In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven
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For almost five decades, Sue and Jim Waddington have searched for places that inspired the Group of Seven painters and Tom Thomson. They especially enjoy locating sites that can only be reached by canoe and foot. Their lecture will compare photographs of some of the 800 painting sites they have found with the corresponding artwork. They will discuss how they find the painting sites and what they have learned about the painters and their art. Since the artists did not keep detailed records of where they worked, each picture represents a puzzle to be solved. For each of the about 800 places located, Sue and Jim photographed the scene and compared it with the artists’ impression. In their talk, Sue and Jim will show their photographs alongside art from Killarney, Algonquin, Neys, Lake Superior and Bon Echo Provincial Parks, the Georgian Bay Islands, Nova Scotia, BC, the Yukon and Nunavut.
BIOGRAPHY
Sue Waddington is a retired nurse. She is also an artist – a traditional rug hooker. Her rug hooking designs have won awards in the Burlington Art Centre and the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild. In 1977, she made a rug hooking adapted from A.Y. Jackson’s painting “Hills, Killarney, Ontario (Nellie Lake)” and later that year Sue and Jim paddled to Nellie Lake where they were surprised that they could locate the exact spot where Jackson had sat when he did the painting. After this initial success, they continued searching for other painting locations. Jim Waddington is a retired physics professor from McMaster University who likes maps and the sport of orienteering. He was awarded the McMaster University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Unlike Sue, he has no artistic talent at all.