In the summer of 2016 my wife Joy and I went to Ottawa for a family reunion of all the siblings of the Hill family. It was a summer to remember. While there we visited friends, one a former neighbour from the early 1980’s when we’d lived in Ottawa. Judy Blyth welcomed us to her home for a few days while we were there and each day we explored Ottawa, an Ottawa that’s changed so much in over 35 years.
One beautiful summer evening Judy took us down to the Ottawa River not far from her home. Just upstream from the Parliament buildings, the river is wide and for the most part shallow. It’s known as the Remic Rapids. Little did I know I’d be seeing and experiencing a unique and very emotional art form at the river’s edge that evening.
John Felice Ceprano is an artist (www.jfceprano.com). He’s a “balanced rock sculptor”. Every summer evening he’s there in the shallow waters of the Ottawa balancing rock. His canvas is the river; his “paint” is rock. He’s been doing this since 1986. Each year his creation develops throughout the summer. Each year nature’s wind and the rising river naturally dismantle the sculptures. The force of the river easily moves the rocks, and the riverbed is altered with each passing winter, releasing new rocks to be used. He does not alter the site; nature is the boss in that regard. The rocks are all from the site, and all sculptures are made by his hand. People come to just sit on the grass of the riverbank and watch as his magical touch creates an ever-growing image. Then, as the sun sets in its last few minutes of the day, those rocks turn hot orange, red and brown. That’s when the cameras come out and folks wade around in a quiet respectful way as they capture each angle and nuance of the images that Mr. Ceprano creates. It came as no surprise to me that I was moved by this most tactile artistic expression. I knew there was a painting there and I waited patiently.
With mere seconds left before the sun would be gone, the rocks were at their most intense radiance. I put my camera right down to the water’s surface to take the photograph that would become my painting. Without this story, the image is almost an abstract painting. Just know that every rock you see in my painting is actually balanced. It’s almost counter intuitive when you see those rocks. They defy gravity and the laws of physics it would seem. With nothing to “measure” the rocks in my image, scale is left to you the viewer. There’s no sense of just how big each sculpture is. My painting is done that way on purpose. It is what you, as the viewer, see. Mr. Ceprano is an artist who touches people with his mystic art form. I hope my painting, an homage to his artistry, does the same for you.
