Muskoka Lake - Common Loons Gavia immer

The common loon is the symbol of the north country, a land of evergreen forests and pure lakes. Nowadays, this symbol is becoming ironic since in most areas the forests are becoming cut down more rapidly than they are being replaced, and the lakes are being polluted and killed by acid rain. Gradually, the call of the loon will be ever more a thing of the past. Loons cannot live on lakes and raise their young if the lakes have no fish.

In this painting I have shown an almost fully grown young loon along with an adult. The plumage of the immature loon resembles that of an adult in winter attire. Although it is not as striking, in some ways the young loon presents a more pleasing and harmonious appearance than the familiar pattern of the adult. I have featured the birds and the water without any additional landscape. I have tried to render the water almost as a tapestry, with gentle cross-weaving of colour and tones created by the physics of reflections and ripples. In a sense, the repeated patterns of the water echo the repeated patterns of the adult loon.