30.5” x 36.5”
Acrylic on salvaged plywood.
 
As my dad was having a stroke, we sat and had our last in person conversation, as I was seeing him through to the other side. In me, he has left memories and parts of himself. Wherever he is now, energetically or physically in ashes on my bookshelf, or on another plane, we are connected still. My actions and being, very much include parts of him, even though he is not precisely here.

We watched the Steller’s Jays eating the seeds from the sunflowers as he was trying to regain his breath. Me on one side of the sunburst, him on the other.

There were no colour close-up photos of Dad’s eyes. I could only zoom in close to one with very little detail. That is something I can’t imagine in detail now, what his eyes look like. But I do believe I have captured his essence. Here we are watching you take in the exhibit, becoming a part of it. You are a part of the community just by being here. I appreciate you, so thank you for coming.

The ovals were cut for windows in a condo being put up across the street from us in Victoria. We were renting a suite in a house, where I had our first child, Franki. I thought they were interesting, so while we were moving back to Qualicum Beach, I picked these out of a pile of scrap to take with us.

Henning (my youngest son) spray painted the yellow and purple layers on them. I decided I liked the colours as the base of the paintings, as the yellow alludes to the sunflower theme throughout the work.