Gibban

Found another great resource of First Nation art which features many examples of the double curve motif often used to decorate paddles and bark canoes - Symbolism in Penobscot art (1927) by Frank Gouldsmith Speck published by the American Museum of Natural History. This wonderful resource discusses some of the origins and significance of these motifs in Penobscot Culture. It contains some sketched representations of various forms as well as some black and white photos of baskets, garmets, knife handles and other objects. Here's an example: What caught my eye however is a tiny photo and caption on page 43 which describes a piece of birchbark used as a stencil template to make symmetrical patterns on a paddle blade. It seems so obvious and practical instead of drawing these things freehand but it never occurred to me to simplify the decoration process. Anyway, for folks wishing to replicate these intricate designs hope this paddle resource is useful to you.

Here's another historic painting featuring some basic paddle decoration. It is from Cornelius Krieghoff's 1858 work - Indians in the Employ of the Hudson's Bay Company at at Portage . Leaning on the rock is a paddle featuring some etched chevron markings   Indians in the Employ of the Hudson's Bay Company at at Portage Cornelius Krieghoff - 1858 Art Gallery of Ontario - Toronto (Canada)   Dates: 1858 Paddle Closeup

Here's a scene by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819 – 1905), an American painter and lithographer of English birth. He established himself as a realistic painter of animals and images of Western hunters and trappers. Unlike many contemporaries, he travelled extensively in wilderness areas and later established a summer studio at a camp in the Adirondacks American Hunting Scenes: "An Early Start" Arthur F. Tait 1863 The paddle has a defined ridgeline and basic T grip. Also seems pretty short from the scale of the photo. The blade is clearly painted and there seems to be some banding decoration (or maybe paddle whipping) around the shaft. Paddle Closeup

Katie Ohlke of Stone Ridge Art Studio  has created some wonderful paddle art reflective of the historical impact of Tom Thomson in Canadian Art. Below are some pics of her paddle creations. The first is an evocative piece that carries some of the mysterious symbolism of Thomson's death on Canoe Lake in 1917. Thomson's facial profile is carved into the blade and the base of the grip is wrapped 17 times with copper wire.  The Backstory: When his overturned canoe was found floating on the lake, one of the two paddles he carried was lashed to the thwarts for portaging...the other paddle was missing and never found despite a thorough search for weeks after. Wood paddles float so finding it shouldn't have been much a challenge according to search parties. When Thomson's body was discovered some distance away, a large wound was found on the side of his head while his left ankle reportedly had 17 wraps of fishing line tied in a very deliberate fashion. All this created the susp...