Canvas #37: a cafe, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

I am so excited to have our very first submission from outside of North America!

Rachelle says, I received my canvas over a month ago. I was eager to start and had a message I wanted to share but just wasn't quite sure how to start. Luckily I am a teacher and have a wonderful art teacher to collaborate with. What resulted was an experimentation of two art techniques and a growth in confidence in my creativity abilities! I have been working on a personal journey understanding the concept of time. Specifically how to slow down. I knew I wanted this to be the main message on my canvas. I decided to put the word STOP in the middle with a stop sign to catch people's eyes and force them to slow down and observe the canvas. I then wrote, appreciate the moment, smile. The two most important lessons I have learned on my time journey.

I live in Abu Dhabi and I wanted to be sure I left it somewhere it would be appreciated. I left it at the main cafe that is home to many art events in the city. I was surprised at how emotionally attached I had become to it and how hard it was to say good bye. Because I was reluctant to part ways, I made my good bye short and abrupt, as a result I didn't get a close up of the canvas…sorry! However, I am thankful for this experience as it challenged me to become more comfortable with my creativity and to know 'coloring in the lines' is not the only way to creativity is seen as 'good.' I am excited to see if my canvas gets discovered! Thank you for allowing me to be part of this project!

 

I think Rachelle's experience of becoming attached to the canvas is a common one for participants in the project. We just have to remind ourselves that it's bringing joy to someone else once we let it go!

Canvas #126: a park, Evergreen, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

This project is meant to bring communities together. So I decided to put my canvas in my community. One of the things I love about my neighbourhood is it's right on the South-West edge of this big city. In ten minutes, I was in the country. Look:

This evening, I walked over to a park nearby. I wanted to leave my canvas in a place where people convene, so this was perfect. Kids come here to play.

My canvas is a painting of clouds. Alberta in the fall is so beautiful. The sky is Alberta's biggest asset, I think. It's huge and blue and gorgeous. And I think that so often, people don't notice it. Because it's always there. Because we take advantage of the fact that it will always be there.

I hope my canvas inspires people to notice what's around them. On my walk home from the park, I noticed a pretty wreath on a neighbour's door. I glanced into a window on my way past, and saw two kids sprawled on the couch, watching TV. I saw a pretty cat, perching on a fence post.

Notice. Pause. Stop. Slow down. Your life will be so much richer for it.

Canvas #17, Lake Agnes hiking trail, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

This is my canvas. I left it on the Lake Agnes trail in Lake Louise on the way up to the Teahouse. It belongs in the open air where is so natural to take in a deep breath. It's a bit tough to see, but it says "Breath it all in. Love it all out." and has a red glittery heart. Why? Because above all things I believe in love. And I don't mean romantic love between two women, two men, a man and a woman or any such variation, I mean that feeling in your gut. The one that you feel when you see one human treat another with tenderness, compassion, empathy. The one you feel when you see two people embrace at the arrivals gate at the airport. The one that you feel when you see someone pick up a stray kitten and give it some milk. That's what I mean by love. And this world lacks that reminder on a daily basis. We get caught up with being busy, and competitive, and making money, and producing hate.

This is my simple reminder to the world to take a moment to slow down and love.