"My Red Cabin, Lake Huron," School of the Group of Seven, An Elliott Best Original

The Group of Seven understood Lake Huron. They understood all of the Canadian Shield — the granite, the pines, the particular quality of light on cold northern water — and they painted it with a boldness that made the rest of the world see Canada differently. Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson: they took the wilderness and made it monumental.

This Elliott Best original works in that tradition. A red cabin sits on the shores of Lake Huron — the world's third-largest Great Lake, stretching west toward the horizon — painted with the bold colour and expressive brushwork that defines the Group of Seven school. The red of the cabin against the blue of the water and the green of the treeline is a distinctly Canadian palette. It is the colour of cottage country. It is the colour of summer.

For anyone who has ever stood on the shore of Lake Huron and understood, without needing to be told, exactly why the Group of Seven painted what they painted.