Contact David Mceown

Many thanks for visiting my web site. We are often on assignment  or on a painting trip but will try to reply to your messages as soon as possible!

Studio visits also  may be arranged in Vancouver and Richmond Hill - Ontario,  Canada through out the year. I  look forward to hear from you.

 

 

         

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Recent/Blog

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

Filtering by Tag: South Georgia

South Georgia

David McEown

Looking forward to working with reference gathered during our recent trip to South Georgia, Posted here are highlights and video of the process of trying to comprehend on paper the scale of these sub-antarctic islands.

King penguins line up to cool down and molt along side the glacial melt water rivers of St Andrews bay. The warm sunshine allows for washes to dry allowing for transparent veils of colour to be applied in an attempt to capture the feeling of backlighting over this surreal landscape.

There is not paper big enough to capture the vast display of life force present at the king penguin colony of Salisbury Plain, South Georgia! Canadian artist David McEown paints on location in watercolour some of this planets most remote yet fragile landscapes.

Comment
categories Antarctica, Baffin island, en plein air, extreme painting, Landscape painting, South Georgia, South Georgia Heritage Trust, St-Andrews Bay, King Penguins
tags Watercolor, South Georgia, St- Andrews Bay, Penguins

Upcoming Expeditions to South Georgia , Antarctica

David McEown

Painting at Gold Harbour, South Georgia.

Painting at Gold Harbour, South Georgia.

We are excited to be joining One Ocean Expeditions for the following  2015 trips and programs to Antarctica/ South Georgia. 

“Painting and Photography in  the sub antarctic island of South Georgia is truly incomparable. Its  stark remoteness and vast glaciated peaks rising out of an unforgiving icy ocean is home to unbelievably  numerous and curious species of  wildlife that makes one  feel like a visitor to a whole new planet. The overwhelming scale, patterns ,color and texture of this place   provides endless  creative inspiration yet can challenge  and “reset” old preconceptions of composition and field work habits while awakening feelings of beauty, reverence and interconnectedness.”

• "SOUTH GEORGIA IN DEPTH" Oct. 17- 30,

 

• "ANTARCTICA OFF THE BEATEN TRACK" NOV. 10- 22

• "FALKLANDS, SOUTH GEORGIA, ANTARCTICA PHOTOGRAPHIC SYMPOSIUM", NOV. 22 to DEC. 10, 
with watercolorist David McEown and photographer Daisy Gilardini


To find out more details on the program, itinerary , and cabin availability  see one ocean expeditions.

This video clip  is from a 2011 expedition to South Georgia.

2 Comments
categories Antarctica, Elephant Island, en plein air, Landscape painting, Point Wild, South Georgia, St-Andrews Bay, Watercolour, watercolor
tags Antarctic paintings, Elephant island, South Georgia, Antarctica, Gold Harbour, watercolour

Commander Frank Wild Returns to South Georgia

David 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.

Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken, South Georgia

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”

6 Comments
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