Soldier's Wife Visits Project Heroes™ Display at Edmonton City Hall

Darcia Arndt in front of a portrait of her husband Master Corporal Raymond Arndt (KIA August 5, 2006)

While the artists were at Edmonton City Hall painting and displaying portraits for Project Heroes™, they were visited by many family and friends of the soldiers.

One of their visitors was Darcia Arndt, wife of fallen soldier Master Corporal Raymond Arndt.

Speaking directly with Darcia and getting family photos to work from helped artist Shairl Honey as she tried to paint a sense of Raymond's spirit and character into the oil portrait.

The artists, Shairl Honey, Susan Abma, and Cindy Revell knew when they started that they wanted to do more than just recreate a copy of the soldiers' official military photographs in oils. They wanted to tell a complete story about the soldiers through their paintings and the information and other photos, videos, etc. obtained from families.

Finding the families, interviewing them, working from as many as five or six photos at a time, and then having to, in many cases, paint the soldiers back into their uniforms makes this a very time-consuming and more difficult project. But the result is a series of portraits that no one has seen before, and it makes it so much more personal. 

The artists are also including three 6' x 9' paintings that will commemorate the wounded, serving soldiers and veterans, and families of the soldiers.
This one-of-a-kind collection of portraits, paintings and other information, photos and videos records the history of the soldiers who served and sacrificed in the Afghanistan War in a sensitive, personal, comprehensive and lasting way. 

It is important that friends and families of all soldiers know that Canada is grateful for the special men and women - our Canadian heroes - who served our country in Afghanistan, and that we will never forget the unfathomable sacrifice of the wounded and the fallen. We remember them, and Project Heroes™ will help ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to get to know them and remember them also.