We All Remember

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 honoring their service.

November 11: Remembrance Day. Veterans Day. Armistice Day.

Around the world it has different names, but the day is the same and the purpose also the same. The day is seen as the end of World War I, which ended on this day in 1918.

Today, it is as powerful as never before. We honor those who served Canada in World War I and other wars our country was involved in, and also we honor the soldiers whose faces are now familiar - those from the Afghanistan war. Our brothers, boyfriends, husbands, sons and fathers are among the faces who fought for our country and the Afghan people. Some of them have not come home, sacrificing themselves for the cause they believed in.

We remember them today - those serving currently and those who served in the past - and thank them all for their incredible service to Canada.

We pray for the continued safety of all soldiers serving in the Canadian military. May they take comfort in knowing how grateful we are for what they do.

Impersonating a soldier? No way!

This is a repeat of of an old post, but it demonstrates an issue that soldiers have to deal with on a day to day basis. I will never be a soldier - painting portraits is a worthy occupation but doesn't require bravery or brute strength.

I'm an imposter! I'll start off with an apology for having the gear on completely wrong. 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 routinely carries.

Well, I found out. I sure can't!

I've read about the weight of military gear, but it never sunk in until today. I was fortunate enough to visit Lancaster Park - the military base in Edmonton - with a soldier giving me a guided tour.

When I left, I literally had almost everything but the pants and shirt Pat was wearing, although I did get other pants and shirts in the collection I took with me. He actually changed his boots and cap so I could take the ones he was wearing.

This warmed my heart to the very core. The reason he shared his gear for a couple of days was to allow us to photograph and paint some of the items for Project Heroes.

The first item he handed me was a helmet. For all intents and purposes it looked like a hard hat, but with camouflage on it. Well I've picked up many hard hats before so I had a mental expectation of the weight. Wrong. I almost dropped the helmet. The next thing I picked up was his 'flack jacket' (I've also heard it called a tack jacket). I'm guessing it weighed about 20+ pounds - like a large bag of potatoes. I can't even begin to guess the weight of the backpack, but I was assured that it was "light" compared to when the soldiers actually have it packed for use.

As I dressed in the heavy gear to take this photo (and I didn't even wear the helmet), it struck me hard that our soldiers have to endure so much in their duties, and the weight of their gear is only scratching the surface of the amount of sacrifice they make for all Canadians.

I'm compassionate, and my heart breaks for every fallen soldier, but brave I am not. I would never be able to stand in a soldier's shoes, so I'm incredibly thankful that they do what they do. I guess I technically did stand in his boots, but I couldn't even stand up straight! I estimated that I was carrying more than half my weight - don't ask and I won't tell.

Cindy, Shairl and I are all very thankful for the support that we are getting for Project Heroes and for the participation of the families who allow us to paint their soldiers and share them with Canadians. Thanks also to Pat for the military gear that I was able to borrow temporarily. 

- Susan Abma

The Project Moves Along

A project like this takes time, energy and money to put together and none of these things are in great supply. Each of us has other work to take care of, illustration, commissions, and an online magazine, nevertheless it's something we think is important and it's moving forward. Before the trip to Saskatchewan we each worked on 2 sample paintings that would be shown to the families of the soldiers to help them understand what we were doing.

Project Heroes Connects at City Hall

Susan Abma, Shairl Honey, Susan Farnell and Cindy Revell at City Hall, Edmonton

It's week two of painting and displaying the portraits at City Hall where we're meeting members and family of the military, veterans, friends of the fallen soldiers, school children and all kinds of wonderfully supportive people. Sharing our soldiers with the public and seeing their response to the portraits has been incredible. Our thanks to Simon Farbrother, City Manager who invited us and Susan Farnell, Protocol Officer with the City of Edmonton for coordinating our two week visit.

Artists inspired by Garrison students

These photos are of children from the Edmonton Garrison visiting our display of about a dozen portraits at City Hall.

At the city's request, we are displaying and painting soldiers on site there for the next two weeks. It's an excellent opportunity to increase awareness of the project. 

