Green River Canoes: Poster Collection 2

This magazine is provided by Green River Canoes Ltd and shows a collection of posters made to advertise our trips. All our Canoe T r i p s a r e a l s o d e s c r i b e d o n t h e w e b - s i t e a t T r i p s a r e a l s o d e s c r i b e d o n t h e w e b - s i t e a t www.greenrivercanoes.com .

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Steven House & Steve Lines.

“Contents1: Canoe the Semois. 9

2: Hunters in the Snow. 11

2: Happy Easter. 13

2: Paper Cut. 15

3: The Garden of England. 17

4: Autumn Canoeing. 19

5: Looking Down. 21

6: The Night Paddle. 23

7: The Northern Lights. 25

8: Paddle Mania. 27

9: Gaze of Silence. 29

10: The Pont D’Arc. 31

11: 7.5 Degrees. 33

12: St. Cirq Lapopie. 35

13: Vermont in the Fall. 37

14: Ducks Diving. 39

15: Ducks Floating. 41

16: Ducks Flying. 43

17: Ducks Landing. 45

18: Ducks Walking. 47

19: Canoe Camping. 49

20: Merry Christmas. 51

21: 50s Pastels. 53

22: Winter Fox. 55

23: 1000 Lakes. 57

24: The Black Mountains. 59

25: Moose & Blossom. 61

26: Blue Mountains. 63

27: Autumn Hills. 65

28: The Forest & the Bear. 67

29: Puddle Paddle. 69

30: Paddle to Dawn. 71

31: Paddle to Dusk. 73

32: The Okeedokee Brothers. 75

33: Dragon Boat. 77

34: Floating under Willows. 79

34: Lake Louise. 81

34: Jumping the Shark. 83

34: Tianzi. 85

34: Windy Tree. 87

1: Canoe The Semois.

The Semois River runs through a deep and wooded valley of the south of Belgium in a region called the Ardennes. The river winds its way sinuously across the country until it flows into France and joins the Meuse. Famous for its war micro-climate the area was famed for growing tobacco in the past and the last remaining drying sheds can be seen along the valley in various places. You can find the last remaining hand-rolled cigar shop at Vresse-sur-Semois.

The river has very few bridge crossings and a paddle downstream takes you away from traffic for most of its length. An old railway viaduct crosses at Herbeumont but this is now disused and can be walked along.

It takes about 4 or 5 days to paddle the length of it from Chiny to Vresse and along the way you will pass many people fly-fishing as it is a well-known trout stream. If you are lucky you may also see deer standing up their haunches in the river feeding on weed.

During World War 2 the Germany Army both advanced and retreated across this river. You pass a ruined bridge - only half remains - at Rohan. If fact further upstream near Rossignol a bridge was destroyed by the Germans in the Great War.

2: Hunters In The Snow.

This is my version of Breugels ‘Hunters in the Snow’ or sometimes ‘The Return of the Hunters’ painted by Peter Breugel the Elder in 1565.

I it made as a Christmas card. I’ve omitted the buildings (and the pub) and added a canoe. Breugels himself painted the landscape in a more fantastic way than reality - the snow covered mountains are a bit of an exaggeration for the Low Countries.

2: Happy Easter.

A poster made for Easter, using egg shaped blades on the paddles.

2: Paper Cut.

A common technique in Japanese art is to cut coloured papers into layered silhouettes. I’ve emulated the technique here in Photoshop.

3: The Garden Of England.

This is the chalk cliffs and stacks on the north Kent coast in England at Kingsgate Bay, near Margate. When the tide is out you can walk around these stacks and one of them currently has an arch. These beaches are beautifully sandy too.

4: Autumn Canoeing.

This is another stylistic poster made with simple shapes and textures. Canoeing in the Autumn/Fall is very beautiful and colourful. The rivers are generally quiet too. All the summer crowds have gone.

5: Looking Down.

This poster is based on a photograph taken in Costa Rica. I had canoed ahead and come across a very rickety rope bridge. I scrambled up and managed to photograph my friends as they slid underneath me. I think it was the Rio Torro. The water has been changed for the poster.

6: The Night Paddle.

Have you ever considered paddling at night? You should try it. But here is a cautionary tale because you have to be careful and I would advise against doing it alone. This poster is based on a photograph taken at Beynac on the Dordogne river.

7: The Northern Lights.

This poster is based on a photograph of St. Chely-du-Tarn a small hamlet on the banks of the Tarn river, nestled in the Tarn Gorge. It’s a beautiful place and one where we stay on our Tarn Tour.

I don’t believe it is possible to see the Northern Lights this far south so the poster is pure fantasy.

8: Paddle Mania.

I’d love to have a set of hand-made and hand-painted paddles like these. Unfortunately it takes far less skill to do them in Photoshop than it does to make them in real wood.

9: Gaze Of Silence.

I don’t know why I was drawn to Paul Klee’s ‘Gaze of Silence‘ (1932). The Art Journal says it offers a stylised eye painted in green, brown, and gold, which conjures thoughts of an owl, a masked man, or some other being with a cool, steady, disconcerting gaze. The Independent said it “is deeply disquieting in its sense of menace and fear”.

10: The Pont D’Arc.

This poster is a sketch of the Pont D’Arc through which we paddle on our Ardeche Tours. It’s a beautiful place and an extraordinary piece of natural geology. It obviously meant a lot to our ancestors too as in the Chauvet Cave close by were discovered, in 2009, the oldest know cave paintings in Europe. Some of them were dated as being 40,000 years old.

