In November of 2022, Charles Meanwell spent a week navigating the unique terrain of Bancroft, Ontario which lies on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. In this new series of panel paintings executed with minimal brush strokes, Meanwell captures the excitement of his first encounters with the natural splendour of Baptiste Lake and the dramatic curves on a road approaching Bancroft.
David Milne has been an important influence on Meanwell's practice. His son, David Milne Jr., has a lodge in Bancroft that provides the setting for many of these light-filled paintings. On the subject of Milne's work, Meanwell has said, “I have always been struck by Milne’s paintings as beacons of the ordinary.” Like Milne, Meanwell has always been moved by the simplest of subjects including land, water and sky that is, at times, punctuated by a small building.
A few of the works included in this release were painted in Palgrave, another recurring locale in the works of David Milne, and in Hamilton around Meanwell's neighbourhood. In his signature style, Meanwell often reveals the panel beneath to give the impression that light is streaming through from within.