The City has a resident school teacher, Linda Hut (who took these photos). Area schools are able to send their classes to the City for a week to learn about municipal government and the things that happen at City Hall - lucky for us they visited Project Heroes™ display!

When the teacher asked for a show of hands to indicate who had parents that had served in Afghanistan, most of the children's hands went up. Thankfully all of their parents have come home safe, but they were a living reminder of some of the many casualties of war when a soldier is lost. 

These students asked some very interesting and poignant questions about the project, and about creating oil portraits. They also gave Project Heroes™ 'the thumbs up!' (Top photo)

Project Heroes™ has lots of exciting things happening and you can now find them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/projectheroes. Some of the most recent paintings are there as well as other information about the project.

If you don't have Facebook, email info@projectheroes.ca and request an information sheet that gives up to date information about the project and we'll email it to you.

Thanks so much for your interest in Project Heroes.

Momentum building for Project Heroes™

We have been incredibly busy with Project Heroes™ lately. A lot of the recent work has been administrative and board work in relation to getting society status and working on charitable status.

That doesn't make for great literative fodder or superb photo ops on the blog, so it's been pretty dismal for updates, but as 'boring' as board stuff might be, I am excited to share some of it with you because the results are so darn exciting and there's so much great stuff going on behind the scenes.

We have formed our society board and it is loaded with people who are passionate about honoring the fallen and wounded soldiers. There are, of course, the three artists involved in painting the fallen soldiers. In addition, the board includes Chris Aanderson - our technical specialist from Westworld Computers who is also extremely knowledgeable about military history, Michelle Bartsch - a relation of fallen soldier Cpl. Cole Bartsch, and Lesley Primeau - radio personality from CHED radio. Did I say 'personality'? That should really be capitalized, bolded and underscored. What an amazing resource she is for us, and a whole lot of fun to be around. Danny Hooper has agreed to assist us with fundraising ventures, and Debbie Walker - Project Leader with 630 Ched Santa's Anonymous is our consultant about the charity and society related issues. Accountant Jim LeBrun has agreed to assist with accounting needs - thank God for people who actually LIKE to do books!

We also have a very enthusiastic and personable volunteer - Julie LaChapelle - who will help with various aspects of the project as we progress. Julie is married to a Canadian soldier based in Edmonton.

Together with the board, we now have pre-planned virtually all aspects of the eventual national exhibitions, and we are working on getting all the pieces in place.

As we move along, we will have many needs. We will begin posting them soon and if anyone can assist with those needs, or knows someone who can, we need all the angels we can get.

We are so honored to work with the families of the fallen to create oil paintings that will commemorate those heroes long into the future.

Although the hours are long and the pay ain't great, haha, (this project is 100% volunteer - including the artists, the board and all others who are committing time and effort) we are so incredibly proud to be able to give something back to our men and women who gave all they had.

Shairl, Cindy and I will be getting together very soon for a 'mini-marathon' of painting and we'll post some of those pictures very soon. We often paint alone in our own studios, but our 'mini-marathons' are just short retreats where we paint together.

Again we'd ask that if anyone who follows our blog or twitter, etc, knows any family members of the fallen who we have not yet contacted, please let them know that we'd be very happy if they'd contact us at any time. info@projectheroes.ca or 780-986-0789.

— Susan Abma

Society Status Underway

Although we may not have been in contact much over the last several months, we have been very busy and a lot has happened with Project Heroes™.

At long last, after many meetings, after creating bylaws and objectives, etc., we have applied to become a Society.

This will mean many things for Project Heroes™. First, we'll be able to apply for federal charitable status and will hopefully be able to issue tax receipts in the near future. It means we're working together with expert assistance of volunteer board members, and it means we'll be able to accept other members to the society. How exciting it will be if you all become members of the Project Heroes Society.

It also means we'll be scouting out volunteers to assist with things like fundraising, membership, looking for venues, bookkeeping, data entry, etc. If you would like to assist with the project, please let us know - we can certainly use you now or in the near future.

