This is the first time I have seen such clear and calm weather, at the 8:00am landing to Port Lockroy. The temperature was 5 degrees Celsius; the water was like glass, reflecting the ice-capped mountains that were cut in half by a thin hanging cloud. This wonder is great for the camera but difficult to paint: it's just so postcard perfect. However, remembering my visit to Port Lockroy on Christmas in 2005, when it was a high summer blizzard, I am quick not to complain. The first painting of the day was too typical and boring; I was seduced by the souvenir view and did not respond to deeper rhymes and patterns. That aesthetic spark needed to awaken; it takes time, and often I have to have the discipline to just paint until it awakens.

By 11:00 am I encounter a sculpture of whalebones at Jougla Point, composed of relics from past whaling operations; the sculpture casts shadows and cuts dramatically the minimal horizon. The gentoo penguins will walk in and out of the picture giving the necessary scale in such vastness. I like paintings that turn out quickly--letting the white (of the paper) do all the work. In this case 40 minutes is all it took.


Whalebones at Jougla Piont on Wiencke Island
 
I was hoping in this entry to talk about the blue ice and the art of seeing, but weather has granted us extra landings, plus entry through one of the wonders of Antarctica, the vista of the Lemaire Channel. Thus today is another one of process, responding quickly and with directness. I set up my easel on the fly deck and tie the easel to the railing and proceed with a wet-in-wet approach. Processes should be as spontaneous as the creation of these geological wonders. Marks and slashes of paint are interrupted by sighting a pod of Orca; thus, I have camera ready at all times.

In this 20-minute Lemaire Channel painting I worked on a half sheet of 140-lb. Winsor&Newton cold pressed paper divided in two. I soaked the paper with a very light violet; then I started with the sky, background to foreground. Paints from the sky and the mountains were also repeated in the water; however, I also left parts that are just the white of the paper.  Big shapes were blocked in and darkest darks of ultramarine blue, scarlet lake and a dash of aureolin yellow are slashed in. While the paper is still wet the key to this painting is scraping out the light shapes and jagged peaks, using my commercial "5 and 1" paint scraper. This is where I reach inside and imagine myself as a glacier carving shapes. There is room for accidents and unexpected marks. Painting has to have surprises to be fun.

Using scraping tool Painting the entry into the Lemaire Channel

"Entry into the Lemaire Channel" 10in. x 15in. watercolour

This day has the reward of another late landing at Peterman Island. A huge ice halo rainbow circles the sun, as we approach the gentoo and adelie penguin rookeries.

The halo reminds me of the artist wheel, and that I am at the bottom of this round, beautiful Planet!

-- David

More information
At one time there were over 225, 000 blue whales; today there are fewer than 2,000. Other whales inhabiting the Southern Polar Ocean are sei, minke, humpback and killer.

Over 100 million birds breed on or around the Antarctic coastline each spring. In addition to petrels and fulmars, you can find skuas, gulls, terns, and the albatross. And of course, penguins. The emperor and adelie breed only in Antarctica. There are about 300,000 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins on the Falkland Islands. To learn more about wildlife in Antarctica, visit Australian Antarctic Division Web site at www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=5551.

Lemaire Channel extends from False Cape Renard north to Cape Cloos in the south. At its narrowest it is less than 800 meters wide.

The British Royal Navy established Port Lockroy during World War II, as part of the UK's military campaign. In 1962, the station was boarded up; since 1996 it has been open for visitors. Port Lockroy is now a scientific station that compiles and analyzes data to determine the effect tourism has on the breeding of gentoo penguins. Current studies suggest human visitors have had no adverse effect on penguin colonies.