‘The Crack’ – Killarney
Art Detectives – Sleuthing for the Group of Seven
by Back Roads Bill
The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are detectives. They are sleuths motivated to solve crimes.
We appreciate Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for the astute logical reasoning used to unravel difficult cases.
‘Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven’ is not fiction it celebrates the inspiration of others and why we have favourite panoramic views. This coffee table book traces the work of Jim and Sue Waddington who have a passion for locating the actual sketching sites for artworks by members of the Group of Seven, the renowned group of landscape painters.
Fall Colours and Art
Come September we made that transition back to school. Now fall is approaching and you’re almost ready for winter, well almost ready for the snow and the mid-terms. Nevermind that let’s go for a hike and see the fall colours.
Those hardworking trees are getting ready. When leaves change colour you’ll know that trees are beginning their long winter’s rest.
The crisp temperatures have begun creating the rolling patchwork of flaming gold’s, pumpkin-oranges and with the right amount of sunshine, those eye-popping candy apple reds. It is a perfect time to hit the back roads when the greenery comes alive in a full palette of colours.
Nearly a century ago, the group of artists travelled into northern Ontario and farther afield to capture the beauty that lay just beyond the outskirts of Canada’s urban areas. Armed with sketchbooks, brushes, and paint boxes, they set off into the heart of the wilderness with the singular purpose of interpreting the landscape in a modern mode of artistic expression.
Juxtaposing the original artworks with photographs taken by the Waddington’s where these Group members camped, canoed, portaged and sketched, the book reveals iconic images of the northern Ontario landscape and the real inspiration behind them. It provides insight into the working methods and distinct personalities of the artists through the circumstances surrounding their trips—climate conditions, the physical challenges faced, methods of travelling and choice of location.
You have the opportunity to observe how the Canadian landscape has changed in the past century by comparing the artistic 
interpretations by the Group in the early to mid-twentieth century with photographs from the Waddington’s “labour of love.”
Sleuthing as an Avocation
In July 1977, Jim and Sue Waddington set off on their own expedition to discover the places that inspired these artists. Determined to locate, document, and photograph the actual landscapes that inspired the cosmopolitan group including, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, Lawren Harris, A.J. Casson, J.E.H. MacDonald and Tom Thomson. Their research is more than a course in art history, it is provenance exemplified by dogged determination travelling the back roads and waterways.
“People suggested to us that the painters would head out and paint from memory, and that these portrayals weren’t real,” Sue says. “But that is not the case.”
The Waddington’s began a 36-year journey — tracking down clues, deciphering bits of information, tracing historic portage routes, and exploring — all with the purpose of finding the very spots that gave birth to the work of the Group of Seven.
In 1976, she already had a hobby – rug-hooking. For a class project she decided to copy a Group of Seven work, an A.Y. Jackson painting called Hills. They recall how they packed up their two kids, Nina and Michael, and actually went there. Would they be able to find the same view A.Y. Jackson rendered on canvas in 1933? They did.
For Jim and Sue the interest in travelling and tromping through deep bush for painting sites used by the Group of Seven was a perfect hobby for a couple wanting to keep active. “Years ago it dawned on me that we never knew where the Group of Seven painted,” says Jim. “We knew they painted in the Canadian North. But where exactly? Each painting is a new puzzle. Sometimes you can get an idea where someone was from the title of a painting. But that often doesn’t help you find the exact spot.”
Some locations are easier to solve than others. Typically the Waddington’s take many miniatures of paintings known to be from an area they are heading into. In some cases the landscape revealed few changes.
“We knew this painting” — ‘Twisted Pine’ (1939) by Franklin Carmichael — “which we were sure we’d never see the tree alive,” said Jim. Then someone in the area told them: “We know all about it. Do you want to go and see it?” They did. “It looks very much now as it did then, about two metres high; it hadn’t grown very much at all.”
In 1995, they came across a small boulder they’d seen in a photo of Franklin Carmichael sitting on a rock and sketching high above Grace Lake in the western side of Killarney Provincial Park.
“We knew we had to find and sit on that rock,” says Sue. “That was a fun thought.”
So they scoured the hills, there was a photograph and the painting — still no rock. Maybe it’s the wrong hill, they thought. Maybe they’d taken the wrong trail. The mystery was only resolved when a friend, scurrying down the hill, came across the boulder in question. The next year the Waddington’s returned to the area and with friends hauled the rock up the hill by block and tackle. The rock is now there where Franklin once was.
“Each winter we think about our next trip and what paintings we want to hunt for,” Jim says. “Sue reads up on an area and on the artists’ attachment to it and I study the topographic maps.”
Follow in the Footsteps
Where exactly did the Group of Seven paint their magnificent landscapes?
“Following the Group has taken us all over Canada. They found so many beautiful and interesting landscapes. The country in so diverse and they have shown this to us. The painters realized that this country couldn’t be properly represented in the traditional way. Of course there were pastoral farms with cattle grazing that they could have painted but they realized that there was so much more. To show this raw beauty they had to go out into the woods. They had to experience it. By camping where they camped, hiking up the hills that they climbed, we, in some way, have learned to appreciate this beauty as they did.”
What’s next for the art detectives now retired? “Sue and I would very much like to go back to the Arctic. There are many more locations to find and photograph.” The couple has solved almost 200 puzzles. “We are going to keep doing this until we can’t move anymore,” Jim says.
Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson were inspired by and celebrated the unique landscape and culture of Sudbury and district basin, including the Killarney area. Jackson was an important figure in the creation of Killarney and is often affectionately known as the “Father of Killarney Park. The La Cloche Silhouette Trail (“the crack”) is Killarney’s only backpacking trail. Named after his painting “La Cloche Silhouette” and the “La Cloche Panorama” this trail is dedicated to the memory of The Group of Seven artist Franklin Carmichael.
The best example of seeing and feeling this inspiration, with a little effort (day trip) is close to Sudbury. You will view one of the most striking contrasts of colour with a backdrop of very white rock. Drive 32 km south of Sudbury on Highway 69 and then west on #637 for 50 km. The access road is not far past the roadside picnic area and just inside the Killarney Provincial Park boundary sign. Walk north on the well-marked ‘La Cloche Silhouette Trail (“crack” trail), (just shy of 4 km, one way) into the La Clouche range. The first part of the trail is an old logging road and is flat; then you climb up and on to the exposed quartzite. You will come to the “crack,” scramble up and at the top have one of the finest views in Ontario, including many lakes below, rock-knob hilltops, with Georgian Bay in the distance. Here are the coordinates at the top: N46° 03′ 42.5″ W81° 20′ 52.7” or WGS 84 – Zone 17 T 473046 5100925. The entire trek is less than four hours, depending on how many photos you take.
If you are looking for gift ideas you could choose the Waddington’s coffee table book; Google: Art Gallery of Sudbury (to order a signed copy). A sleuth is also one of the English language’s trove of strange collective nouns, used to describe a group of bears.) Like various media forms there’s a difference in the artists’ motivation and how we choose to appreciate their creativity.
The Brits say autumn; fall is a magical time; follow the colour change at http://www.parkreports.com/fall/
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