Sunset Moonrise, Northern Ontario – Acrylic on Canvas

Description

Churches are the focal point in small rural communities.  My ex wife’s father was an Anglican Priest at Chaffey’s Lock on the Rideau Canal.   I remember telling him you couldn’t really be a 

Christian if you hadn’t made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  The Muslims visit Mecca once in their lifetime.  That didn’t go over to well as he hadn’t been outside of Canada.    I had been to Jerusalem numerous times as a student while working on a Kibbutz and later while touring on a cruise ship.   The marriage was a disaster as the daughter was too much like the father.  The score was always 6000 to zero.  Guess who had zero.  However she did have a background in law and set up my companies Brian Scott Fine Arts Ltd and 1190191 BC Ltd. the Vancouver Gallery.   She had a lot of connections in Vancouver.  I had retired from teaching at North Island College so was hungry and had to support the high end Priest’s daughter.   I had my best year ever $225,000.  Did art shows every weekend, garden shows, craft shows, Christmas shows etc.  She also did desk top publishing so are started doing art cards, Christmas cards and published my first book on the History of Cumberland, illustrated with my paintings.  I had bought my first house in Cumberland in 1981.

As romantic I love images like this the snake rail fence plowed field, the lights on in the church and the town site.  My ancestors were  from Prince Edward County in Southern Ontario.   United Empire Loyalists and were given a large land grant to immigrate from the USA.  They had large farming families and the graveyard in Cherry Valley has many Scott’s dating back to the early 1800s.    I have three spinster aunts who worked as secretaries in Toronto.  There prospective husbands were killed in the First world War.  We visit them on Sundays in Picton and I would earn money cutting their fire wood.  Coming from a Military Base at Trenton was a fun thing to do.  Not work at all.    One of them Aunt Helen was 96 years old.  They took care of each other and lived a long time whereas my Grandfather Scott smoked and died at 67.    Every summer the family rented a cottage and all the aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandparents all showed up to swim, fish, baseball and penny poker in the evenings.  A lot of dimes nickles and pennies changed hands.    In one card hand i have four natural deuces  in a game of straight poker.  I let out a big Yahoo and couldn’t figure out why everyone folded.  I hadnt learned to bluff.  

I always hated attending church and couldn’t get out fast enough.  All the boys sat at the back and close to the exit.   Not only that my father was Superintendent of the Sunday School and i had to set up and take down tables and chairs.  However I always have a Plan B.  I would spend the $20 on the seasons pass at the ski hill.  At 20 cents an hour baby sitting that was a huge sum of money.  My mother would let me go skiing on Sundays!!  HaliooYah Praise the Lord, no Church during skiing season.   Actually going to church and sunday school payed off as I later taught Art History.   Many of the great masterpieces were biblical themes.  The Assumption, redemption, annouciation, the Trinity, etcetc.

  However I was the only Sundays School Teacher to be fired at the Cumberland United Church in 100 years of its existence.  At the time I was a Bahai who believed in the seven prophets.  Jesus was only just one of the many.   My favourite story I would tell was how Mohammed ascended to heaven on his horse and 14 sacred virgins awaited.  Forget about poor Jesus bleeding to death on the cross getting shot full arrows by the romans!!  What a terrible story to tell kids, give them night mares.   We also make model airplanes out of Lucky Lager Beer Cans and a lot of other cool art.  My classes were full as I was a kid masquerading as an adult.