Jackknife Village 1926

Franklin Carmichael made this watercolour of Jackknife Village, a scattering of houses on a rocky shore. Look at the way those washes of color blend and bleed, creating soft edges and atmospheric effects. I can imagine Carmichael standing there, trying to capture the light as it shifts across the water and the way the clouds drift. There's a real sense of immediacy here, a feeling of capturing a fleeting moment. Notice the rough texture of the paper, how it interacts with the paint. See that small stroke of darker blue that defines the edge of the island on the horizon? It's such a simple gesture, but it adds so much depth and clarity. Carmichael was part of the Group of Seven, and I think of other landscape painters like David Milne, who were equally interested in simplifying forms and distilling the essence of a scene. Artists are always riffing on each other. It is like an ongoing conversation through time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways.