Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, Ontario

 Mono is a region in the middle of Ontario, it was aboriginal land until European settlers cleared the land for agriculture in the early 19^th century. It only took the settlers 30 years to clear 50% of the land, which goes to show how hard they worked with primitive tools and what must have been difficult winters. The Mono Cliffs area is a provincial park because the land was not suitable for clearing and farming due to rocks, lots of rocks, and rolling Canadian shield terrain. There are some easy hiking trails, well maintained and with lots of parking. Cilei and I walked to the lookout platform and I did a quick painting while we snacked. The rust-coloured strip in the distance is a dried farmers field, it was extremely arid weather at the time. I brought out the colour and contrast to give a good sense of what it looked like, in fact, it was rather overcast and drab. The blue mountains in the distance really give the painting some depth, that is something I have been practicing for a few years now.  

Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, Ontario, View from lookout, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, August 2021 (No. 2792)