Hoarfrost

In my early 20’s, I worked in the kitchens for a catering company in a camp in Gillam, northern Manitoba. It was a fly-in and out as Gillam was very remote.

We had a cold spell that was 72 degrees below zero without the wind and 112 below with it for three weeks straight. However, it was beautiful as all the trees were covered with hoarfrost. So I decided to brave the cold and take some pictures of it.

I put on my parka with my camera underneath it, my wolf mitts and cotton gloves underneath them, and I went out to catch some pictures of this beauty. When I saw something I thought was beautiful, I would take my wolf mitts off, take out my camera, photograph it, and put it back inside my parka, so it didn’t freeze up. This painting was done from one of these photographs and is one of my favourite paintings.