Art studio

105 and 506 leaves


 
First the good news as reported in a new court filing by Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soboroff, author of “Separated” a book that should be read by all: the parents of 105 of the children separated at the border by the previous criminal administration have been found. Unfortunately, the filing goes on to report that the parents of 506 of the remaining children have yet to be reached; 322 of them are being looked for in their countries of origin; 168 are attempted to being located in the United States; for the remaining 16 there no contact numbers available.

In the words of Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
 
P.S. My apologies to those of you looking for my promised story behind the leaf drawings, this has taken on a life of its own and has now become a work in progress. Stay tuned.
 

Families Belong Together

journey’s end

666+186 Day LIV – Journey’s End.

Thank you to all of you who have joined me over the past few months. Knowing you have been “looking over my shoulder” and sharing my concern for the children has been a great support. Over the next day or two I will be writing the story of my journey, which I will post once it is completed.

I thought I would add today my words from that first day, October 22nd as a reminder of the reason why my journey began:

I have begun this drawing of the 546 leaves I collected today from the Pacific Spirit Park to represent the 546 children separated from their parents. As a parent and grandparent who loves his children and grandchildren so much this is my way of representing the heartbreak and the anguish being felt by so many families suffering in this tragic story of state supported kidnapping of children. As the drawings continue I will post their progress and will be thinking of each child as I draw every one of these fragile leaves.

   

 

the last leaf


 
666+186 Day LIII: the final leaf, the last of the final 9 leaves that end a journey that began on October 22nd last year. I have decided to keep the dates together with the marks from each day that indicate the number of leaves drawn that day, as part of the final piece. Look for the completed work tomorrow. Posting this on Canada’s Family Day is an opportunity to remember the separated children and look forward to the day when those responsible will be held accountable. #families belong together.
 

18 new leaves of love


 

666 + 177…in progress – Day LII
 

18 new leaves lovingly drawn for Valentines Day, and a special leaf from Day XXXVIII.

   
 

15 new leaves


 

666+147…in progress – Day LI
 
        
 

From park to post

Today’s Pacific Spirit Park collection

black shirt day


 
666+…in progress – Day LXVII with 11 new leaves in the studio today wearing my black shirt in support of this first Black Shirt Day in BC. “The time is always right to do what is right” – Martin Luther King Jr
 

ink link


 
Inspired by my dear friend Debi Riley a wonderful artist and teacher in Perth Australia who posted on IG recently (@debi.riley) how she was experimenting using a palette knife and ink, I experimented myself this afternoon and loved it. My subject matter should be no surprise. Thank you Debi.
 

mightier than the sword

 

666 Day XLII – The proverb states “the pen is mightier than the sword” but how about the pencil. As I sharpened mine at the beginning of each day to act as “weapons” against injustice they became shorter and shorter as you can see. The power of the simple act of drawing is worth celebrating, for a picture can indeed be worth a thousand words.

Tomorrow I look forward to attending a webinar by Physicians for Human Rights on the “Family Separation and Reunification Efforts.” These are the details for those of you interested in attending if you have the time.

 

Each leaf’s a child alone and scared
Taken from the ones that cared
Kidnapped by a soulless state
That wallows in its lies and hate.

How fortunate it is that in our times
Good people exist to fight these crimes
And work to bring back love and joy
To every precious girl and boy.

a home for the leaves


 

666 Day XL

I have had this perspex box for a number of years and always wondered what I could put into it. Since I have been reluctant to say goodbye to the leaves, today they found a home and the box finally has a purpose.
 

 

Families Belong Together