The Thompson Paintings

I recently discovered an artist from our area named Don McMaster. Don is from Manitoba, and is an amazing painter. All the more amazing since I learned of his Thompson series, about Canadian explorer, David Thompson¹. An offshoot of that series was the painting above, depicting the annual Pembina Buffalo Hunt on its way...I would dearly love to see the original painting, because it's a big one - two feet by four feet! The good news is, it's for sale. The bad news, I can't afford it...*laugh*...I sure wish I could - to me, it's worth every penny Don is asking for it. An amazing piece.

In the meantime, I aim to get up to Pembina/St. Vincent either later this year or early the next in time for the next Festival du Voyageur, and when I do, I'm gonna do my best to arrange to visit Don and his lovely wife Ardythe and at least get to see this painting.

It's obvious to me that Don has a great love for local history. Anyone that can take moments out of time like he has, and breath life into them, making them come alive in the viewer's mind's eye, has an incredible gift. I'm thrilled to have discovered him, and that Don has shared his talent with the rest of us...

¹ - On 14 Mar 1798 the David Thompson exploration expedition arrived at the Pembina post and 7 days later Chaboilliez accompanied Thompson to Vincent Roy's NWC post south of Pembina on the Forest River.