Photo Essay

2021 Review – Part One

As we begin the New Year, in this 2021 Review – Part One I have chosen eight of my posts from last year with which to remember some of its highs and lows, all of which moved me to respond in the best way I know how.

I

The last leaf

On February 15th I added the last leaf to 851 leaves that I had begun drawing in October 2020 to remember all of the children so cruelly separated from their parents by both the United States Government under the last administration and by the Canadian Government over generations as described in my post Shame and Prejudice that was inspired by a visit to an exhibition of that name by the artist Kent Monkman at the Museum of Anthropology.

666+186 Day LIV – Journey’s End.

 

 

II

On March 15th, Yo Yo Ma playing Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 for those waiting to receive their vaccinations in Pittsfield Massachusetts after he had received his, was a truly inspiring moment of grace and beauty amidst the fear and despair felt by so many. If you open the original post “Thank you Yo Yo” you can listen to his playing the prelude from the suite and be moved by his mastery and humanity.

 

 

 

 

III

On April 12th I was honoured to see my tribute to the Vancouver General Hospital’s ECMO team,”The Meeting Point,” being hung in the ICU at VGH.

 

The drawing is also a tribute to all our health care heroes for whom the words “Thank You” can never be said enough as I expressed in the description that accompanies the piece:

When the Science of Medicine meets the Art of Medicine to save lives in the COVID unit at Vancouver General Hospital. I would like to suggest that ECMO, which stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, could also stand for Ever Compassionate Medical Optimism, thanks to the dedication and bravery of our frontline healthcare workers epitomized by the caring nurse-specialist portrayed in my drawing.

 

The Meeting Point

 

 

IV

On September 2nd  I completed my painting of 6 year old Suzy Eshkuntana being rescued from the rubble of her bombed out family home in Gaza that took place In the early hours of the 16th of May. She had been buried alive for seven hours after it was hit by an Israeli rocket that killed her mother and four of her siblings. Just a few days later I began the painting of her rescue, based on a photograph by the Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem, which as I wrote in my post The Rescue would “celebrate her life being saved, and in memory of the family she has lost.”

 

War Child

 

 

V

On Labour Day the often violent protest against our health care heroes was, and sadly continues to be, a shameful reflection of elements of our society that certainly can never be considered civilized. Whatever happened to reason, grace and gratitude? Read the heartbreaking words from one of our nurse heroes, which I quoted in full in the post.

“A miserable rabble of unworthy citizenry.”

 

 

VI

30th September, Orange Shirt Day, was Canada’s 1st National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. The findings of the unmarked graves of so many children at the sites of the Indian Residential Schools brought us all together as a country in a state of national grief, shame and remembrance.

Every child matters

 

 

 

VII

November 11th, Remembrance Day, always one of the most important days of the year and this year The Royal Canadian Legion celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Remembrance Poppy in Canada

 

 

 

 

VIII

December 31st, New Year’s Eve, could not be a more fitting end to this look back to 2021, with the magic and beauty of the snow in the Pacific Spirit Park, a place of sanctuary and peace for us throughout the year and which gives us all hope for whatever the year ahead may bring.

 

Pacific Spirit Park, December 31st 2021

 

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year

 

the way he saw it


 
Thank you to Pete Souza and the makers of the The Way I See It. With this moving and unforgettable historic photo documentation he has captured the greatness that can be America with the life and humanity of one of its greatest presidents. It gives new meaning to the words “make America great again,” for this is the true greatness that our beloved neighbors down south are voting in record numbers to return to.

spring tra la


 

A celebration to uplift us all of spring in our neighbourhood…

 

…and a look back six years, together with a little Gilbert and Sullivan:

 

Blossoms around the world   May 21, 2014

 

Blossoms-Provence

blossoms-Provence ii
 

Blossoms giving colour to our lives the world over.

 

Remembering Vincent

Today is Vincent van Gogh’s Birthday. He was born on March 30, 1853. I thought I would celebrate the occasion by reposting Vincent’s Room which I originally posted on The Changing Palette in June 2014. During these difficult days taking a moment to look back on the life of someone who had to “suffer for his sanity” but was still able to show us the beauty that surrounded him in his own wonderfully iconic way should inspire us all.

