Daron Letts
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 09/05) - D'oh! Landon Peters calls himself a bonehead, but it's something that happens to all drivers at one time or another.

After finishing a commissioned painting last weekend, Peters drove to a friend's home to show it off. He placed the painting on the roof of his SUV as he filled his arms with stuff to carry into the house for dinner... and then forgot about it.

Peters named his lost painting, pictured above, The One That Got Away.

After dinner - it was a supper with friends in celebration of Peters' birthday - he got back in his car and drove to Sir John Franklin high school where he works as a drama teacher. Then he realized what he'd done.

He retraced his path back along Con Park. His friends joined the search party but they had no luck.

"I was pretty choked up about it and I called myself a few names," he said. "But these things happen. I'm sure it's not something that I'll do again."

The painting, now titled The One That Got Away, is a colourful 12" by 14" oil on canvas depicting Alexandria Falls near Hay River. Peters is already working on a new version of the work.

A number of Peters' recent paintings of the North are on display at the Birchwood Gallery. The pieces show classic Northern landscapes, featuring hardy, crooked trees, shallow, stony creeks and fields of textured rock washed in sunlight.

"The colours in the North are beautiful," he said. "This is a good place for one's art to evolve."

Peters said he would like to see his painting again, but he's not holding his breath.