Even before I started to paint I would spend hours staring at Tom Thomson's painting in galleries in Ontario and Quebec. He was a master of colour.

Most People think he was a member of the Group of Seven. He was never a member, as he died in 1917 before the Group formed. The formation of the group was in large part inspired by Tom Thomson's death.

He loved getting into the park. As an expert canoeist he would spend days finding the perfect spot to paint and sketch. Thomson wrote members of the Group of Seven raving about the park and urging them to join him on painting expeditions and some did.

So when I go into the park (every year for the past 25 years) I try to enter on Canoe Lake. My poor kids seem to tolerate my "Canoe lake" start, most of the time, ever as it has become a tourist destination making the first portage a traffic jam. We know that one long portage in any direction will eliminate 90% of the traffic.

Canoe Lake is where Thomson had his painting cabin and he died on this lake. One portage, and about four more lakes and a couple of rivers north east of Canoe lake is Tom Thomson Lake, a beautiful setting for camping, photography, sketching and painting. Here is the photograph from my last trip and recent painting "Leaving Camp" (just one painting to go to have all my paintings ready for the March show)