Deployment

October 7, 2009 – 11:59 pm

Tomorrow I will be heading to the Edmonton Garrison to say goodbye to a group of soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan.

This time it hits home more than ever with me. One of the soldiers has a child with, and is engaged to my cousin.
This project has always been very personal to me, but sending Pat off to the war in Afghanistan and sharing the pain my cousin feels as he leaves, is even more personal than this originally set out to be.
When this project tugged at my heart and started to become my priority, my cousin hadn’t even met Pat yet. I had no connection with the military at all – I just felt strongly that the soldiers who put their lives on the line needed to be commemorated in a lasting and special way.
In only a few short years, many more soldiers have died, and my cousin met, fell in love with, and had a child with an Edmonton soldier. They are scheduled to be married on the base in June of 2010, when Pat returns from Afghanistan.
Along with Pat, many other soldiers will board a bus bound for the Edmonton International Airport, where they will then board a plane bound for Afghanistan.
These soldiers believe in what they are going there to do and they want to do what they were trained for, but one can only imagine that deep beneath their courageous exteriors there is a fear of what they will face when they get there and also whether they will return home to their mothers, wives, husbands, children and other family members.
I commend their bravery and their commitment and my greatest hope is that all the prayers that Canadians will be saying for them in the coming months will keep them strong, uplifted and safe from harm.
Godspeed!

- Susan Abma
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Cpl Shane Keating

October 2, 2009 – 7:19 am

Cpl Shane Keating

Painting this portrait of Corporal Shane Keating was, for me a humble but extremely rewarding experience. I must thank his mother, Judy Budd, for making it possible for me to get to know Shane; for sharing her photos, the letters, the stories of this exceptional young man and Shane’s writings in his own hand. Not only do I feel honoured that I was able to paint Shane’s portrait, I feel blessed to have met a wonderful new friend, Judy, who is also an artist.

Shairl Honey

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Support Our Troops Gala

September 29, 2009 – 1:09 am

Support Our Troops Gala


Wow! We had an unbelievable evening Saturday!

We had the exceptional good fortune to attend the CFPSA Support Our Troops Gala at Edmonton Northlands.

Approximately 700 people gathered at the new, massive, Exhibition Hall E to raise funds in support of the troops and their families. (See www.cfpsa.com for more information)

We are not getting paid for doing the portraits of the soldiers, so at $225 per seat we would, under normal circumstances, not have been able to attend this incredible event. We very much appreciate Don’s Power Vac of Edmonton, that sponsored our tickets (www.furnaceman.ab.ca).

At the event we were fortunate enough to meet General Walt Natynczyk and his wife Leslie, who is the head of the Military Families Fund. They were so warm and expressed their appreciation of how Project Heroes is honoring the fallen Canadian soldiers. It was our incredible honor to be able to talk with them both and we certainly hope to work with the Military Families Fund in some way in the near future.

We also visited with Maureen Eykelenboom, the exceptional woman at the helm of Boomer’s Legacy. Boomer’s Legacy was named in memory of her son Corporal Andrew “Boomer” Eykelenboom, after he was killed by a suicide bomber in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, in August 2006.

While other funds help the soldiers and their families at home in Canada, Boomer’s Legacy provides humanitarian needs, medical care and tools for education for the people of Afghanistan. (See www.boomerslegacy.ca for more information).

Our work through Project Heroes, will be to thank the fallen soldiers and their families for their service and sacrifice. (www.projectheroes.ca)

We hope that everyone will consider supporting whatever of these causes touches their hearts as they all need your support to exist.

photo6While at the gala, we met many soldiers – some who have already served in Afghanistan, and some being deployed in October. Their dedication to their country and their bravery in facing possible injury or death to serve their country was humbling to say the very least. Each time we meet the soldiers who have served or will serve in war stricken areas, we are even more thankful for the ability to work on the fallen soldiers’ portraits for Project Heroes. It’s our way to thank these heroes who serve us all so selflessly.

At the CFPSA gala, we were treated to the wonderful humor of Jessica Holmes (Royal Canadian Air Farce), and the music of Blue Rodeo.

There were so many added little ‘treats’ for the crowd, like when one of the musicians took the mouthpiece of his trombone and put it in a rifle and played the rifle. Having never seen this done before, we were astounded and excited about how unique it was as well as how beautiful it sounded.

Military drummers played in unison and it was a delight to watch their synchronized moves, especially when the lights were dimmed and their drumsticks and parts of their uniforms glowed in the dark.

Congratulations to the organizers of this event. The gala was top-notch and we were proud to have had an opportunity to attend and help Support Our Troops.

- Susan, Shairl and Cindy



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Completed Portrait

September 26, 2009 – 11:42 am
Completed Portrait

Corporal Cole Bartsch

Another painting is finished. Each portrait represents a life and we are reminded how special these young people who have given their lives are. Not everyone can do what they have done and we are grateful to them and their families.

Cindy Revell

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Cpl. David Braun

September 21, 2009 – 3:18 pm
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The completed portrait of Cpl. David Braun

As we work on Project Heroes™, it is important to us to convey an indication of the soldiers’ characters – something that is hard to achieve from their official military photos that are quite serious and straight-faced.Cpl. David Braun was a sincere pleasure to paint. My studio was so cheerful looking at this handsome, smiling soldier as I completed his oil portrait.

I made a preliminary drawing (see below) and put a layer of color on without worrying about being too exact with the drawing as it changes slightly here and there as I apply paint and reassess it.