Who can look at a sunflower and at the same time not think of Vincent? Let us celebrate his memory together, and please listen to Don Maclean’s “Vincent” imbedded in the post. I promise you will it will be the highlight of your day.

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything.” Vincent van Gogh

Vincent's Room i

Can there be a more iconic room than Vincent Van Gogh’s bedroom at the Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Remy, France where Van Gogh entered voluntarily as a patient on May 8, 1889 and remained until May the following year. During this time he painted the gardens, with their wheat fields, olives groves, irises and sunflowers, all of which he could see from his bedroom window.
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Vancouver 2010 🇨🇦

On the 10th Anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics a lookback, with Sarah McLachlan carrying the Olympic Torch, street hockey, drumming on the newspaper boxes, and always thousands in the streets celebrating day and night.  What a ride it was!
 

 

 
2010 i
 

 
2010 iii
 

 
2010 vi
 

 
2010 iv
 

 

🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

Homage to Leonardo

Vitruvian Man and Woman

On the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci who died on May 2nd 1519.

“If you set your legs so far apart as to take a fourteenth part from your height, and you open and raise your arms until you touch the line of the crown of the head with your middle fingers, you must know that the centre of the circle formed by the extremities of the out-stretched limbs will be the navel, and the space between the legs will form an equilateral triangle”


on Human Proportions from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci


“The age as it flies glides secretly and deceives one and another; nothing is more fleeting than the years, but he who sows virtue reaps honour”


on Phlosophy from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

H4H2

Antigua study I – 29.11.18 – water-colour/pen and ink

Four years ago I posted about the charitable organization Heath for Humanity and the great work of their surgical missions over many years to Antigua, Guatemala. The post included a video presentation of theirs for those of you who would like to learn more about them, and you can visit their website here: h4h. Earlier this month I had the privilege of joining them for a week, working with wonderful dedicated colleagues who were making a real difference to the lives of so many; heroes all.

Here are a few of my memorable images from Antigua which include the dazzling yellows of the iconic Arco de Santa Catalina, the colourful pastels of the buildings and the Fuego volcano in the distance, which erupted once again just over a week ago.

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Italy Day Sixteen: Venezia


A perfect final day to our Italian travels beginning with the morning sunshine silhouetting the San Giorgio Magiorre before revisiting the Basilica San Marco to see its marble pavements once again after seventeen years.


We then climbed the 100 steps to the terrace with its views of the Campanile and Piazza San Marco. 


Our final long anticipated stop was to the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari to see Titian’s masterpiece the Frari Assumption, just as glorious as I remembered it. 

Then one final moment to pause and take it all in before heading to the airport and London. 

I hope you have enjoyed the trip as much as we have. It’s certainly been good having you along. So many more memories to share in the coming weeks and months with photos and hopefully exciting new paintings. Stay tuned. 

escape with me

I have a treat for you today. Come and join me on my morning walk yesterday and escape for a few minutes from the hate, the anger, the despair, and the noise that we are all being pummelled with each and every day. I don’t know about you but my troubled soul needed a little healing and when the sun rose yesterday on freshly fallen snow with the mountains stark against the bluest of skies, I knew all I had to do was dress warmly, put on my boots and venture out into the crisp air and morning sunshine.  I’m happy to say it worked.

5

It didn’t take long to enjoy every magical moment with everyone else who was out and about.

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This gallery, which I have also made into a slide show, I hope will help sooth your soul too.

This next photo is for Cheri and her Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow

15

As I came closer to the trees  in Vanier Park I was greeted by a symphony of sound that made me stop in my tracks and listen for several minutes, joined by others who were equally as enthralled.  Here is a short excerpt from my post entitled Birdsong for today’s Daily Prompt: Heard.  If you feel like pausing for a minute or two and hearing more visit the post and listen to it all.

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I hope this has made your day as much as it did mine.