Reflections of Temagami III: Earth Angel

 

Reflections of Temagami III: Earth Angel

15” x 29”

Coloured inks on drawing board

November 26, 2005

London, Ontario

Jim Kogelheide

 

Earth Angel

In 1996 I set off on a ‘walk’ across Southern Ontario to raise awareness about the Temagami forestland’s struggle for survival caused by clear-cut forest harvesting. During a brief stay in the forest I was very busy taking lots of photographs of all the varying landscapes. I felt that it was important to share these photos with others so that we can realize the beauty that is still in need of our protection.

One of these photos inspired me to pick up a black ink pen and begin to draw. I had become an artist with a story to share. Over the next many years I managed to create a series of seven artworks inspired by this forest.  In 2007 “Reflections of Temagami: A Group of Seven” went on a 12 month tour of London, visiting many libraries, restaurants and music shops. Earth Angel is my favourite one.

The concept for this series stems from the fact that during my walk (in 1996) I had used many slides depicting Northern Ontario landscapes that were created by The Group Of Seven artists.  I thought that by creating this series or ‘group of seven’ that I would be honouring the works of these great Canadian artists.

I am presently working on the final edit of my first novel… The Nunavut I Knew… and in this novel, I share the story behind the technical aspects of Earth Angel.  So… the following is an excerpt from my novel…

The second artwork print that I presented to the steward was entitled ‘Earth Angel’ and it was one of my most recent creations.  “It’s based on a photograph that I took while in the Temagami region,” I explained.  “When I got my film developed and saw this photo, something compelled me to rotate it and that’s when I first saw her.”

The original photo was a simple landscape of a forested shoreline edging a small waterway.  True to any Temagami landscape, the scene was filled with Red and White Pines with several large boulders and other rocks dotting the shorelines.  The top third of the photo was of the shoreline, while the reflection of the forest in the still water filled the bottom portion.

After I had rotated the photograph, I had a magical experience unfold in my mind.  The rocks, shrubs and boulders molded into a female body, as one might see if looking down upon a woman from a raised level at a slight angle.  The tree trunks became her many arms, extended outwards for flight.  The green needles were the feathers of these wing-like arms.  The blues of the sky, reflecting in the water remained true to their nature and gave the impression that this being… this angel… made of the Earth… was soaring at a great height, looking down upon humanity.  Waiting!  Watching!  Praying for our survival!

Joanne had been experimenting and teaching herself a variety of quilting techniques, over the years, and during our one year stay in Cranbrook, she became fascinated with a style known as ‘watercolour’ quilting.  It has many similarities to mosaic applications; many small bits and pieces are organized in such a way that when they are put together an image or a texture is formed.

Jo’ used this technique to bring to life a large quilt that still greets my eyes every morning when I get out of bed.  The foreground shows a mighty dragon with large wings, swooping downward as if readying for a kill.  The dragon’s back legs are curled up under its body and extending forward with sharp talons on the poise.  A few stylized clouds are also in this image, to add to this dramatic scene.

All of this had been overlaid onto the background that was created using the watercolour quilting technique.  The background is constructed using many squares that measure fifteen centimeters along each side.  The squares were then divided into five other shapes with each smaller shape being unique in size and shape when compared to the others.  To create these five shapes, the large square was first divided into two sections with the dividing line starting on one side of the square and extending on a slight angle towards the opposite side of the square.  The top section was then divided into three smaller segments and the bottom section was divided into two.

Joanne used a variety of textured fabrics to create her background that transitioned from dark purple hues, beginning in the uppermost left corner of the quilt, to medium tones of blue that are secured in the bottom right corner of the quilt.  I was so fascinated with the final result that I told Jo’ that I would, one day, create an image using a similar technique.

This inspiration stayed with me for four years and when I was contemplating the design that would result in Earth Angel, I finally found an opportunity to utilize this concept.  Whereas Joanne had used this technique to create a texture for the background of her quilt, I used this technique to create the image.  The one difference between our works was the fact that I allowed myself to rotate the five segmented square to give me a larger variety of shapes to work with.  Since a square can be rotated four times, I now had access to quite a number of shapes that I could manipulate to help me create the image.

Earth Angel is quite a large coloured pen and ink rendering and it took me many months to complete.  The most challenging aspect of the design was the rendering of the tree trunks that became the angel’s wings.  I fiddled with my little square templates for several days until I found a sequence that worked well.  To this day, this painting remains in my home as a part of my personal collection of my most cherished artworks.