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 Dale Cook says a desire
to improve daily life for people living in developing countries has pushed
her to rekindle a love of painting.
“I haven’t done this much painting in a long time,” said the Quispamsis
resident. “I went back to work and went to university and got a degree so
when you’re using one side of your brain you don’t use the other side as
much. I got away from it for a long time and just a year or so ago I started
getting back into it.”
Cook was motivated to pick up a paint brush again after learning about a
church-owned agency for sustainable development, relief, refugees and global
justice.
The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund is managed by the Anglican
Church of Canada and while listening to a sermon at St. Paul’s Anglican
Church in Rothesay, Cook learned about the organization.
The fund is a partner of the Canadian FoodGrains Bank, which is working to
provide food security in African and Asian countries including Bangladesh,
India, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.
After the service, Cook asked Rev. Marian Lucas-Jefferies for more
information about the agency.
“She happened to have her laptop and I downloaded a bunch of pictures and I
was just overwhelmed,” Cook said of her first meeting with Lucas-Jefferies,
priest at the Parish of Upham. “She had so many wonderful images.”
Cook chose one image and painted it to give back to the church to raffle off
with the proceeds going to The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund.
The painting, called Silence is Not an Answer, is an eerie image of four
villagers walking along a dry, dusty mountainside in silence. It is based on
a photo Lucas-Jefferies took in Ethiopia 10 years ago.
With a group of haunting and beautiful photographs left to work with, Cook
started to talk about creating an entire exhibit documenting travels through
African and Asian countries.
With that, the Art of Sharing – the title of an upcoming exhibit – was born.
A portion of the proceeds from sales at the show will go the Canadian
FoodGrains Bank, whose goal it is to end hunger around the world.
Cook says the show will boast about 12 images that tell their own stories.
“Instead of just having it as an art show it’s more like an event,” she
said. “Each painting there’s going to be literature around it. It’s a
meditation at each picture. So there’s a fact and it will give you thoughts
about it beside each picture and you think of it and go on to the next one.
It’s more the awareness and the education about global issues.”
Cook said the project has taken her back to the hobby that she lost for
several years.
“I feel like I’m getting more out of it than I’m giving,” she said. “I love
it.”
Lucas-Jefferies said the purpose of the event is to raise money for the
Canadian FoodGrains Bank but also to educate people.
“It raises awareness around issues of hunger and injustice and that’s one of
the primary goals of both Canadian FoodGrains Bank and The Primate’s World
Relief and Development Fund,” she said. “That alone is a big deal along with
the fact that it generates a lot of energy and excitement around the idea of
not only having this project but growing it.”
Lucas-Jefferies said creating a better world is a “matter of sharing” and
said the organizations’ goals are lofty but not unreasonable.
“There’s a chance of changing the circumstances,” she said.
Seeing her photographs made into paintings has been a worthy experience in
itself, Lucas-Jefferies said.
“It’s been great,” she said. “I’ve spoken and written quite endlessly about
the experiences but to actually see the pictures turned into paintings and
to see the pictures through her eyes has been phenomenal.”
Cook’s works are also based on photographs taken by Carolyn Vanderlip and
Heather Plett.
An important part of the exhibit, Cook said, is the concept behind it. The
Art of Sharing, she said, is a message she wants to send worldwide and
encourage others to use.
“It’s not about me. It’s not about my paintings. It’s about the concept,”
she said. “It’s about sharing. If you think about yourself as a global
citizen it kind of changes how you think about these people.”
Cook said she hopes people who see her work take away an inspiration to help
others.
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