Colborne Lodge

Some semi-fictional background behind the inspiration for this painting: To borrow Dr. Who’s description of the Tardis time machine: “It’s bigger on the inside than on the outside.” That’s one of the lasting impressions I got back in the summer of 2017 when I visited the Colborne Lodge Museum.

As a testament to John Howard’s ingenuity, Colborne Lodge was designed to maximize the use of space in every room and corridor of this remarkable historic home. In designing my painting, I envisioned an amateur Impressionist artist travelling on foot with his supplies and happening by chance upon the lone cottage atop a wide expanse of green.

Jemima’s — Mrs. Howard’s — roses are blooming in abundance and something that smells heavenly is making the artist’s mouth water. Smoke and steam gently waft down the hill, beckoning him to pay a visit.

The canvas completed, the artist smacks his parched lips in the heat of the afternoon sun, picks up his supplies and trudges towards the busy harbour of Toronto.

Nearly two centuries pass before the original faded painting is rediscovered and I have the privilege of reproducing its colours for the present-day Colborne Lodge Museum collection.