Status of Original Painting – Private Collection

Size: 10 x 16.5 inches

Medium: Watercolour on 300 lb d’Arches

Description:
This quiet, moody scene depicts a fog-enshrouded harbour in Bonavista. Cape Bonavista is where John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) sighted land and thereby discovered Newfoundland way back on June 24, 1497. If you visit the town of Bonavista today you will see a full-size replica of Cabot’s ship The Matthew and other historic sites pertaining to the discovery and settling of Newfoundland.

Special thanks to my wife who captured the image on her camera which became the main reference for this painting.

The title of this piece is a word from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, 2nd edition (edited by Story, Kirwin and Widdowson). “Fog-loom” refers to the distorted appearance of objects in foggy weather, which in turn can create mirages in which small objects appear monstrous in size. From the same dictionary comes the words “misky” which means wet and foggy, and “misk” which is the vapour rising from the sea after a cold night. There likely will be more foggy scenes of Newfoundland to come, and I may find myself needing to use those words in a title sometime.

I’ve put a few explanatory notes about the making of this painting in the “Works-in-Progress” gallery.