It has been a year-and-a-half since the Expedition ended, and since that time there have been
numerous projects and collaborations between participants of C3. Instantly
coming to mind is the beautiful co-written song between Leg 2 musicians Alex
Cuba and Heather Rankin. Living on opposite ends of the country couldn’t stop
them from recording the lullaby, DarkEyes, released on Heather’s 2017 Christmas album Imagine.
Another
remarkable collaboration is between Leg 2 alumni Jimmy Vigneaux and Dr. Lyne
Morissette. The two have teamed up to create Mission 100 Tonnes,
a grassroots movement, global in reach, that seeks to limit plastic consumption and to remove it
from our oceans. The work these two are doing is a bit like a juggernaut.
Unstoppable! Visit their website and join the Mission.
There are many, many more collabortions and creative partnerships born of the Canada C3 Expedition, and I suspect many have yet to emerge. One of my favourite projects to come out of the Expedition thus far is the book Connecting Canadians, Coast to Coast to
Coast. It is a beautiful volume, commemorating the Expedition through the
voices of the participants. You can get your own
copy here.
It was the
C3 book that was the catalyst for my own “collaboration” project. There is a
painting by Inuit artist Monika Rumboldt on page 105. “Loon on the Lake”, is gorgeous. It
inspired me to hook a rug. Here is Monika’s painting:
And here is
my tribute:
When I
started the rug, I was unsure how it would turn out so I kept it to myself. (What if it sucked?) But as
the colours revealed themselves, stitch by stitch, I grew confident in the piece. I wanted to get in touch with the artist to share it with her. I messaged C3
Wrangler Extraordinaire, Tara Mascarenhas, and she put us in touch via email. Monika was one of the Youth Ambassadors on Leg
5. I was aboard during Leg 2. She and I have not (yet) met in person.
I was
worried Monika would hate the rug. She could easily have told me to “cease and
desist” – I was, after all, ripping off her artwork. Instead, the response I
received was thoughtful, honest, generous, and encouraging. She shared with me the things that compel her
to make art, and the inspiration behind this particular piece. She wrote:
"Being the daughter of a survivor (of domestic abuse), and a survivor myself, I began looking to art as a healing of sorts. I choose to do a more indigenous style of art because people had a better way of connecting to the stories it told. The bright colours used also help combat depression and anxiety. Given we live in a very cold climate, the long winters tend to be lifeless and bitter.
I also work with the inquiry of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. They currently have a piece I donated up in an exhibit in Ottawa. The piece that you chose to represent is called "Loon on the Lake". It was inspired by an overnight trip my husband and I had out on the land. We had just finished hunting a black bear (traditional food for both our tribes/councils). As we were cleaning the meat near the water's edge, a Loon called out in the evening air. The sun was setting and the sky lit up with these beautiful pink and purple hues. The water was so calm, the only thing was a ripple from the Loon swimming. It was very inspiring."
What a remarkable young woman.
I'm hoping to display the rug in an exhibition at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg this summer. It would be a fitting venue for my version of Loon on the Lake. The museum is just a few wharves down from where I first met Polar Prince as the crew readied her for the epic journey that would join together so many Canadians in solidarity, dialogue, and friendship from Coast to Coast to Coast.
"Being the daughter of a survivor (of domestic abuse), and a survivor myself, I began looking to art as a healing of sorts. I choose to do a more indigenous style of art because people had a better way of connecting to the stories it told. The bright colours used also help combat depression and anxiety. Given we live in a very cold climate, the long winters tend to be lifeless and bitter.
I also work with the inquiry of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. They currently have a piece I donated up in an exhibit in Ottawa. The piece that you chose to represent is called "Loon on the Lake". It was inspired by an overnight trip my husband and I had out on the land. We had just finished hunting a black bear (traditional food for both our tribes/councils). As we were cleaning the meat near the water's edge, a Loon called out in the evening air. The sun was setting and the sky lit up with these beautiful pink and purple hues. The water was so calm, the only thing was a ripple from the Loon swimming. It was very inspiring."
What a remarkable young woman.
I'm hoping to display the rug in an exhibition at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg this summer. It would be a fitting venue for my version of Loon on the Lake. The museum is just a few wharves down from where I first met Polar Prince as the crew readied her for the epic journey that would join together so many Canadians in solidarity, dialogue, and friendship from Coast to Coast to Coast.
