November 11. We all remember. It was the day we all actually stayed silent for a moment in school, remembering the soldiers who fought for our country. At the time, those soldiers were often not known to us and their faces not familiar. But we knew from our teachers and parents the incredible significance of [...]
Category Archives: Canadian soldiers
Painting with friends
August 9, 2009 – 6:41 pm
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 [...]
Personal Time With A War Hero
July 8, 2009 – 1:58 am
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 [...]
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 [...]
Impersonating a soldier? No way!
July 3, 2009 – 6:37 pm
I’m an imposter! I’ll start off with an apology for having the gear on completely wrong, I’m sure. And, I’ll apologize for what might appear to be an impersonation of a soldier. What this photo actually is, is me attempting to find out if I could actually carry even the lightest gear that a soldier [...]
Work in Progress – Portrait of Corporal Cole Bartsch
June 19, 2009 – 6:59 am
This is the second stage of the painting with all areas roughly blocked in with the approximate colours. At this stage there’s no detail and I’m not too fussy about getting exact colours, my goal is to get the canvas completely covered with paint and try to stay true to the oil sketch which ultimately [...]
Composition Issues
June 15, 2009 – 8:55 am
Susan – Every now and then a painter has a painting that just isn’t working for one reason or another, and this one is problematic for me. There are some things that work well – I like the soldiers marching into the distance on the right and I like the main soldier and the way [...]
Shairl Follows ‘Andrew’s Smile’ to Vancouver Island
June 10, 2009 – 1:15 pm
“I have to meet this mother; I want to paint her son!” said Shairl as she listened to Maureen Eykelenboom share her story called ‘Andrew’s Smile’ on CBC Radio. Corporal Andrew James Eykelenboom died on August 11, 2006. He was the first Canadian Forces Medic to be killed in Afghanistan. “Andrew was packing up to [...]
A Visit With Corporal Cole Bartsch’s Family
June 4, 2009 – 9:24 am
Susan and I (Cindy) recently had a visit with the family of Cole Bartsch, one of the soldiers who died on July 4, 2007. We heard about Cole’s love for the outdoors and comics, his antics, his great respect for the military, and his deep love of family. And photos, so many wonderful photos of [...]
The brushes are wagging….
May 11, 2009 – 9:19 am
Shairl and Susan have been drawing two young corporals, while Cindy has been working on a commemorative painting for the exhibition. Although the subject of our paintings is sad because we have lost these heroes to the Afghanistan war, there is some happiness for us because they will ‘live’ in their paintings for many, many [...]