Summer Berries in Northern Ontario

14 x 18 Acrylic

Summertime is berry picking time in Northern Ontario. Blackberries, chokecherries, raspberries, wild strawberries, and blueberries grow freely behind our cottage on Lake Lauzon.

But most often it was the wild blueberries my mother was after. She would enlist our entire family to spend a good part of a day high up on the rocks surrounding the lake. As kids, we would think it was fun for a little while, then start eating them, and finally drop the whole thing altogether and start playing. My mother wouldn’t be satisfied until we had filled a couple of gallon pails with blueberries. And this would take hours. It’s a good thing my father was a patient man and picked faithfully. She would then freeze many that would later be enjoyed as jams and pies. But a lot of them would be eaten fresh with a little sugar and maybe some milk or cream poured over. Delicious! To this day blueberry pie is my absolute favorite.

The blackberries were plentiful as well, though harder to pick due to the thorny bushes and the wasps that joined in. They were also not as sweet, but they made a lovely jam and jelly.

I painted this during the month of March when the ground was still very frozen and covered with a crusty blanket of snow. Painting these lovely green leaves and popping ripe berries sure got me dreaming about the summer. It became a detailed study of this tangly bush I hope to visit again someday soon.

cost: $150

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