| Lilly Creek Malards |
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| Limited Edition of only 100 9 3/4" X 19" "canvas prints" $280. ea. |
| When I was a young boy growing up on Marcel Street in Sudbury's south end, there were very few houses around and we had Lilly Creek running through our back yard. We built foot bridges to save walking way around to get to school. We built rafts and primitive boats to sail down the creek to Robinson Lake. We fished for catfish, caught frogs, turtles and watched many beaver and muscrats care for their young and burrow into the creek banks. At night we could hear the symphony of tree frogs chirping their rituals, broken only by the chuck of a muscrat and the drone of a bullfrog. I lay awake for hours dreaming about what to do the next day with my buddies and thought of the far away places I had never been. Then the haunting whistle of a steam train would cut through the frog orchestra and highten my desire to travel afar. Many years later I returned home to be close to my mom in her failing years and realized what a fantastic gift our parents had given us by the simple location they chose to raise us. I spent many days, before my mom passed away, walking around our BIG back yard, photographing the wildlife that remained, including this family of malards I painted in this image. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about losing the home we grew up in, but I guess some new youngsters will feel the spirit of the old neighbourhood and enjoy what we left behind. |