And we will be in contact much more often now that we're finished much of the organizational 'stuff' and things are back in full swing . Please feel free to contact us at any time - info@projectheroes.ca or 780-986-0789. And, please follow our blog by clicking on the 'Follow' button in the right hand column. We sure appreciate your support.

Interview With Darcia Arndt

July 7, 2010 – 8:53 pm

Recently I met with Darcia Arndt, widow of Master Corporal Raymond Arndt. What she said when I left her home was so true; “we had a lovely visit!” We got together so that we could choose a photo of her husband for me to paint and to talk about him so that I could know more about the man whose portrait I would be working on. I found there was not enough time for us to talk and share all the wonderful stories and events, and look at all the beautiful photos of her and her husband’s lives during the few years they shared together. There never is enough time!
I must thank Darcia for making me feel so comfortable in her home, for all her time, and for her being so open and sharing during our four hour visit! I got to know more about Raymond, and I am looking forward to painting the man behind the uniform.
For Susan, Cindy and me, all of these family interviews so far have been ones of great positive support of our project, and are both a true honour and a sad delight to experience.
Shairl

What Our Soldiers Do

May 19, 2010

Recently we went to hear Maureen Eykelenboon talk in Spruce Grove where she spoke to the audience about her son Andrew for whom she created Boomer’s Legacy. Maureen talked about his experiences in Afghanistan and his conviction that what he was doing there was important work, something we hear from every single family that we talk to. She told us about his heroic moments in which he saved Afghanistan lives, treated some of the Afghan people who have no access to medical care, what life as a medic or soldier is like, and some of his thoughts. “Mom, people in Canada have no idea of what having nothing means, even our street people have more than those in Afghanistan”. And this “About two weeks ago a little girl brought her infant sister to the UMS while I was on duty. She had 2nd degree burns on her hand from touching a kettle. I bandaged her hand and after gave a doll that your friend made to her. She instantly stopped crying and started sucking on the nose of the doll. A special thanks goes from her elder sister to your friend for such a wonderful gift; and a thanks from me for being the one to accept her gratitude. Making the children happy is the most rewarding thing about this tour. Love Andrew”.

In May 2006 Andrew saved the life of Niaz Hussaini, an Afgan interpreter with the Provincial Reconstruction team. Maureen was lucky enough to meet Niaz on a visit to Afgahanistan and see for herself the impact our Canadian soldiers are having on the people of this country.

Maureen played a slide show of the photos that remained on Boomer’s camera when he died. It was an excellent look at the life of a soldier in Afghanistan and the good work that they are doing to restore order and give the people a sense that they are being cared for. Thanks Maureen. Thanks Boomer.

We hope that the portraits and exhibitions will be able to show some of the magnitude of what our soldiers have done and have given up to do so. Their families too.

Interview on the Primeau Show

April 14, 2010 – 7:25 pm

Lesley Primeau, Shairl Honey, Susan Abma and Cindy Revell

We were on 630 CHED radio March 13 and Lesley Primeau asked us back on her show again April 6. This was a wonderful opportunity to talk about the project in a very public way and we had great response, with parents of the fallen soldiers phoning in, and several donations to help pay for the costs.

Our very sincere thanks to Lesley and 630 CHED for helping us share Project Heroes™ on the radio and for putting a link to our website on their site and on Lesley’s blog. Our heartfelt thanks also to those who donated to Project Heroes™ – we could not possibly do this without your help.

To listen to the show, go to: http://www.630ched.com/other/audiovault.html and put in the date ‘April 6’ and the time ‘6 PM.’ We were on at 6:30, so if you move the bottom bar along until it gets to 34:00, you will be able to listen just to the Project Heroes™ interview without listening to the first half hour of the show.
To view Lesley’s blog, go to http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/PrimeausBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10106345.

