Robert Achtemichuk

This idea will expand the content that I use in my work. I still like painting the night skies with urban landscape and will continue to do so.

I have learned that Doon, formerly Oregon, Homer Watson’s hometown, was inhabited by less that 1000 people in his time and now is a sprawling suburb near Conestogo College. The woods he walked and the places he visited along the Grand River and in Doon are mostly private property now, except for Cressman Woods and Homer Watson Park. This makes accessing most areas he wondered through, difficult. So a river journey with a canoe is in my mind. If there is anyone who knows of a stand of older pines in the region along the Grand River, let me know where especially if they are on both sides and at nearly the same place on the river.

I knew that I would enjoy traipsing in the woods, looking for sites. One thing that has surprised me, as this project unfolded is that I would learn to use the colour green. And what colours would I mix to get this or that green effect? I think of Melissa Doherty’s paintings of trees. I am hunting for the basswood stands in those woods as basswood seems to be one of Homer’s favourite tree subject.

Thank you to everyone who is sharing information with me. I thank the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery and the Homer Watson House and Gallery for access to their collection, as I try to figure out where the painting sites are. To help with this process I visited the KPL and looked at maps from 1857 to 1968. It is very interesting seeing Kenzie Creek be dammed to become Mill Pond, to become Willow Lake, to become Schneider River within a park. And off topic, though in current local news, way back, there was an electric train serving Bloomingdale, Kitchener, Hespeler and Cambridge.

Part of this project will look at the history and present nature of our region from two artists’ perspectives, Homer Watson’s and mine. Stay tuned for information on portraits of local trees that is also part of this orienteering project. I am pleased to be supported with a grant from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

Here is another one from the series. They are painted on 15 x 15 cm Portofino paper mostly, this one is on washi and the previous post is one silk. And here is the link for the others: https://robertachtemichuk.ca/gallery/

I have uploaded 10 paintings that have been done in the last few months. I hope you find enjoyment in them.

On Friday, out for a fish and chips at Aunty B’s we notice out the window and down the street a small murder of crows having as great time in a tall tree. The wind was howling. It was March 14, 2014 at 6:40 pm and a single maple tree contained 15-20 crows are swinging in the wind.

Crow-ology Why do crows like being up in tall trees during a strong wind? It was still sunny at the tree top, this tall, thin maple was sort of in the lea side of a large pine. Both trees were swinging in the wind. The crows faced the wind, bobbing around for over an hour as the sun set. The crows were enjoying a ride on the maple or why were they up there?

This painting is from a few years ago on the same theme and is titled: December 30, 2009 5:35pm.

At the heart of Achtemichuk’s artistic practice is repetition: the same back alley, or city street, or roofscape, in succeeding seasons, in all kinds of weather, at different times of day becomes a study of light in its many manifestations. “My backyard stoop offers a place where I sometimes experience deep emotion,” says Robert Achtemichuk. “What I see becomes a sort of visual illumination, like a match struck unexpectedly in the dark, a gift, lighting my path into wonder. The reflection of a moment becomes paint and process.” In painting his own neighbourhood, Achtemichuk has succeeded in finding a subject and making it fully his.