Some wild onlookers while enjoying the recreation of an artwork retitled "Alberta Harvest with three clouds- After RFM McInnis", October 2022, 24” x 36”, oil on canvas
A good friend came across a 1988 artwork created by Canadian artist RFM McInnis titled "Blue with Three White Clouds" which hangs at McDougall Centre through the Alberta Foundation of the Arts. McInnis once said, "Art should be liberated from the artist's inner passions and inner being, without a thought for society.” and "An artist’s purpose shouldn’t be for society to accept their artwork, nor for it to sell. Instead, the aim should be that they create out their emotions, staying true to their authenticity." While the artist has benefited from many sales, he also says he was in the right place at the right time during the oil boom in Calgary painting prairie landscapes and where oil companies wanted to fill their walls with art. RFM McInnis lives in Laval, Quebec, and is now 80 years old at the time of this post. What is wonderful about McInnis' work is the subtle colours as he has lived all over Canada, for 10 years in Stavely, Alberta. A friend commented how similar the subject matter was to what captivates my current en Plein air work as I spend a lot of time exploring rural highways out of the way.
To honour the artist's pursuit for authenticity and emulate a tribute work to understand the subject matter; armed with a Plein air easel to explore Alberta ghost towns and endangered grain elevators I went. My husband, dog and I took the campervan and bounced along quiet roads, the rad grill filled up with moths, dragonflies, and grasshoppers as thirsty fields became dotted with bee shelters and freshly cut marshmallow hay bales. Over the late summer, I met many artists and locals who have a passion for flat wide open spaces and the life the land sustains. In the fall, a particular time of year farmers work together to harvest in teams, and dozens of combines fill the air with golden dust racing the winds and winter at all times of the day. Meanwhile, the wooden grain elevators sit, and their silhouette shapes remain beacons to visitors and are a sense of pride for residents.
Wooden grain elevators are on the decline in Canada as well as the valued infrastructure and land are taken from indigenous peoples for prosperity; rather than shared among the community. There are some people beginning to collectively protect these endangered elevators as shared community spaces to treasure our history alongside the wildlife, land, and watersheds. In 1934, the number of grain elevators in Alberta peaked at 1,755, and in 2005 only 180 remained. Preservation societies like the Alberta Grain Elevator Society fight to help maintain the 100 or fewer wood grain elevators to remain intact. Many of these skyline landmarks honour our ongoing gratitude to aging farmers who continue to feed us for Canada to be the 2nd largest wheat exporting country in the world.
Toronto Sun, June 6, 20216
In one such place- Rosebud, Alberta one can walk the paths of torn-up railway beds and ride along abandoned trestles for miles: and now the town is under threat of a pending racetrack, where testing of noise evaluations and the sound of engines of race cars may be heard within a 10-kilometre distance throughout the quiet farming valley; residents are fighting to keep the "Badlands MotorSport Resort", a multi-million project at bay that is only 4 km away to help protect the watersheds for the wildlife sanctuary in a campaign called "Save the Rosebud."
Indeed, the lands of our time are a reflection of our current values and society, if only the land could speak.
I certainly enjoyed the experience as I painted in the river valley of Vulcan County near the Bow River on a sunny October day surrounded by falling golden leaves, aromatic cow pastures, dusty farm fields and some wild onlookers.
Colleen Huston
hustoncm.wixsite.com/gallery
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