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: oil paintings
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 [...]
Support Our Troops Gala
September 29, 2009 – 1:09 am
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 [...]
Cpl. David Braun
September 21, 2009 – 3:18 pm
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Working on the Project
April 27, 2009 – 10:21 am
While in Saskatchewan, we (Shairl and Susan) spoke with the families of two young corporals. The experience was humbling to say the least. These men believed strongly in what they were doing and made the ultimate sacrifice. While their pain was clearly evident, the families were open and sharing. They welcomed us graciously and we [...]