It was during the early sketching trips to the area around Algonquin Park that Eric was impressed by the shapes of the limestone rocks, some of which he took back to his Toronto studio. He combined this experience with other observations and created his first major painting, called “Afternoon, Algonquin” after the large nature preserve in the heart of northern Ontario. “Afternoon,” which is currently in the R. McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario is a somber work which depicts an assemblage of abstract natural shapes by a lake on a cold, windless fall day. Compared with his brightly coloured illustrations and covers at the same time, the painting seems lifeless and overwrought. However, this painting is important because it reveals something about Eric’s innate inquisitiveness:

Although it is my favourite, I'm a bit perplexed by this piece. There is no indication that he had left Canada before the war, so I am not convinced it actually represents the Welsh countryside. Although he lived in Wales from 1919 to 1923, I am not of the inclination to believe that Eric had painted this from memory, or from a photograph. Rather than question the date, I suggest that the picture is drawn from a location in Ontario, and he titled the painting “Welsh Landscape” because it triggered a childhood memory.