The clues were very subtle indeed! Creative Scene Investigation (CSI) is based on what is apparent in the scene. Sometimes what one can't see, can be turned into a clue. The brush stroke clues can be a challenge to discern without the original in your hand. Two different images (included below) of this original almost look like different paintings. Nothing can replace the original. At best, the camera can highlight and reveal the subtleties. At worst, the camera can distort the truth. We strive for candid honesty with CSI as that is where the message and the inspiration that Tom was feeling might be found.
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| Ice Reflections, Spring 1916 Oil on wood 8 7/16 x 10 1/2 in. (21.4 x 26.7 cm) Tom's Paint Box Size |
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| Ice Reflections, Spring 1916 Oil on wood 8 7/16 x 10 1/2 in. (21.4 x 26.7 cm) Tom's Paint Box Size |
Location is always a good place to start. This topography is immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the 1916 location of Mowat Lodge and the north basin of Canoe Lake. The ice was still thick so Tom was not paddling anywhere. Tom simply strolled from Mowat Lodge southeastward across the chip yard to the shore of Canoe Lake. 
The convective cloud elements were the scale of altocumulus. Holding your thumb up on your outstretched arm would easily obscure any of those convective cloud pieces. An experienced weather observer would estimate those clouds at about 10 thousand feet above ground level. Such overcast altocumulus is typically located with the cyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt conceptual model. Recall that the cyclonic companion is associated with rising moisture in a portion of the circulation that tends to be unstable as well as it curls inward toward the low-pressure area.
My Thomson friend also took a close look at Tom's portfolio from 1915 and 1916.
An examination of the topographical terrain of the area also provides some reference points to confirm our suspicions.
With the location established, what inspired Tom to paint this panel? The answer can be found in the weather and the distinctive lighting on Hayhurst Point. I suspect the skies had been overcast for most of the day and suddenly, the sun that was lowering on the western horizon broke through and cast brilliant and warm light on Hayhurst Point. The front-lit point was bright and rich in warm shades of orange and even red. The eastern shore of Canoe Lake was still dark even though it too had to be front-lit - perhaps a cloud got in the way. Such lighting was fleeting. I can explain...
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| Typical cloud types within the Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model |
A closer examination of the cloud shield also reveals several lines of slightly darker cloud bases. Tom used a darker shade of green to represent those clouds. The darker bands are very subtle and that is also a clue.
Atmospheric swells result when large amplitude and long wavelength gravity waves propagate long distances from the strong winds that generate them. Swells are readily identifiable within thin layers of moisture as swaths of clouds are separated by ribbons of clear sky. Swells are more difficult to see when they are embedded within a thick layer of moisture - such as one would find in the cyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt conceptual model. These observations will assist us in locating Tom within the weather pattern of that day.
What is the low-level wind direction? There was a small patch of open water in front of Tom. The wave action was quite significant given the very limited fetch. Were the low-level winds generating those waves easterly or westerly?
The cold conveyor belt could have indeed been easterly at that location requiring Tom to be north of the warm front. That fact would also require the low-pressure area to be stronger and slower moving than average. This option is possible but unlikely. The cloud cover is more likely to be extensive ahead of the warm front. There would be a much lower probability of a beam of bright light to illuminate Hayhurst Point.
The wind could also have been westerly. This would mean that the cold front had just passed Tom's location. Cold descending air behind such a front typically plows downward to the surface creating strong and turbulent winds. That wind gusts would have crossed the barren chip yard and could have easily stirred up waves on that patch of ice-free water.
The cold frontal passage would also be associated with brief clearing associated with the dry slot of the system. This would allow the sun to reach Hayhurst Point with warm colours - the direct beam having passed through a long atmospheric path and Rayleigh scattering removing the short wavelength blues from the light.
The cold front is my preferred solution and the one depicted in the following graphic. The cold front would have just passed east of Mowat Lodge and the cloud-free area of the dry slot was allowing light to brighten up the late afternoon. It is also so much more pleasant to be painting with both the sun and the wind on your back.