Radio Interview on 630 CHED

March 31, 2010 – 9:57 pm

Our interview with Lesley Primeau on 630 Ched was fantastic. Lesley is a lively and engaging host who asked perfect questions and helped get across what this project is really about. Many thanks to our callers for phoning in to support us and sponsor us. Your help is greatly appreciated. We’ve been invited to talk with Lesley again on April 6. We’ll give the exact time when we have more details. Till then we paint and talk to families of the soldiers.

Our Blog Has Moved To Our Website

Welcome to our blog. We have got some exciting news - at least for us! Our website has been redesigned and our blog has been integrated into it. So, now one simple address will get you virtually all of the Project Heroes information.

To go to our new blog: go to www.projectheroes.ca and click on Blog Updates on the top bar. All of our old blog posts have been moved there, so if you're looking for a particular post, you'll still be able to access it.

Thanks so much for following our blog. We will continue to provide you regular updates on Project Heroes.

Deployment

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 sending Pat off to the war in Afghanistan and sharing the pain my cousin feels as he leaves, is even more personal than this originally set out to be.

When this project tugged at my heart and started to become my priority, my cousin hadn't even met Pat yet. I had no connection with the military at all - I just felt strongly that the soldiers who put their lives on the line needed to be commemorated in a lasting and special way.

In only a few short years, many more soldiers have died, and my cousin met, fell in love with, and had a child with an Edmonton soldier. They are scheduled to be married on the base in June of 2010, when Pat returns from Afghanistan.

Along with Pat, many other soldiers will board a bus bound for the Edmonton International Airport, where they will then board a plane bound for Afghanistan.

These soldiers believe in what they are going there to do and they want to do what they were trained for, but one can only imagine that deep beneath their courageous exteriors there is a fear of what they will face when they get there and also whether they will return home to their mothers, wives, husbands, children and other family members.

I commend their bravery and their commitment and my greatest hope is that all the prayers that Canadians will be saying for them in the coming months will keep them strong, uplifted and safe from harm.

Godspeed!

- Susan Abma

Support Our Troops Gala

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 paid for doing the portraits of the soldiers, so at $225 per seat we would, under normal circumstances, not have been able to attend this incredible event. We very much appreciate Don's Power Vac of Edmonton, that sponsored our tickets (www.furnaceman.ab.ca).

At the event we were fortunate enough to meet General Walt Natynczyk and his wife Leslie, who is the head of the Military Families Fund. They were so warm and expressed their appreciation of how Project Heroes is honoring the fallen Canadian soldiers. It was our incredible honor to be able to talk with them both and we certainly hope to work with the Military Families Fund in some way in the near future.

We also visited with Maureen Eykelenboom, the exceptional woman at the helm of Boomer's Legacy. Boomer's Legacy was named in memory of her son Corporal Andrew “Boomer” Eykelenboom, after he was killed by a suicide bomber in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, in August 2006.

While other funds help the soldiers and their families at home in Canada, Boomer's Legacy provides humanitarian needs, medical care and tools for education for the people of Afghanistan. (See www.boomerslegacy.ca for more information).

Our work through Project Heroes, will be to thank the fallen soldiers and their families for their service and sacrifice. (www.projectheroes.ca)

We hope that everyone will consider supporting whatever of these causes touches their hearts as they all need your support to exist.

While at the gala, we met many soldiers - some who have already served in Afghanistan, and some being deployed in October. Their dedication to their country and their bravery in facing possible injury or death to serve their country was humbling to say the very least. Each time we meet the soldiers who have served or will serve in war stricken areas, we are even more thankful for the ability to work on the fallen soldiers' portraits for Project Heroes. It's our way to thank these heroes who serve us all so selflessly.

At the CFPSA gala, we were treated to the wonderful humor of Jessica Holmes (Royal Canadian Air Farce), and the music of Blue Rodeo.

There were so many added little 'treats' for the crowd, like when one of the musicians took the mouthpiece of his trombone and put it in a rifle and played the rifle. Having never seen this done before, we were astounded and excited about how unique it was as well as how beautiful it sounded.

Military drummers played in unison and it was a delight to watch their synchronized moves, especially when the lights were dimmed and their drumsticks and parts of their uniforms glowed in the dark.

