Definitely nothing in my kitchen!

Much to the disappointment of my family.

I am making a "recipe" I have never really made before. Some of the ingredients I have used and know very well, others not often if at all. Some are like those little-known spices you have to reach way back in the cupboard to get and realize how much you've wanted to use but never had the right recipe.

The ingredients I'm using are not spices, or culinary in nature. Instead, here's the list:

cradled wooden panels
photographs of a memorable experience
encaustic wax, heated on an electric griddle
encaustic paints & pigment sticks
archival print paper
hake brushes
blowtorch & heat gun
strong arms and good eyesight

No, I'm not in my kitchen. I'm in my studio creating a body of artwork called the Gratitude Collection, based on a memorable trip to the Netherlands in 2015 with my father - a WWII Canadian Veteran who helped liberate that country. I'm working through trial and error and, well, a few science experiments.

The element of using encaustic, or fusing hot wax, is new to me, and after a fantastic workshop with artist Dietlind Vander Schaaf, I knew instantly that the beautiful texture and ethereal quality of the wax were what these images needed to come to life.

I'm accepting the challenges and the unknowns because I think it is important, and I'm hell-bent to get this work into the world. The people of the Netherlands need to know how powerful their gratitude is and what it can accomplish in the world.

This recipe will take patience, resilience, maybe an assistant or two (AKA children), and a supportive network of family and friends. I am blessed.

So, while my husband makes his cranberry relish (it's Pepto pink but we love it!) for our US Thanksgiving meal, I'll continue feverishly working in my studio.

I invite you to watch this video of the first piece in the making:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e_Vmwb6anY

Be grateful. It is powerful.

THEIR EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE IS LIKE NOTHING YOU COULD IMAGINE...

It was powerful and overwhelming, and it was a trip that will be forever etched in my heart.

In May 2015, I was honored to travel to the Netherlands with my father, then a 90-year-old WWII Canadian veteran. We were invited there to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their liberation, and I experienced firsthand what it is like to be immersed in the kindness and gratitude of the Dutch. They value their freedom, and they feel it is their duty to thank the people who fought for it.

In 1945, my father was witness to the horrific impact war had on the people of the Netherlands. He was there at the end of the war and also experienced the jubilation of their freedom. During his subsequent trips back, and also in 2015, seeing survivors and their families and children celebrating in the streets, brought him much joy and brought me to tears.

It also made me realize I needed to create a body of work inspired by those emotions.

The piece above is comprised of photographs I took on that trip in 2015. It is intended to recognize the continuation of generations and pay tribute to those children who did not survive the war. My father was keen to shake the hand of this young girl in the crowd at a parade in the city of Apeldoorn. The cherubic image at the top left (a photo of a bronze sculpture also taken while there) represents those children who lost their lives and are viewing the exchange between soldier and survivor's family.

The things we experience in life have so much meaning. When we take the time to preserve those moments, especially the moments that land in our soul, they can be enjoyed generation after generation.

Preserve what matters most.