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A flock of geese fly in a V formation against a sky filled with billowing white and grey clouds. The clouds rise from the horizon and tower into the sky, which is streaked with bands of muted orange, grey and blue. The sky dominates the top three-quarters of the composition above an indistinct, darkly coloured landscape. The sun seems to catch a body of water in the middle distance, turning it a deep orange, highlighted with golden-yellow.

Charles Comfort

Canadian Geese over Lake Huron, c. 1935
oil on wood panel
30.48 x 40.64 cm
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Dr. J. A. Gairdner

In her celebrated poem Wild Geese, Mary Oliver makes a compelling argument for looking up into the sky. You don’t have to despair or be lonely. She describes a world outdoors that is full of wonders. She says this world “calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things.”

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