Chemical Drums, Cranes, Trucks

A bike path continues along Notre Dame all the way to the tip of the island where I visited a few years ago. Today I went about half the distance, 20 km from NDG and reached the new port. I pre-selected the destination, actually wanting to make paintings of these chemical drums which I had rode past a few times before. The trick is to not make the painting too pretty, using carbon black paint outlines and heavy textural features, the rough and rugged industrial park comes to life.

Two Drums, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3806)

 

Looking to the east from the same vantage point and I could see the giant cranes used to offload shipping containers from boats. All that stuff we buy from Amazon probably comes off those cranes! The traffic was constant and noisy. One feature, although you wont get it from the painting, is that this part of the bike path is lined with nice smelling cedar pine trees.

Five Drums Three Cranes, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3807a)

 

In the front left is Restaurant Lafleur, a hamburger and french fries joint that sets up franchises in industrial areas and blue collar villages to serve working people and local folks. You can see how its nestled in among chemical drums, with the giant cranes looming in the background. Cool and overcast in the morning, it started to get sweltering hot and humid later in the afternoon.

Three Drums Two Cranes, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3803b)

 

Continuing to reel off paintings, this one I did as the background of the Lafleur painting dried. The humidity was causing the paint layers to stay pretty moist, which gave the painting a neat, misty look and precluded too much detail. There was a crack between all the chemical drums and building, revealing what is probably a view of the south shore of the st Lawrence river.

One Drum with a View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3807b)

 

This view was up the street towards Sherbrooke, I was a little delirious with the heat by now. The idea was to create an almost abstract composition from this row of seemingly endless trailers parked in a giant warehouse. I suppose the shipping containers from the cranes end up in places like this for distribution.

Endless Trailers, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3808a)