Canoe Murals Honour Tom Thomson
Gerry Lantaigne painting a canoe in tribute to The Group of Seven
Huntsville, ON – In his brief 39 years, Tom Thomson painted more than 450 panels and canvasses often depicting the beauty of Ontario’s landscapes. He was an avid outdoorsman, who spent his last day in 1917 canoeing and fishing in Algonquin Park. It seems appropriate that his most beloved works of art will be interpreted on the sides of seven canoes for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts. Gerry Lantaigne is one of the artists and Art Director for this unique tribute.
Gerry is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, an incredibly gifted artist and a REALTOR® with Sutton Group - Muskoka Realty Inc. In 2020, Gerry was selected to paint canoes to commemorate Canada’s famous Group of Seven landscape painters. These canoes will be auctioned online in September as part of the Algonquin Outfitters Paddle Art Contests and Auctions. The proceeds will benefit school art programs, public art acquisitions, museums and galleries, including the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound.
The reality of learning to paint with marine grade Yachting enamel and to interpret major artworks onto the curved surface of canoes required some experimentation.
“When I took on The Group of Seven project last year, it was trial by fire,” says Gerry. “According to the paint supplier, no one had ever tried mixing the paint the way I did or used it for artistic interpretation. In fact, when I called in for advice on how to use clear coat as a glaze, to create layering effects, they asked me to tell them how it went as that has not been done before. Using a clear coat as a glaze allowed me to create some really good effects that helped me mimic some of the Group of Seven painting effects.”
The ratio of canvas artworks to canoe shapes was also entirely different. Gerry recalls being stumped until he saw a reflection on the side of the canoe. “I quickly drew the shape, which was like a fisheye lens view of the treeline in the Lismer painting. It was a perfect moment; prior to seeing the reflection I was at a loss as to how to start that one.”
This summer, Gerry will paint one of the Tom Thomson canoes and serve as Art Director offering guidance to six other artists. Dan Watson, Executive Director of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts, is pleased to announce that the artists will be working on the Tom Thomson murals in River Mill Park from June 28–July 4 during the festival.
Sutton is a 100% Canadian-owned and operated company with more than 7,000 REALTORS® in over 200 offices nationwide. To find out more about Sutton, visit www.sutton.com. To learn more about Sutton Spirit, visit www.suttonspirit.com.
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Sutton Group Realty Services Ltd. Contact:
Brooke Matthews
604-691-1689
stories@suttonspirit.com
Sutton Group Muskoka Realty Inc. Contact:
Gerry Lantaigne
705-380-1710
gerryl@sutton.com
Jamie Lockwood
705-788-1200
homejames@vianet.ca