Preliminary Drawing: Littoral 1

Preliminary Drawing for "Bones of the Earth" series
"Littoral" - The Strand, Red Bay, Labrador.
Graphite on paper, 9" x 11"


At the same time as I am having fun observing the erosion effects of the rocks in this area, I am also having fun with the technical names of the features I am portraying.

The word "Littoral" relates to a shore, especially the sea-shore, and most particularly in a coastal region, the shore zone between high and low water marks.

I suppose I could have said, "Rocks at Low Tide" but that other word is a lot more interesting!

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Bones of the Earth - Point Amour

Bones of the Earth - Point Amour
Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

detail: Bones of the Earth - Point Amour

There are a number of remarkable things to see at Point Amour. One is the lighthouse, completed in 1857, one of the tallest in eastern Canada at 109 feet (33m), and a visible landmark for miles in the Strait of Belle Isle. Another is a burial site of the Maritime Archaic Indians dated from approximately 7500 years ago, which reveals the richness of the marine environment then as it is now.

For me, I was struck by the "terraced beach" at Point Amour. A terraced beach is formed as seabed, that has been weighted down with glaciers, gradually springs back up after the glaciers melt, and creates a new shoreline with the water. Well, the glaciers are long gone, but there are beaches all along this coast whose profile shows the terraced look of their icy past.

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Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair

Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair, Labrador

Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

detail - Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair, Labrador

For a long time, I have been fascinated by the rock formations that I recognize driving through western Newfoundland and southern Labrador. In some places there are towers of rock and in other places craggy cliffs or piles of boulders and rubble. Here, years ago, a forest fire opened up the rocky surface, which hasn't yet grown over again. It's as if the broken soil has exposed the Bones of the Earth.