“Back Packers”, Oil on Canvas

Atmospheric oil landscape on canvas, signed lower right, titled “Back Packers, Oxtongue River, Algonquin Park” verso, depicting a quiet riverside scene in Algonquin Park. Two small backpackers stand on a wooden bridge, their pale blue figures set against a dense, rugged landscape of evergreens, shrubs, and distant hills.

The painting has a soft, muted palette of grey-green, taupe, dusty rose, cream, and blue. Thick impasto brushwork creates strong texture throughout: the trees, rocks, grasses, and river surface feel built up and tactile. The background rises in layered bands of forest and hills, while the foreground water and bridge guide the eye into the composition.

There is a gentle narrative quality to the work - the backpackers appear paused in a moment of rest, dwarfed by the surrounding wilderness. Magnificent!