Each layer builds the painting to a higher level. I build my skin tones from the basic undertones, which in this case was very pink. I work in layers often, but occasionally tackle a portrait more directly, depending on how I think I can achieve the best result.
It was our sincere pleasure to have spent time with David’s mother, getting to know a lot more about him. This helped have a true sense of what he was like which is essential in order to create a good portrait.
Every time we meet with the families, I am awed by their openness, their sharing, and their strength. Without their support, we would be unable to do this and we thank them for that, as well as for the incredible sacrifice their soldier made. We hope that this project will help ensure their loved one will always be remembered.
- Susan Abma

photo9

The rough drawing and start of the first layer.

photo10

Getting closer to completion.

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Starting a New Portrait

August 24, 2009 – 5:11 pm

Corporal Andrew James Eykelenboom Initial Drawing in Oil, 14 x 18

Corporal Andrew James Eykelenboom Initial Drawing in Oil, 14 x 18

This is my initial drawing of Corporal Andrew James Eykelenboom. Andrew’s mother, Maureen, gave us the copyright to this photo to paint from when I met with her in Comox, B.C. in June. It was wonderful to get to know Andrew through his mother’s stories and photos of his life. We both liked liked this photo the best; it displays his wonderful smile; his love of fun, family and friends.

I started with a quick free-hand drawing done in yellow ochre paint directly onto a high quality, acrylic primed and stretched canvas. Once this drawing has been checked, measured, and is satisfactory, I’ll start painting the portrait in many layers, using Walnut Alkyd Medium to ‘wet in’ the painting each time I start another layer. The walnut oil medium helps me blend the oil colors, and since it dries overnight I can work on it every day until it is finished.

Shairl

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Painting with friends

August 9, 2009 – 6:41 pm

Painting with friends

For several summers now, Shairl (centre) and I (right) have spent three weeks in Newfoundland painting scenes there en plein air (outdoor painting).
Although we have a fairly grueling schedule while there, painting from sunup to sundown most days, it is well worth it because it helps keep our painting skills finely tuned, and it is also a lot of fun.
This year was extra special for us. We were very busy painting portraits of fallen Canadian soldiers before we left, so we took a couple of the portraits with us to work on in case there was a rainy day that we couldn’t work outside. We were also very fortunate to also take along Judy Budd, mother of one of the fallen soldiers (left).
Judy used to paint, but for the last three years since her son died in Afghanistan, she had not picked up a paintbrush. When Shairl and I visited her earlier this year, we immediately liked this woman and within a few hours of talking to her we invited her to join us on our painting trip this summer. A day or two later she accepted.
Although she hadn’t painted in several years, she painted with us every day and when our trip was done, she had created as many paintings as I did. For those who don’t paint, that may sound easy, but it is actually hard work and not very comfortable at all. We painted at the edge of the ocean some days and we were so cold that we painted with as many layers of sweaters that we had with us and had shirts tied around our heads and socks on our hands to be able to withstand the wind and bitter cold. Other days, inland, the heat and sun were brutal. In the evenings we had to fend off mosquitos, some days we were rained on…
Not only did Judy stick with the painting (and us), but she created some excellent paintings and she kept us laughing with her great sense of humor.
Now that we are home and getting back to painting ‘our’ fallen heroes, we are doing it with an even greater connection than ever before, and we feel so blessed by the new friendship we have made with Judy, and the friendships that are developing with families of other fallen soldiers.
In the photo above, Shairl is shown with the painting that she painted of Judy while Judy was painting a NFLD scene. It will always remind me of the strength, determination, and wonderful kindness and humor of our amazing new friend, Judy.
- Susan Abma
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Still Life -Commemorative Painting

July 16, 2009 – 5:35 pm

Work on our soldier portraits carries on and in the meantime we’ve taken photographs of of some of the gear that the soldiers carry. The photos will be used for a number of commemorative paintings that we’ll be doing, a few of which will be still life. One of the first steps in preparing to do a still life is to set up the objects you plan to paint. Ordinarily I like to paint directly from life whenever possible but since the equipment had to be returned the next day the only opportunity to paint it would be from photos. I took many pictures of the gear in different positions and will choose the ones that I like best, eventually one or more of them will become a painting.

Still Life

When I started to set up the first items my cat Spike came along to supervise. An hour or so later Pete my nosy, little mutt had to investigate too.

photo14

- Cindy

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Personal Time With A War Hero

July 8, 2009 – 1:58 am

Personal Time With A War Hero

This  pencil drawing was done with the photos of Cpl. Shane Keating at hand. I wanted to explore his face and get to know his structure before starting the portrait painting.
Drawing out these heroes before I start painting them gives me personal time to get to know them.
I can imagine their strength, their love of Canada, and their dedication to their cause.
It’s important to me to attempt to capture not only their physical self, but their spiritual self as well.
- Shairl

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Project Heroes Thanks Its Sponsors

July 6, 2009 – 1:28 pm

Another Canadian soldier has recently died and it makes us nervous to see a soldier friend leaving for Afghanistan. Thank you for the courage and generosity of spirit that takes you across the world to make life better for the people of Afghanistan.

We also want to recognize the friends who have sponsored this project so far. Your financial help is a wonderful way to say thank you to the soldiers. It’s also your support that will help us see this project to the end. When the paintings are done and the exhibition is up it will be an incredibly touching way for Canadians to show their gratitude to Canadian soldiers.

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