One week in Honduras

I cannot believe that I have been down here for a whole week already. We have been quite busy, work usually starts at 7 pm and we go until 5 for 6 days of the week. Today John and I put up the partitions and framed the roof for our cinder block home. The lady and her children who will be inhabiting it are quite excited about the progress, as are we. I think that by the end of monday they should be able to move their few pocessions in and settle in. I am very happy for them, to say the least. Sunday will be a day of rest and I think that I will go exploring along the beach to see what I can find. This photo is of a ramshackle group of huts where the locals can go for an alchohol type drink. I have been advised not to venture over that way in the dark as it can be quite dangerous. Last night someone around here was firing off a shot gun. Haven't heard if anyone was shot and that troublesome rooster is still giving me problems sleeping, so he wasn't the target.

The trouble with Roosters

I am usually not one to complain but I am having issues with a rooster that roost's across the lane from where I am trying to sleep. This bird starts the most forlorn racket around 2:30 am, just when I am having my best sleep. So up I get and plug in the ear plugs but I can still hear the bird just ever so faintly. Today I came across a little boy who needed help repairing his sling shot (you see where I''m going with this?) Yeah, I figure I'll do me a little sling shot practice and alot of people will rest way better. All joking aside, it was a great day down here. I got lots done on my mural (I should say the kids mural) and will have it done well in advance of when I fly home. There is talk of me maybe doing another one for them, we will see. I believe I have mentioned how much I love these kids down here, and there parents. They humble me with their unabashed love and adoration. They are kind and considerate, respectful and fun loving. My eyes have had a veil lifted, a few more gone and I will see clearly at last. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings! I post a photo of a little girls teddy bear, washed and on the clothes line. She does not have much of anything but her Mom keeps her clothes and one toy immaculately clean. My previous post shows them washing in one of the mountain rivers.

A Day in Honduras

Had a great day down here again. I have come to really enjoy the company of the children here. They are so affectionate and full of fun, as well as respect and honour. My favourite activity is after school is out when they all come over to the mission house to play soccer and volleyball. I sit there with my translation dictionary and they help me with pronunciation. The poverty is heart wrenching to see but there is such dignity amongst these people that it is so humbling for me. The mural I have been asked to do is coming along quite well and has generated alot of interest from everyone. Colour and pictures are not something you see to much of down here, I suppose it is a luxery that very few can afford.

Update from Honduras

This is my second full day here in Honduras and I have managed to pack alot of activities into that time. I am down here with an organization called "Brighter Horizon Ministries". I will be painting at least one mural for them at the school they have built for disadvantaged children from this impoverished area. I believe that I will have time to also help build a simple concrete block home for a single mom and her children. It is very hard to relate how much of an impact this has made on me. There is unbelievable poverty and exquisite happiness visible in the native peoples. More on that later. The country side is beautiful, I am very close to the ocean and the jungle. I have had a little time to paint and hope to have time to do more. I post a photo of this lovely child I came across in a squatters village.

Going South

Here is the before mentioned picture with some colour added to it. Somehow the first picture got mirror imaged when the photo was taken, this is the true orientation. I plan on working on it more when I get back from Honduras, where I am going to do some volunteer work for a couple of weeks with an organization called Brighter Horizons Ministries. They have been trying to get the people back on their feet after suffering through Hurricane Mitch, which happened quite a while ago now.The organization wants me to work on some murals with the school children. I am going to enjoy that, for sure! It is going to be something else to experience, the people and their living conditions, the weather and other aspects of life that likely will be so different from where I live. Enjoy the picture.

Work in Progress

Being that the world is largely gray (at least in these parts lately), I decided to do a painting based on a gray scale initially. Once it is dry I will go back into it and refine it with colour, where needed. I quite like what has happened so far, although the photo I have taken does not do it justice. I will post additional photos to show the progress. I call the picture "Radiance in the Forest"

Vision

Thank God for my sight. Maybe we all take our vision for granted to some degree, don't you think? I just recently returned from a visit with a dear friend who has lost the use of one eye and only has 40 percent use of the other, due to diabetes. What a frightening prospect for him, an avid outdoorsman and superlative businessman. With so much focus being put on the Winter Olympics, which to a great degree is about health and fitness, it would be very good if the greater population would start to look after themselves like our great athletes do. I believe that if people would take better care of themselves we would see much less incidences of those heart wrenching sights of people losing their sight, legs and arms and ultimately, their lives to diseases like diabetes. Seems so easy yet people find it so hard to do. This pastel was painted from life, it is the view from my studio window on a lovely frosty morning, just around dawn. Enjoy, and be healthy!

