A Passion for the Mountains - The Alpine Club of Canada

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A Passion for the Mountains by Amy Krause The painting on the cover of this issue of the Gazette was created by Donna Jo Massie; a Canmore, Alberta artist who is as well known for her art classes as she is for the work she paints. On a cold March evening I showed up on her doorstep. I was greeted by a warm and enthusiastic, “Hello! You must be Amy!” As I stepped inside, I was struck by her positively tiny pair of running shoes. Donna Jo has small feet, but I would decide later, big shoes to fi ll. Massie has been infl uenced by the work of Georgia O’Keefe, Charlie Russell and Andrew Wyeth – all artists who were deeply moved by the places they lived – and her comments reveal much of her own love affair with the mountains she calls home. “To know a place,” she says thoughtfully, “You have to know it intimately, not superfi cially.” She explains that as you discover a place, “You don’t get bored. You’re always changing as an artist, and the place… it’s endless.” Massie arrived in the Canadian Rockies 27 years ago. She was born in Cherokee, North Carolina and was studying environmental education in Florida when Alberta’s Kananaskis Country was established. Drawn by the prospect of new parks, a new environmental program and a new start, Massie came to work for Kananaskis Country. The land of everglades seemed, to me, to be a far cry from the backbone of the continent. But growing up in the Smoky Mountains the hill country was no foreign place to Massie. Her quiet accent rolls by me in pleasant waves. 16 Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Summer 2003 “I come from a long line of mountain people… generations and generations. I think I’m very comfortable in the mountains. Coming here was sort of like coming home. This just feels like a good place to be.” With a degree in Education, Massie worked part time with Kananaskis Country’s interpretation program until 1988, when she took the leap to pursue painting full time. “When I started painting there was nothing on mountains. You could fi nd books about barns, seascapes, fl owers… but nothing on mountains! I read Walter Phillips’ work, and once in a while you would fi nd a reference to the colours of the trees. They’re not spring green, they have a warmth to them.” It wasn’t just colour that fascinated Massie. “There is something about the light here,” she says. She compares it to the light in Santa Fe or Taos, New Mexico. “It has to do with high altitude and dry air. There is so little humidity here! It produces this absolutely crystal clear, pure light.” “That’s why I thought our mountains deserved a book on how to paint them. The colours – alpine glow, larches, high mountain lakes…” She recalls a moment on Opabin Plateau, near Lake O’Hara in British Columbia. “It was a perfect moment. I think it’s those perfect moments that keep you coming back, that make you say, ‘I have to go up here because if the light is right, it’s just going to be… heaven.’” She laughs, “I guess it’s a bit of an addiction.” Asking her if she painted to express how the landscape made her feel, she replied, “Yes, a part of why you paint is to show your relationship with the place – but I also paint to get people involved!” Teaching is as great a passion for Massie as painting is. Her book, A Rocky Mountain Sketchbook, is only a part of the story. She also teaches workshops that, in a small town, have expanded to 70 people per week in four separate classes. One of the fi rst things Massie teaches her students is to observe. “If they observe more and see more, they come to have a relationship with this mountain environment and in doing so they will want to preserve it – ‘now that I know it and love it, I want to take care of it.’ It’s a step further than the artwork.” For Massie, this appreciation can be experienced by anyone and expressed by anyone, not only those who pursue art professionally – something she absorbed while growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains of Appalachia. “That painting over there, that was done by my uncle. My great aunt made these baskets and my grandmother was a weaver. Art was not something somebody else did; it was a part of what you did with your life. Creating was something you just grew up doing.” It is something Massie is still doing, every day. There is an unfi nished painting in her studio of a stream, so vibrant; it makes you feel you’ve been smacked between the eyes by a vision of water. It glows out of the darkness, surrounded by plaster white watercolour board. I asked her if she thought there was much difference between what she did in the mountains and what mountaineers do. “No!” She looks at me wide eyed. “I don’t think there is a difference. I have mountain climbers who are friends. It’s because we love this place. There’s something about the mountains that is compelling. We just pursue our passion in different ways. I suspect that rapture they get on the top of a mountain is similar to the feeling you get when you sign your name on that painting and go…‘Wow.’” Massie has small feet, but I’m sure her students would agree, big shoes to fi ll. To view Massie’s work, visit her solo shows at Canada House in Banff this July, or at the Stephen Lowe Art Gallery in Calgary in November. Her work will also be featured in the Wonder of Water group show appearing at Canada House May 10 to June 20, 2003. Or you can visit her website at: www.telusplanet.net/public/massiewc/
Painting the Heart of the Rockies Story & photo by Ron Chamney At last there is a watercolour painting book that doesn’t start with the usual boring shapes and another bowl of fruit! If you are a nature lover and have fantasized about becoming a painter, here is a book that will capture your heart and your enthusiasm. Donna Jo Massie has obviously spent a large amount of time in the mountains, cultivated the practised eye of a true artist and has the rare ability to interpret even the most complex techniques into a step-by-step procedure for capturing a moment in nature. She provides not only equipment and technique suggestions, but gives you the tools to really start seeing what makes nature a picture. She helps you to discover how leaves hang, that mountains are made of shadows and that trees are shades of blue and yellow. She not Donna Jo Massie teaching watercolour painting in Kananaskis, Alberta only brings the art of painting mountains, but also brings the reader into a new way of seeing the world around them. An immense amount of experience and analysis of the Rocky Mountains has gone into this book in a way only a very talented artist and teacher could do. Attention was paid to the details of the book as well. As befi tting some of the best nature guides, this book is small enough to fi t in an anorak pocket, the pages are made of water resistant paper and it has a coil binding, so that when you open it, you can fl atten the pages without everything fl ipping around. If only my bird books were as user friendly! I enjoyed this book immensely, for the sound step-by-step instruction in watercolour painting, as well as for the witty comments, insightful observations and the mind provoking quotes peppered throughout. This beautifully illustrated book is certainly the best of its kind that I have ever seen. A Rocky Mountain Sketchbook is on the top of my shopping list for my artistic friends, both beginners and those more experienced artists who want to learn how to paint the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Ron Chamney is a professional naturalist, interpreter and recreational watercolour painter living in the Bow Valley. available through the National Offi ce or the ACC on-line store at: www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/store 2003 Mountain Guides’ Ball On Saturday, November 1, 2003, please join us for the 14th Annual Mountain Guides’ Ball at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Once again, the Club anticipates that this will be the social highlight of the year with time to socialize with friends and enjoy a silent auction as well as a fabulous fi ve course dinner and a dance to follow. Come with your family and friends, everyone is welcome. This year’s silent auction is anticipated to include excellent donations from local artisans, backcountry adventure operators, local outdoor retailers and booksellers. Tickets will become available in the latter part of August. For updates and information check our national website at www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca or email mgb@AlpineClubofCanada.ca. We look forward to seeing you there! Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Summer 2003 17
Page 1: Vol. 17, No. 2 ● Summer 2003 A Pa
Page 4 and 5: To Every Place There is a Season by
Page 6 and 7: Kokanee Glacier Cabin The Alpine Cl
Page 8 and 9: Pumpkins in Training Winter Leaders
Page 10 and 11: Liability in the Backcountry by Joh
Page 12 and 13: above: Cathryn emerging from Mac’
Page 14 and 15: If You Go… Getting There Arrange
Page 18 and 19: Las Mujeres de Las Montanas 2002 Ce
Page 20 and 21: Water Wellness in the Backcountry b
Page 22 and 23: Trespassing at ACC Backcountry Huts

A Passion for the Mountains - The Alpine Club of Canada

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