In addition, that bay of open water helps place Thomson. The combined flow of Potter and Joe Creeks would be following the western shore of Canoe Lake and making a bit of an eddy into that bay. Recall that moving currents are deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere by the Coriolis Force.
Let me refresh your memory. Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis of Paris (1792-1843) was an engineer and mathematician who first described motions on a rotating body deflected by an apparent force that now bears his name. If you place your Coriolis hand palm down and point your thumb in the direction of the motion, the moving substance will be deflected in the direction of your fingers. Your right hand is your Coriolis Hand in the Northern Hemisphere while south of the equator, it is your left hand.
The south-facing shoreline would also warm under the spring sun and melt the adjacent ice. Elsewhere the lake ice was still fast and solid.
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| Tom was located just west of the surface cold front looking east across the north basin of Canoe Lake. |
The inscription on the back suggests that his painting was completed "ca. end of 1915". This timing is in conflict with the name applied to the painting. Tom arrived at Mowat Lodge after the middle of March in 1916. The bold and blocky brush-work of "Ice Reflections" (upper left in the following graphic) does match other works completed in 1915 and 1916 including Wild Cherries, Spring, Spring 1915; Moonlight and Birches, Spring 1915; Sunset Sky, Spring 1915; Opulent October, Winter 1915–16 (1915-1916.01); In the Northland, Winter 1915–16 (1915-1916.05); Autumn's Garland, Winter 1915–16 (1915-1916.06); and The Pool, Winter 1915–16 (1915-1916.25) among others.
"He seemed to be trying out different approaches to things over time but hadn't really settled into one approach for everything - just responding to what was in front of him. In addition to the 'splotches', he often seemed to use wide stripes, almost slabs, in many cases (e.g. Jack Pine studio painting - horizontal slabs). Another interesting work is Frost Laden Cedars, Big Cauchon Lake - very vertically slabby background, and exuberant free brushwork for the frosty foliage in the foreground (I love that one). Woodland Waterfall has slabs in both directions. Many, many more examples ... "
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| As mentioned at the very start "Nothing can replace the original." One needs to visit the museum with these originals to adequately appreciate the brushwork of Tom Thomson. |
Tom was apparently still experimenting and forging his distinctive artistic path. Perhaps he was getting ready for the creative explosion in that final spring of 1917. An artist's style must be the property of the person and something I never touched when I taught. It is another reason why these posts stick to the science except in cases like this one when the style might be useful to establish when a painting was completed. There is no clear consensus on exactly when "Ice Reflections" was created. The timing of the early spring of 1916 as suggested by the title is certainly plausible. Let's go with it!
Somehow the simple name "Ice Reflections, Spring 1916" does not do justice to the remarkable story behind this plein air observation of wind and weather. Tom's patron Dr. James Metcalfe MacCallum (1860–1943) saw the genius in this weather observation and included it in his own collection. Dr. MacCallum had a fine eye for art and knew what he liked. He also enjoyed the first pick of Tom's plein air observations to select his very favourites. The doctor would pay with a few bills to make sure that Tom had enough to get by - Tom was chronically short of cash. The good doctor gave his unique art collection to the National Gallery and the people of Canada after his death. Thank you James!
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| Ice Reflections, Spring 1916 as it would have appeared in Tom Thomson's Paint Box. |
Inscription verso:
- l.c., in graphite, ca. end of 1915;
- l.l., label, Ice reflections-Spring / James MacCallum National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4709)
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4709). Bequest of Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, 1944
Tom was painting on the west shore of Canoe Lake a short distance from Mowat Lodge after a day of cloudy skies and perhaps even some precipitation. The cold front swept through and shafts of light from the setting sun burst through the dry slot setting Hayhurst Point on fire. Tom just had to record that moment in oils. The west wind might have felt chilly on his back but the clouds and the light inspired this vision of the weather. If only Tom had left some clues about when he painted this...
Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,
Phil Chadwick
PS: Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman - Summary As of Now contains all of the entries to date.
PSS: Should you wish to have Creative Scene Investigation applied to one of Thomson's works that I have not yet included in this Blog, please let me know. It may already be completed but not yet posted. In any event, I will move your request to the top of the list. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
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