You could say Andy Chapman had a “Watershed” moment.
A few years ago Andy set out to breathe new life into a wooden map his grandfather had made of the the Trent Severn Waterway when his brother suggested he go one step further. ” It came as a bit of a fluke. I was going to refurbish the original map my grandfather did of Kawartha Lakes and put it back on the wall and my bother asked if I had planned to get a tracing of it.”
That’s how Watershed Art was born.
Pigeon Lake
Chapman’s grandfather, Reginald E. Chapman created the original wooden map in 1972. It is almost 9 feet long and 4 feet tall. “As long as I can remember growing up his map was affixed to the wall of my grandparents residence in Bobcaygeon,” he says. “It was a standard conversation piece for guests to their cottage” The map was taken down and placed in storage for 15 years before Andy resurrected it.
Reginald Chapman had sufferd a stroke and although he had almost fully recovered he decided a project of this magnitude would assist in his rehabilitation. Relying on his love of Pigeon lake and The Trent Severn Waterway Reginald set out to craft a large wooden map. “He made it by hand using just hand tools, no power tools, a little rotary drill and an exacto knife.” Andy Chapman explains.
Andy makes exact digital re-creations of his grandfathers work. What took months now take only days to reproduce. The original map started at Canal Lake to the West and went all the way to Stoney. 11 lakes in total. Andy reproduces 6 pieces and sells them locally. “I think the response has been the most amazing thing. It’s been one of just people being taken by it, it’s their lake, it’s a total appreciation for what he did. We are all connected to the Lakes in the Kawarthas and feel it’s part of our home.” Reginald Chapman died in 1980 of Cancer. He was 69 years old.
Mitchell, Balsam and Cameron Lakes
Andy is a retired firefighter, living in Bowmanville and says this project is a labour of love for him. “It’s something that even though he never got to see this it’s the idea of what he did lives on. My family is so proud of what he has done. We are all really celebrating that we are able to share it with other people.”
His works are available at My Favourite Things in Bobcaygeon, Curious in Fenelon Falls and The Stoney Lake Furniture store in Lakefield. And they are flying off the walls!
Buckhorn and Chemong Lakes
For Andy it’s all about his grandfathers legacy. “I think it’s that his legacy lives on in what he created. What he may have thought was really, rally cool turned in to something other people are excited about and they want to put it on their walls.”