The Journey Continues
Beginning in September of 2001, Cory is embarking on a year long journey to develop a body of 40 to 50 oil paintings reflecting the Great Lakes Heritage Coast. For one month in each season Cory, accompanied by his wife and two young daughters, is exploring and painting the coast. They will journey by canoe, kayak, on foot and by snowshoe. Along the way, Cory is documenting his journey in words, photographs, video and paintings. He is taking a laptop computer and satellite phone with him and filing stories about his experience as it happens. You can join this virtual trip by visiting Cory's website or Canoe.ca.

Cory has just returned from the first leg of his journey, that took him and his family to Neys, Lake Superior, Killarney and French River Provincial Parks and to Pukaswa and Georgian Bay Islands National Parks.

Travelling with young children, in the fall, with the objective of creating works of art and being digitally connected to the world brings a unique set of challenges. The Trepanier family explored each park in an 18 foot Swift canoe. In addition to all the camping gear (tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, stoves, food, etc.), they packed clothes for four including cold weather garments, painting gear (easel, paints, thinners, brushes, painting boxes), cameras (digital, 35mm and video camera), laptop, two 12-volt gel batteries, power inverter, adapters, satellite phone, and on and on. The largest canvas that Cory brought along was a sizeable 22" by 40". In Cory's words, "Let's just say there was no room to pick up hitchhikers along the way."

Weather set the rhythm of day to day life on the trip, dictating when to paddle and when to stay put. As October settled in, night time temperatures dipped into negative numbers and Lake Superior lived up to its blustery reputation. All the while, Cory followed his artistic pursuits, continually seeking the perfect image to capture on canvas. Cory tries to avoid typical postcard-type scenes in his paintings. "I like to seek out my own perspectives on things, painting them in ways that perhaps others haven't," he says. This isn't always easy. "Sometimes, when I'm surrounded by so much beauty, I find it hard to settle on a scene to paint. Just as I think I have a composition, something catches my eye a little further over and I go to take a look. If I'm not careful, I could spend the whole day just looking and looking, and never actually painting"

Final Thoughts
At the end of the trip, Cory reflects in his on-line journal, "My boxes are full of paintings at various stages, and many experiences lived to help finish them by. We have covered a fair bit of ground, but the vastness of the Heritage Coast contains so many beautiful places and images that I will never be able to see in a lifetime. In leaving, it's good to know that there is much yet to come back for and I am also already looking forward to future trips to the coast in the winter, spring and summer, when I will be once again be surrounded by the magnificent environment which I am privileged to paint."

Cory's next trip will be a challenging winter visit to the Great Lakes coast in February 2002. The first public exhibition of his paintings is planned for the Fall of 2002. If you are interested in seeing some of Cory's other works or perhaps even meeting him in person, you might want to visit the Trépanier Originals Gallery in Caledon East. Directions to the gallery and hours of operation are provided on the Trépannier Originals website.