Being Present

I have been giving some attention to the concept of "being present" with respect to being an artist. I know that when I am truly "into" a painting concepts such as time and even sound fall way back into the distance while awareness of the present is intensified. This acute awareness also happens when I am out of doors enjoying a particular place. One simply quietens all internal dialogue, become aware of the breath and contemplate what is before you. I have had a life long interest in eastern thought and religion and now I find that in my own way I have found a path to a spirituality through the practice of Art. The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed! The pastel above is my response to a wonderous dawn I witnessed the other morning. Hope you enjoy it.

Painting what you know

I have the good fortune to have my studio back. ( I've been without it for over a year now because of the move from The Pas, Mb. to Manitou Beach, SK.) What a wonderful place to be again! I was a bit nervous about getting back to work in there but I decided to do a pastel or two to get back into the swing of things. I chose to paint what I am familiar with, Mistik Creek, which has beautiful water, rocks and trees which are subjects that I know. That being said, there is much more to explore and learn from these subjects and I look forward to that with relish.

Little Manitou Sketches

I had some fun the other day with my watercolours. It was a lovely Saturday morning and I felt like doing some painting whilst sitting in our sitting room that overlooks Manitou Lake. So out came my little kit and I went at it. No sooner had I done one when all of a sudden some fog rolled in and pretty much obliterated much of the detail. I decided to try capturing that effect and had some success. What fun I had! I suppose that is one of the great features of watercolours, you can set up right away and begin painting right off. I have posted three images, one an ink drawing from this summer. I did it while I was waiting for my concrete slab to set up enough to begin power trowelling. The light was failing and there was a wonderful misty effect happening, absolutely magical. To make the day even better I went for a walk with my two dogs to Wellington park and discovered a dozen robins flying about! Bear in mind that this is wintertime in Saskatchewan with the temperature hovering around minus 14 Celcius and at times dropping to minus 50 with the wind chill. Poor little things, but they must have their reasons for sticking around. I love Robins and am thrilled to have them here for the winter but I do find it odd that they stayed here for the winter.

Home

Well, it has finally happened, we have moved into our new home. Feels great to have some living space after living in the cramped apartment for a year. Now I can finish off my studio and get back to painting. Heck, I think I won't wait for the drywall to be finished, I will get right at it over the Xmas holidays! I have posted a photo of a place dear to my heart since I haven't had a chance to paint lately. There are some out there who will recognize the creek, Mistik that is. Best wishes to you over this wonderful season and good tidings for the New Year!

Special People

This letter is for Barb Bauche, her devoted husband Dean and their children. Barb is having issues with her throat (she is a throat cancer survivor) and is in need of prayers from all who wish to think of her in Lovingkindness. She absolutely loves her times down in Eastend, Sk. where they have the good fortune to stay for many weeks of the year. The Bauches have invited many of my friends and myself for an annual Artists Retreat and we all have grown to love it as much as she does. This painting was painted on the deck of the ranch house where we stay. The deck is my favourite place to paint, people are constantly tripping over my gear! Barb, get well please.

Inspired by the Land

I recently attended the closing reception to a wonderful Art show entitled "Inspired by the Land". The show was at the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford, Saskatchewan and the curator was my dear friend Dean Bauche. Dean gathered together a diverse group of painters, photographers, writers, crafters, scientists and musicians who all together sent a message that we are all part of this creation, that we are diverse but we have a common message. The land, and all that is in it, inspires us, in whatever medium we work in. The contributors, Richard Baschak, Courtney Milne, Allan Sapp, Jean Sonmor, Judy-Kisikaw a Bear, Wes Fine Day, Sharon Butala, Trevor Herriot, Charles Fox, Angela Edmunds, Glen Sutter, Ovid Mercredi, Electric Skychurch, Angela Merasty, Lyndon Tootoosis, Darwin Atcheynum, Noelle Lucas, Maria Chickness, Margerat Naytowhow, Annie Roberts and Audrey Fine Day put together extraordinary work that as a whole made a tremendous impact on the audiences. There is talk that the show may travel to far away places and well that is should as it sends an urgent message. We must all live in harmony with our environment and its inhabitants. I am extremely grateful that I was a witness to the positive energy and goodwill present at that time. Thank you!!