#highgate ontario

Gabrielle Nowicki, 2016 - The Highgate Mastodon

Graphite drawing on paper. 9″ x 12″

The “rock” that the house sits on is a combination of rubbings made from a raised plate, indentations in the paper and textures that I worked onto the surface as they suggested themselves to me. The shadow,  I think, gives a weighty feel to the rock.

One of the rubbings looked to me like a jawbone with teeth, which is the reason I titled it The Highgate Mastodon. 

The Highgate Mastodon was discovered in 1890. William Reycraft, a farmer who lived close to Highgate, Ontario (Canada) was digging a ditch on his Uncle’s farm. He dug up some huge, unusual bones which were, it turned out, from a mastodon. It was the largest and most complete fossilized skeleton of an extinct animal found up to that time. 

It’s really quite a story to read if you would like to know more.  

Highgate is only a 10 minute drive west from where I live. Many of the houses around here are similar to this one.

And that’s your local history lesson for today