Rick Janson Art Studio

When you paint something, the image sticks with you. How do you look at and consider a subject for ten or fifteen hours or more and then forget it? You remember the details, what gave you difficulty, where the magic happened in the process. It’s hard to explain, but after a painting is complete, there is almost always a feeling as if you have a deeper relationship with that particular subject, or in this case, a location. Your fingers have traced out the curves, the shapes, your eye has deciphered the colour. You’ve fit what’s before you into a meaningful composition. You’ve found a way to capture the light.

When I was a student I used to cycle to Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia and regularly sketch the cove and the lighthouse. It helped me get through a difficult time financially. One day I challenged myself to draw the lighthouse and all the surrounding rocks entirely from memory. I was able to do it. The next day when I was there for real, a tourist purchased that drawing made from memory. When I go back to Peggy’s Cove, now decades later, I still feel deeply about that place. It’s hard to explain.

In the last few days I’ve returned to today’s image a lot since I heard the news of the tragic funicular crash in Lisbon. When the first images appeared on the news sites, I immediately recognized the location. I had painted the Gloria funicular less than a year ago after a return from Portugal. A friend had stayed in a hotel beside it. He had asked me for a piece that depicted either the funiculars or the yellow trolleys which are symbols for the city. I have a T-Shirt with a trolley on it.

In Lisbon I had taken many pictures as reference. My spouse heard me curse many times when a car popped in front of a picture as I was about to time a key moment. Or a tourist would walk in front of the camera. Or suddenly a cloud changed the light. In the end, I did capture a number of successful images, and am still thinking about going back to the subject. Curiously, we never travelled on either largely because of the lines to board. In addition to the funiculars, you can get to the top of the hill by taking an elevator. Or, as we did, you can walk it.

For those who have been avoiding the news, on Wednesday (September 3rd) a cable had likely snapped sending a popular 140-year-old Lisbon funicular hurtling down a steep hill, derailing on a curve and crashing into a building. Sixteen people died in the mishap, and about twenty were injured. Five of those killed were Portuguese, including the driver. The rest of the travellers were from Canada, South Korea, Ukraine, Switzerland, France and the United States. The funicular can normally carry about 40 passengers, although there has been no confirmation as to how many people were aboard at the time of the crash.

Where the crash happened is a crowded spot, especially around rush hour. The crash happened around 6 pm. The area where the funicular finishes its downhill journey is a popular destination for diners. We ate in that square many times.

That day I had difficulty getting my reference photos, hundreds of people crossing back and forth near the funicular. Even in the final work that I completed, you can still see many people walking both in front of the vehicle and beside it.

When I completed the painting I thought it a sunny memory of our time in the city. It was very Lisbon. Now it has taken on a new meaning knowing what has happened right there, in that very location.

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