Recent/Blog

News and blog posts about recent works, workshops, events, presentations, expeditions and exhibitions by Canadian artist David McEown.

Filtering by Tag: Sir Ernest Shackleton

Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands 2013 painting highlights.

January 13, 2014David McEown

I am just unpacking paintings and backing up terabytes of reference materialfromthe recent expeditions to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. The two videos in thispost share some of the painting highlights and wildlife encounters which Daisy and I filmed. We were fortunate to go back in February 2013 at the end of the Antarctic summer and visited again this November through December in the austral spring to continue our long-term projectstudying this wilderness area.

The trips were not only successful in the wonders we saw but also for the charity auctions that raised much-needed funds to supportimportant conservation projects such as the South Georgia Heritage Trust and Oceanites. Thank you again to the generous fellow travellers that put forth a bid on my illustrated marine charts and Daisy's books. Also a big thank you again the the One Ocean Team for making it happen!

"Enter the Drake", 6 x 15 inchers, watercolour

From Petermann Island, 12 x 22 inches, watercolour

categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, Paradise Bay, Peninsula, Point Wild, South Georgia, South Georgia Heritage Trust, watercolor, Watercolour
tags Antarctic paintings, Antarctica, en plein air, Frank Wild, Icebergs, Sir Ernest Shackleton, South Georgia Island, Watercolor, watercolour

Commander Frank Wild Returns to South Georgia

February 19, 2012David McEown

It was a privilege to witness the return of the great polar explorer, Commander Frank Wild , back to South Georgia. It was Frank Wild’s wife’s wish to have him buried in South Georgia and it was fitting to have his ashes reunited along side his friend Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The attached video captures some of the highlights we shotfrom the service that was attended by relatives of Frank Wild as well as Alexandra Shackleton, Sir Ernest’s granddaughter.

This historic event became a possibility when Frank’s ashes were discovered by the efforts of Angie Butler during her writing of the book “The Quest for Frank Wild”. It is a fascinating and informative read about this great but unsung man. Also it includes his unpublished memoirs from the “heroic” age of polar exploration.

After filming the morning service I spent all afternoon pacing along the shoreline of Grytviken trying to find a composition that would capture the significance of the day. In late afternoon light I found a perch just above the cemetery overlooking the bay. The scene was overwhelming to paint in the few hours left so after several tries I simplified the composition using only the top part of Shackleton’s grave stone in lower right as well as one cross. These suggestions give room for directional lines to pull the viewer across to the church and the last light on the abandoned whaling station. Thanks to One Ocean Expeditions formaking this event possible.

Frank Wild wrote of Shackletons’s grave site (from Angie Butlers book):

“Grytviken is a romantic spot. All around are big mountains, bold in outline and snow covered. Below lies one of the most perfect little harbours in the world, at times disturbed by the by the fierce winds from the hills and lashed by gusty squalls to a mass of flying spume and spindrift. Often it lies calm and peaceful, bathed in glorious sunshine and reflecting in its deeps the high peaks around, whilst the sea birds, “souls of old mariners,”circle in sweeping flights above its surface and fill the air with the melancholy of their cries. An ideal resting place this for the great explorer who felt, more than most men, the glamour of such surroundings”

categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, Landscape painting, Point Wild, South Georgia, Uncategorized, Watercolour
tags Antarctica, en plein air, Frank Wild, grytviken, ocean expeditions, polar exploration, Sir Ernest Shackleton, South Georgia, Watercolor

Return to Antarctica and South Georgia

November 03, 2011David McEown

In November 2011 I will be returning to Antarctica and really look forward to visit South Georgia again. This special expedition will be taking the ashes of explorerFrank Wild to South Georgia where he will be buried besidehis “boss” and loyal friend Sir Ernest Shackleton. Mr Wild was Shackleton’ right hand man and played a huge role in the 1914-1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition . As secondin command he was left in charge of 21 men on a desolate rock on Elephant island while Shackleton and crew of 5 made the epicrescue mission to South Georgia in a lifeboat. From April 24th to August 30 (winter in antarctica) , Wild and men waited until rescued on a rock now called Point Wild. They all survived. Attached on this post issome short video clips from a previous trip to Elephant Islandand a taste of theincredible wildlifeand painting-photography opportunities at St. Andrews Bay on South Georgia Island.

[wpvideo JiGsd2rV] .

Last week I was honoured to receive the Curry's , Da Vinci award, in recognition of the painting "Paradise Bay, Antarctica' . For several years now I have painted on the great white continent and always find inspiration in its natural beauty and endless abstractions of form. Witnessing climate change among the massive ice shelves, and glaciers, I contemplate this melting flow of water that effects us all. Watercolour is an ideal medium for attempting to capture the light and flow of this journey and i am grateful to share this painting at this Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour open international juried exhibition in Toronto.

categories Antarctica, cspws, Elephant Island, Paradise Bay, Point Wild, South Georgia, St-Andrews Bay
tags Antarctica, cspwc, Elephant island, Frank Wild, Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, Paradise Bay, Point Wild, Sir Ernest Shackleton, South Georgia Island, St- Andrews Bay

Semi - Circumnavigation of Antarctica

December 21, 2006David McEown

Painting at the Dry Valleys , Antarctica

Antarctica is a painters dream.
It's like discovering a new world of unforgiving beauty, a giant in scale, with shapes reduced to basic raw elements. Colours of ice so subtle, translucent and fragile inhabited by innocent curious creatures that have no fear of us.
The recent works on this page are inspired by a Semi-Circumnavigation Expedition by Icebreaker around Antarctica from November 2, (spring time down south) to December 12, and departed from the Cape Horn of South America and ending in New Zealand. This spectacular and remote journey was made only possible by a polar class icebreaker, the Kapitan Klebnikov for Quark Expeditions.
The visit to the historic huts of the Ross Sea is one of the highlights of our journey. These were the expedition bases of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. In the morning we arrived at Cape Royds by helicopter from the ship parked 5 miles out on the ice edge. This is where Shackleton's hut was built during his Nimrod Expedition of 1907-09, which included an attempt to reach the South Pole. See the Antarctica Project for more paintings!

categories Antarctica, en plein air, extreme painting, Landscape painting, Watercolour, Ross Sea, Dry Valleys, Sir Ernest Shackleton
tags Antarctic paintings, Antarctica, ross sea, dry valleys, Nimrod hut, Sir Ernest Shackleton, quark expeditions, Kapitan Klebnikov, Peter the 1st island

Contact David Mceown

DAVID McEOWN artist journeys