In Southern Ontario there is a new approach to landscape painting called the Painter’s Drift. This is a floating instructional art class that captures scenic landscapes of the Grand River Valley with a brush!
The Painter's Drift uses rafts to float in to a unique landscape to spend the day painting. The raft drifts are guided trips using safe but stable 14ft rafts that require no skills to paddle. The art class does a leisure float down the river to a landscape… spends a day or half day painting with instruction... and then float out to the exit point. The total drift times to the landscapes vary from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.
Presently six different wilderness art classrooms are offered along the Grand & Nith River in Southern Ontario. The first setting is the inspiring Devil’s Cave, a fascinating limestone rockery section on the Nith River. Further up the Nith is the second landscape, a towering rock face with ancient trees hanging over the edge.
The last four settings are located on the Grand River. At the first landscape the artist visits an island to paint the cascading rock springs. Second is the hidden stone ruins of a 1860 grist mill covered in vines on the Grand River. The third selection is the beauty of the open valley with the the river meandering around an island. Last is the “Fallen”… an arrangement of massive boulders shored by 100 ft bluffs of cedars and pines.
The Painter’s Drift Class size is 7-10 people. Attending students bring their own art materials & medium. The classes are designed for all ages from the novice to the skilled. Art students can choose from a full day course to a half day course between May and October. The courses for individual landscapes are repeated at different times and seasons to address different lighting conditions and colour.
The instructional artist is Jeanette Obbink from Paris, Ontario. Jeanette specializes in oil and watercolour work. “Jeanette's works are figurative with compositions, shapes and colours that reflect her love for nature and the environment”. To get a perspective of Jeanette's ability her work can be viewed at her on-line studio at www.obbink.ca.
For those traveling from afar overnight accommodations can be found in the cobble-stone town of Paris at the elegant 18th century Arlington Hotel or the nearby countryside setting of the River Ridge Bed & Breakfast. This B&B can accommodate up to twelve people and offers a relaxing outdoor hot tub overlooking the Grand River Valley.
The Painter’s Drift is a new approach to painting… combining art, outdoors and leisure rafting. Painters seeking something different will enjoy experiencing one of the most unique floating art classrooms in Southern Ontario.
Garth Pottruff has approached the arts and the outdoors from a different perspective. People that he has guided down the Grand River have repeatedly said "if only I could capture this on canvas". So Garth decided to make it happen. By using rafts that are user friendly for everyone, the floating art classes have become a reality.
Garth is part of the Grand River Rafting Company which specializes in unique learning adventures with a twist of something different.
For more information on the Painter's Drift visit the Grand River Rafting Company at: http://www.grandriverrafting.ca
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