THE WATER, THE WIND, OR LACK OF……REFLECTIVE OF THAT STRANGE, ALLURING SENSE OF SOLITUDE, MOODINESS OR SPIRITUALITY IT ALL MIGHT HAVE INSPIRED; SPIRITED BY THE OSMOSIS OF IMAGINATION, BY BRUSH AND PAINT, ON A ROUGH BIRCH PANEL.

WHEN I BEGAN WRITING SHORT FEATURE ARTICLES ABOUT MUSKOKA ARTIST, RICHARD KARON, BACK IN THE EARLY 1980'S, IT WAS BECAUSE WE HAD SOMETHING UNUSUAL IN COMMON. AS HIS FUTURE BIOGRAPHER, I'M GOING BACK ON A LOT OF THOSE EARLY PIECES, TRYING TO RE-ASSESS MY EARLY INTRIGUE ABOUT HIS SUBJECT MATTER. I MENTIONED THIS RECENTLY TO HIS SON, ALSO NAMED RICHARD, THAT MOST ARTISTS WORKING IN MUSKOKA TODAY, TEND TO HABITUALLY STUDY THE MAJOR LAKES FOR THEIR ART PANELS. RICHARD KARON SEEMED DIFFERENT IN THIS REGARD, PREFERRING TO PROFILE AREAS OF THE REGIONAL LANDSCAPE, THAT WEREN'T QUITE AS PICTURESQUE AS THE LARGE LAKE PANORAMAS. ALSO IN TERMS OF POPULARITY AND MARKET PLACE, PAINTING THE MAJOR MUSKOKA LAKES WAS GOOD BUSINESS, JUST AS IT REMAINS TODAY. IT WAS KARON'S CHOICE, HOWEVER, TO LOOK AT THE LESS VISITED, SELDOM PROFILED, NATURAL NOOKS AND CRANNIES HERE IN THE ONTARIO HINTERLAND. WHILE IT WASN'T UNIQUE TO HIM ALONE, HE SAW SOMETHING IN THESE WILD, OFTEN OVERGROWN, HIDDEN PLACES, THAT DESERVED HIS ATTENTION.

ON MOTOR TRIPS AROUND THE MUSKOKA LAKES AND LAKE OF BAYS, I WOULD OFTEN POINT OUT INTERESTING BOGS AND OVERGROWN INLETS OF LARGE PONDS, AND NARROW RIVERSIDES, THAT LOOKED SO DARK AND MYSTERIOUS, AND SAY TO SUZANNE, "THAT LOOKS LIKE A RICHARD KARON PAINTING." HE DIDN'T EMBELLISH THESE LITTLE POCKETS OF NATURAL BEAUTY, AND YET HE MADE THE PATRON AWARE, THAT THERE WAS A LOT MORE TO THE LAKELAND, THAN THE SPARKLING, WAVEY WATERS OF THE GIANT LAKE OF BAYS, OF LAKES ROSSEAU, MUSKOKA AND JOSEPH. HE SAW SOMETHING UNIQUE AND IMPORTANT IN THOSE TANGLED GARDENS, OF EVERGREEN AND LEANING BIRCHES, THAT WARRANTED HIS STUDIES. WHILE OTHER ARTISTS PREFERRED THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF PAINTING POPULAR SCENES, KARON MADE IT DIFFICULT ON HIMSELF, BECAUSE HE WANTED TO FIND THE LEAST STUDIED, MOST UNUSUAL, OTHERWISE HIDDEN WONDERS, HIS CONTEMPORARIES HADN'T BOTHERED LOOKING FOR. HE WOULD SPEND HOUR UPON HOUR TRAVERSING AND PORTAGING HIS CANOE, LOOKING FOR THESE SPIRITED, BEAUTIFUL LITTLE POCKETS OF NATURAL PARADISE, AND SHOWING THOSE TRULY INTERESTED IN MUSKOKA, AND ONTARIO, THAT PICTURESQUE, AND UNIQUE VISTAS ARE WORTH SEEKING OUT, KEENLY AS ADVENTURES OF DISCOVERY. HE WASN'T AFRAID TO TAKE THOSE DARK, ISOLATED BOGLANDS, TO FIND THE LIFE FORCES THRIVING WITHIN, WELL DESERVING OF THE REFLECTION HE COULD PROVIDE BY PAINT AND BRUSH, AND THE BOLD PASSION TO REPRESENT NATURE'S TRUE MYSTERIES……BY SUBTLE, GENTLE INTRUSION.

WHEN I WANDER OVER TO THE BOG, NOW AND AGAIN, I WILL OFTEN THINK TO MYSELF, THIS IS A SCENE RICHARD KARON WOULD HAVE LIKED. HE AND I MIGHT HAVE TRUNDLED DOWN THIS TANGLED HILLSIDE, AND FOLLOWED THE SOUND OF THE TINY INVISIBLE CREEKS, NOW ENCASED IN WINTER ICE. AND WANDER THROUGH THIS LOWLAND, BREAKING A NEW TRAIL THROUGH THE ICED-OVER SNOW, LOOKING FOR THE FROTHING CATARACT WE CAN HEAR FROM QUITE A DISTANCE AWAY. WHEN WE GET INTO THE THICKET OF CEDARS AND SPRUCE, WE WILL SEE THE OPEN, FAST WATER, BREAKING BLACK AGAINST THE SNOW, TUMBLING DOWN A SMALL INCLINE OF PROTRUDING STUMPS AND NEWLY FALLEN LIMBS……AND THE CRYSTALLINE CATARACT WILL RESOUND IN THE EVERGREEN ENCLOSURE. I'M SURE, IF WE HAD EVER HAD THIS OPPORTUNITY, HE WOULD HAVE TURNED TO ME, WITH A NOD OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, THAT THIS WAS A PLACE OF BOUNTIFUL POTENTIAL, WHERE THE ARTIST WOULD BENEFIT FROM THE GENTLE INTRUSION OF THIS WATERFALL, AND FIND SOLACE IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF NATURAL BEAUTY; THE LIGHT AND SHADOW OF A WINTER DAY, IN A HIDDEN PLACE, EXUDING A SUBTLE CALM, AN UNTOLD SOLITUDE. WE MIGHT HAVE AGREED, AS WRITER AND PAINTER, THIS WAS A PLACE TO STOP AWHILE, TO CELEBRATE ITS ISOLATION, AND PREVAIL UPON ITS INSPIRATION, TO SET ABOUT ITS DEPICTION, IN WORDS AND PAINT.

RICHARD KARON SOUGHT OUT BEAUTIFUL PLACES. NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE HIGHLY VISIBLE, AND EXPANSIVE LAKELAND PANORAMAS. HE NEEDED TO CONNECT WITH THE SPIRIT OF NATURE, AND IT DREW HIM TO THE INTERIOR OF PLACES SIMILAR TO THIS BOGLAND AT BIRCH HOLLOW. HE FOUND AN IMPORTANCE WITH VENERABLE OLD TREES, TALL PINES, LAZY, SPRAWLING CEDARS, AND A STORY WITHIN THE CRESCENT OF LEANING OLD BIRCHES ALONG THE EMBANKMENT, MUCH AS POET ROBERT FROST HAD FOUND, IN HIS WOODLAND JOURNEYS. HE SAW THROUGH THE TANGLE OF TREES AND BRUSH, THE TINY, PRECIOUS SOLITUDES THAT EVADED MOST PASSERSBY. KARON DIDN'T HACK AWAY THE THICKETS TO IMPROVE HIS VIEW, BUT ALMOST SEEMED DESIROUS OF BEING COMPROMISED, AS LONG AS IT WAS THE INTRUSION OF NATURE UPON THE ARTIST. HE HAD A TREMENDOUS RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, AND IT SHOWED WITH HIS GENTLE, CAUTIOUS PASSAGE, BY CANOE, AND ON FOOT, TO VISIT THESE CURIOUS PORTALS, WHERE HE COULD LOOK ONTO THE POOLS OF MIRRORING POND, AND HEAR THE CREATURES OF THE WOODLAND, MOVING ABOUT AROUND HIM. AS IMPORTANT TO HIM, WERE THE NATURAL INTERRUPTIONS OF FROGS AND CRICKETS, SNAKES RUSTLING IN THE TALL GRASSES, BIRDS FLITTING ABOUT THE LOW-HANGING BOUGHS, AND THE OLD RACOON AWKWARDLY TUMBLING ABOUT THE FALLEN TREES.

I HAVE HAD PEOPLE COMMENT ABOUT KARON'S PAINTINGS, THE ONES I USED TO HAVE ON DISPLAY IN MY ANTIQUE SHOP, THAT YOU COULD HEAR HIS PAINTINGS…..THE RAIN HITTING THE BIRCH LEAVES, THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, AND FEEL THE WARM SUMMER BREEZE, WAVERING THE CAT-TAILS IN THE LATE AFTERNOONS……HEAR THE DISTANT THUNDER OF AN APPROACHING STORM. I WISH THE ARTIST HAD BEEN ALIVE, THEN, TO HEAR THOSE COMMENTS ABOUT HIS LANDSCAPES.

FOR SEVERAL WEEKS NOW, I HAVE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT MR. KARON, IN PREPARATION FOR THE PRESENTATION OF HIS BIOGRAPHY, IN JUST OVER A MONTH'S TIME. I'VE BEEN LOOKING BACK ON HIS STUDIES OF MUSKOKA, ALGONQUIN, ALMAGUIN AND HALIBURTON, MUCH OF IT TRAVERSED BY CANOE, AND ON FOOT, IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THESE HIDDEN JEWELS OF THE LANDSCAPE. AT TIMES I FEEL AS IF I'M LOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER, JUDGING WHAT THE ARTIST HAS DETERMINED AS AS WORTHY SCENE TO BEGIN SKETCHING. WHAT AN HONOR THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN. OUR CONVERSATION, SADLY, WAS ONLY EVER IN THE STUDIO, TOWARD THE END OF HIS PAINTING CAREER.

I AM EXCITED ABOUT RE-TRACING THE LIFE AND ART WORK OF THIS WELL KNOWN, AND REVERED CANADIAN PAINTER, WHO FOUND SO MUCH BEAUTY IN HIS HOME TOWNSHIP, OF LAKE OF BAYS, AND THE WIDER MUSKOKA, OF WHICH HE WAS KEENLY ATTACHED.

PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THIS SOON-TO-BE RELEASED BIOGRAPHY, OF ARTIST RICHARD KARON, WHICH WILL BE PUBLISHED ONLINE, VIA MY GRAVENHURST BLOG, WHICH YOU CAN ACCESS BY CLICKING ONTO http://gravenhurstmuskoka.blogspot.com/