In 2015 a replica of the cave was opened whee these paintings can be seen. The originals are considered too precious to be exposed to the light and the atmosphere. We visit these on our Ardeche Tours too. Stunningly beautiful.

11: 7.5 Degrees.

The 25th Ice Hotel opened for the 2014/15 season in the village of Jukkasjärvi, Swedish Lapland. Carved from 1,600 tonnes of snow and ice, the hotel features 16 artist-designed suites, a bar and theatre.

The 7,5°Rø suite is divided into 12 frames, each leaning against the one in front at an angle of 7.5 degrees. The gradient creates a spiral-like twist and an illusion of infinity. The artists – Wolfgang Lachow, Sebastian Scheller and Anja Kilian – were inspired by the Danish astronomer Ole Christensen Rømer, who invented a thermometer that measures in Rø units. According to this scale, water turns to ice at 7.5 degrees Rø.

12: St. Cirq Lapopie.

Nestling high above the Lot river in the south of France is the small village of St. Cirq Lapopie. It consists of a few narrow and almost vertical streets, criss-crossed with tiny cobbled pathways.

The church stands proud and above that the ruined walls of an Abbey and even higher than that the remains of a fortress.

In the Twentieth Century it became quietly famous for becoming the home of a small groups of writers and artists. These days it is a popular tourist stop with a small collection of artisanal shops. It is still worth a visit.

We stay here on our Cele & Lot Tours. You will see then how the village changes after the crowds have gone. It becomes peaceful and quiet. In the morning you can watch the mist rose from the river.

In the woods and cliffs around are many different walks and hikes, which we have time to explore.

13: Vermont In The Fall.

This is a poster extolling the beauties of Vermont during the Fall season. New England is of course famous for the beauty of its Autumn when the leaves change colour and fall in such a spectacular way.

It has to be seen to be believed, and a beautiful way to do it is from the quiet and solitude of a canoe trip.

14: Ducks Diving.

My friend commissioned me to design 5 cushion covers depicting the watery life. Each had to have 5 components: the canoe, the duck, the sun, the river and plants. Here are the 5 designs: Diving, Floating, Flying, Landing, and Walking presented as posters.

15: Ducks Floating.

Each poster uses 5 basic tenets: an identical palette, a horizontally banded background, a consistent texture, the use of silhouettes and the use of sine waves.

16: Ducks Flying.

The sine waves can denote river current, clouds, wind, fog and mist.

17: Ducks Landing.

We had to go through a lot of colour palettes before deciding on this particular set. I thought the ‘goldness’ helped define the brightness, but still coolness, of dawn. More the promise of warmth, than heat.

18: Ducks Walking.

The decision to add texture came late in the design process. I think it adds depth. It also masks imperfections in the silhouettes!

19: Canoe Camping.

Who doesn’t like to go canoe camping once in a while? The boat takes all the gear and you find yourself a lovely island to camp on. Fantastic. On our Loire trips, which are usually Inn to Inn, we can include a night or two of camping if you like.

The cartoon in the bottom corner is supposed to be me. At my back are paddles painted in Christmas colours. I’m fed-up because the canoeing season seems a long way away.

20: Merry Christmas.

I found a photograph of four Father Christmas paddle-boarders. They were on a lake in Switzerland. In my poster I’ve added fictional mountains & forests together with the floating ice and the snow.

21: 50s Pastels.

The original photograph by Slim Aarons is fabulous. Everything about it evokes the 50s of America. The pastel colours, the costumes and the hair styles. I love the overhead view too.

22: Winter Fox.

This is another Christmas card using the silhouette/cut-out technique. You cannot have a Christmas without Robins and snow.

23: 1000 Lakes.

This is based on a real place. The 1000 Islands is a place in China. It looks fabulous.

24: The Black Mountains.

This time a silhouette poster in monochrome.

25: Moose & Blossom.

Another silhouette poster. Everyone loves a Moose. I rmember being thrilled the first time I ever saw a Moose. It was in Newfoundland. Fantastic.

26: Blue Mountains.

This silhouette poster is based on a travel post for Fort William and Ben Nevis..

27: Autumn Hills.

A silhouette poster based on the fiery Fall colours of New England.

28: The Forest & The Bear.

Follow the bear. Once when on a canoeing holiday in Sweden Alex and I were obsessed with the idea that we may come across a wild bear. We didn’t.

29: Puddle Paddle.

The original photograph of this fellow in a canoe on a road I found in a Canadian newspaper. It was a protest about something. I turned it into a cartoon in the style of Glenn Baxter who is famous for his deadpan wit and fabulous drawings.

30: Paddle To Dawn.

These type of from the head shots are proving very popular on Instagram. Here is my poster take on the meme.

31: Paddle To Dusk.

Here is another in the style of ‘headshot’.

32: The Okeedokee Brothers.

This is a real band. I’d check out heir website and their videos. Good stuff.

33: Dragon Boat.

Not sure how this came about. Very stylised & oriental.

34: Floating Under Willows.

A simple poster. The will and the canoe are from real photos taken on the Vezere river in France.

34: Lake Louise.

Based on the actual Lake Louise in Canada.

34: Jumping The Shark.

I’ve no idea if this is a real photograph or not. In any case I thought it would make a fine poster.

34: Tianzi.

Tianzi is a another place in China. Cascading waterfalls.

34: Windy Tree.

And this is another of my monochrome silhouette posters.