Great Glacier

66″ × 180″, oil on linen (2017) Coronation Glacier, Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

At three kilometres wide, Coronation Glacier is a majestic display of icy peaks and crags in Baffin Island’s Auyuittuq National Park. Billy Arnaquq’s freighter cruised down a mountain-lined fiord until we reached a sand-covered point and set up camp near the ice while watching a polar bear resting on the opposite shore.

For the next couple of days I explored the face of the glacier under a shifting veil of fog. It was a stunning, ever-changing show, yet it only afforded partial views at any given time. Then, on the evening of our return to Qikiqtarjuaq, the weather cleared and the evening light revealed Coronation in all its glory. Its scale and beauty were breathtaking. From Billy’s boat, I set up my easel for one of my most memorable evenings in the North.

The study I began that day inspired this painting, my greatest effort to capture and convey the splendour of the North on canvas.

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