Congratulations to the organizers of this event. The gala was top-notch and we were proud to have had an opportunity to attend and help Support Our Troops.

- Susan, Shairl and Cindy

Cpl. David Braun

The completed portrait of

Cpl. David Braun

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 soldier as I completed his oil portrait.

I made a preliminary drawing (see below) and put a layer of color on without worrying about being too exact with the drawing as it changes slightly here and there as I apply paint and reassess it.

Each layer builds the painting to a higher level. I build my skin tones from the basic undertones, which in this case was very pink. I work in layers often, but occasionally tackle a portrait more directly, depending on how I think I can achieve the best result.

It was our sincere pleasure to have spent time with David's mother, getting to know a lot more about him. This helped have a true sense of what he was like which is essential in order to create a good portrait.

Every time we meet with the families, I am awed by their openness, their sharing, and their strength. Without their support, we would be unable to do this and we thank them for that, as well as for the incredible sacrifice their soldier made. We hope that this project will help ensure their loved one will always be remembered.

- Susan Abma

The rough drawing and start of

the first layer.

Getting closer to completion.

Painting with friends

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 is also a lot of fun.

This year was extra special for us. We were very busy painting portraits of fallen Canadian soldiers before we left, so we took a couple of the portraits with us to work on in case there was a rainy day that we couldn't work outside. We were also very fortunate to also take along Judy Budd, mother of one of the fallen soldiers (left).

Judy used to paint, but for the last three years since her son died in Afghanistan, she had not picked up a paintbrush. When Shairl and I visited her earlier this year, we immediately liked this woman and within a few hours of talking to her we invited her to join us on our painting trip this summer. A day or two later she accepted.

Although she hadn't painted in several years, she painted with us every day and when our trip was done, she had created as many paintings as I did. For those who don't paint, that may sound easy, but it is actually hard work and not very comfortable at all. We painted at the edge of the ocean some days and we were so cold that we painted with as many layers of sweaters that we had with us and had shirts tied around our heads and socks on our hands to be able to withstand the wind and bitter cold. Other days, inland, the heat and sun were brutal. In the evenings we had to fend off mosquitos, some days we were rained on...

Not only did Judy stick with the painting (and us), but she created some excellent paintings and she kept us laughing with her great sense of humor.

Now that we are home and getting back to painting 'our' fallen heroes, we are doing it with an even greater connection than ever before, and we feel so blessed by the new friendship we have made with Judy, and the friendships that are developing with families of other fallen soldiers.

In the photo above, Shairl is shown with the painting that she painted of Judy while Judy was painting a NFLD scene. It will always remind me of the strength, determination, and wonderful kindness and humor of our amazing new friend, Judy.

- Susan Abma

Still Life -Commemorative Painting

Work on our soldier portraits carries on and in the meantime we've taken photographs of of some of the gear that the soldiers carry. The photos will be used for a number of commemorative paintings that we'll be doing, a few of which will be still life. One of the first steps in preparing to do a still life is to set up the objects you plan to paint. Ordinarily I like to paint directly from life whenever possible but since the equipment had to be returned the next day the only opportunity to paint it would be from photos. I took many pictures of the gear in different positions and will choose the ones that I like best, eventually one or more of them will become a painting.



When I started to set up the first items my cat Spike came along to supervise. An hour or so later Pete my nosy, little mutt had to investigate too.



- Cindy

Personal Time With A War Hero

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 love of Canada, and their dedication to their cause.
It's important to me to attempt to capture not only their physical self, but their spiritual self as well.
- Shairl

Painting Portraits on Canada Day

Today we Canadians celebrate our country's 142 birthday. We're a quietly patriotic nation with a deep love of this huge land with it's many wild places and just like our anthem says we are indeed strong and free. Giving others the strength and the means to become free is what our soldiers are working toward in Afghanistan. As we paint our soldier portraits today we'll be thinking of those young men and women who gave their lives so that others could have freedom.

Happy Birthday Canada.