Ceci n’est pas une forêt.
From INKTOBER 2021 prompt: “Forest of not-trees”
This painting is of Montreal; specifically Mount Royal - the beautiful mountain and trees in autumn and the urban jungle view that accompanies it. In Montreal, you cannot get one without the other.
When I first explored the Mount’s hiking trails, I was breathless. It was the first time I didn’t hear cars since I moved here, and oh my god it is so beautiful with the leaves changing colours. It was the perfect fall day. But J had a different perspective, to be honest they were a bit let down. J forrages, and their favourite thing about PEI was going onto the trails and finding mushrooms and berries. One of our first dates was cooking pasta together from scratch with mushrooms he collected on a hike - I was smitten. So of course, J noticed right away that the “forest” of Mount Royal was dying. Other than trees there is very scarce flora and wildlife, and the few mushrooms we saw J wouldn’t touch, they probably were ruined by pollution. This forest is not a forest.
Which brings me to part 2 of this painting’s inspiration. PEI, for all its beauty, was very similar to Mount Royal. It has an abundance of nature, every weekend we went to a beach where we would sit and paint on the red sand. I could go horseback riding and J could spend hours in the woods identifying different plants just by their leaves. It was magic. But we left PEI for a reason; it was also polluted. The housing market was broken and by moving there, we were contributing to its gentrification. It was a rich person’s playground, the people were not always kind, and even though I tried really hard to make it work I just couldn’t. When I left, I left only footprints. No friendships were mourned, I exited gracefully and was just as quiet as during those first 14 days of quarantine. That forest was not a forest either - It is a picture of something beautiful but completely two-dimensional. Pas une pipe.
So where does that leave me? Right now, enjoying Montreal's artistic beauty despite pollution - cheap rent in a crammed one bedroom, something new at every turn. I'm not sure what to make of it all just yet, and that's okay.