The high: I developed and brought to completion a massive Art Installation at Mount Hope Long Term Care.
With the help of a dedicated team of volunteers, we completed 288 squares in 6 weeks. Each square tells the story, in words and pictures, of one of our residents. Assembled the squares form an 8x16 ft Canadian Flag. Canada is a mosaic, a country that sees diversity as a strength, and our installation reflects the Mount Hope Community as a microcosm of that rich diverse whole.
What an incredible experience this was.
There will be a permanent page dedicated to this project on this blog, as soon as I get a few hours to put it together.
Purely by coincidence, my Dad is now in care at this facility. It was one of our 3 picks and just happened to be the one that came available.
I've completed phase one of clearing out his house, the sort and toss stage. Now comes the getting rid of all his stuff stage, which is amazingly hard to do.
I have a house full of old furniture,
books, moms china, curios etc that no one wants and that I'm charged with disposing of :(
Even though Mom has been gone for over 6 years, and dad is doing well and adjusting to the nursing home, I find myself awash with a sneaky kind of grief.
I see Moms copper bottom pots and remember her standing at the stove, or open a drawer and find a paper weight I gave dad for fathers day 50 years ago.
Dismantling their lives, and giving it all away is like riding an emotional roller coaster, one that has you hanging upside down, and twisting unexpectedly every time you relax and think 'I've got this'
Art is my solace and salvation normally, but through out this I've been unable to create, I see things that call to be painted, but nothing happens, the juice has dried up, I know that it'll come back, I miss my dearest companion, my muse, but right now I'm just concentrating on getting through this.
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