Art for Memory, Art for Joy.

Many years ago, my friend Lorraine Thayer painted a picture of my dog Holly. It is lovely, and graces the wall of the living room, making me smile every time I see it.  Lorraine is tremendously talented, and has a real knack for capturing the personality in her portraits.  She lives in Bobcaygeon, with her hubbie, five cows, her talented pony Moses (an artist in his own right), two extraordinary guinea pigs, and her studio.   Recently, she's expanded into creating adorable pottery cupcakes, ideal for candles, trinkets -- and just now -- Easter!

The reason we went down was not just social, although it's always lovely to visit with her, and Bobcaygeon is a cute little town to explore even in late winter.  When I lost my good friend 'Bacon' late in 2009, at the age of 31, I asked Lorraine to please paint me a portrait of this grand gentleman.  It took a little time -- during which Lorraine went back to University to completer a Visual And Creative Arts Degree... but it was worth the wait.

The finished picture is quite stunningly lovely, and has caught this unique horse very very well. Bacon was sometimes difficult, always honest, proud of his strong work ethic, and the bearer of great joy.  He stood by me through 28 years that were themselves sometimes difficult, sometimes joyous, sometimes a little too painfully honest...  I miss him.  I'm happy to see this memory of him hanging on the wall.

Meeting Lorraine's hilarious little housemates, Zeke and Blackie, the two guinea pigs, was a treat.  These little guys are terribly social, extraordinarily friendly, and look to be just the job to dust under the furniture...

In her entrance way, Lorraine has a unique bit of artwork, that put me in mind of the great uses for old windows.  Which we just happen to have: the Lake of Bays Heritage Committee has a lot of these antique style windows, from historic Bigwin Inn, that they would like to sell to raise funds for heritage projects in the Township.  The question always comes up, what to do with them?  Well, apart from the obvious -- replace the glass with mirrors, or use them to frame pictures or photos, Lorraine has used this old window, with just a light wash of colour over all the imperfections in the old paint, to highlight a small painting.  I thought it was absolutely charming.