 |  |
It's all Facebook's fault. I have a Facebook page which seems to get my attention a lot more than my blog and I apologize. Now it's time to catch up here.
This past year saw me painting many pet portraits and I was also commissioned to make headboards for a Muskoka cottager. To this cottager, living in Muskoka was "Living the Dream", hence she wanted me to incorporate that saying on the headboards. The headboards were all made from wood pallets. I love wood pallets. They have so much to offer. Nothing gets wasted. Once I use all the useful boards the rest I burn in our wood stove to keep us warm.
Last summer I was also commissioned to make a Canadian flag clock out of pallets. This is an outdoor clock which will grace my customer's deck, overlooking their back yard. I really enjoyed making this clock. It measures 30" in diameter. Painted, distressed and clear coated it can take on the elements.
There was also a sad part to my year. I live in a town in the country. This town is surrounded with forest animals and specifically black bears, something not uncommon when living in the country. There was a momma bear and 3 cubs wandering the outskirts of the wooded areas around town. She was teaching her cubs to survive and fattening them up before they went to hibernation. These bears became somewhat of a celebrity with photos being added on personal Facebook pages. They did no harm, did not destroy properties, nor did they show aggression. Momma Bear kept a close eye on the cubs like any mother would do. The misconception of black bears is that they will, given a chance, especially with cubs try to attack. That is NOT the case. Black bears in remote areas that have not seen human activity may be more aggressive towards humans but black bears are more afraid of you, even with cubs in tow. They may snort and hit the ground with their paws but all that is telling you to just walk away and leave them alone. That being said, be respectful of any wildlife and don't get too close, they have no idea what you may do to them so they are on high alert as well. This fall, November 1st to be exact, at 10 pm, the family of bears was wandering in town on a corner lot, a short walk from the woods and not far from where I live. The owner came out of his house and with a high powered rifle shot and killed the mother bear and wounded a cub. Why he did that is mind boggling to me. These bears were only on his property, just any other animal walking and not destroying anything...they were walking across his lawn. He decided to take it upon himself and shoot the momma bear with a high powered rifle in the dark in a residential neighbourhood, and that in itself is against the law. I heard the shots that night and my thoughts went to the bear family. I woke up that morning to the sad news. At the time of the shooting I was painting wildlife ornaments for my upcoming Christmas craft shows. I decided that I had to do something positive to make some good out of bad as I was so sickened by the careless unwarranted act by this man. I decided to give all proceeds of the sales of my Bear Ornaments to a local organization Bear With Us. Bear With Us provides shelter for orphaned bear cubs, as well as 2 aging circus bears. The orphaned bears are looked after in a large fenced-in wooded area. At the sanctuary they are fed and live as a bear cub would......playing while learning how to survive and hibernating when the time comes. These cubs are well cared for but have very little human contact in order to give them a better chance in the wild. After the cubs are old enough (around 2years) they are released into the wild. This organization spent a week trying to capture the wounded cub which was eluding them by climbing up high in a tree, too high to be captured. Unfortunately he climbed down one night, ignoring the food in a trap and wandered off. We have no idea if the cub survived, he was 30 lbs and shot with a high powered rifle in his back end. Speaking to people who saw the cub said it was a very significant wound and they were surprised the cub could still climb but fear can make you do things you never thought you could do. By using my wildlife painting abilities to help out the bear cubs, it made me feel a little better about the situation. I could raise money to help look after orphaned cubs and also raise awareness of this wonderful organization by adding a tag with each Bear Ornament giving their web address for the customer to Google. The person responsible for shooting the bears was charged by both the police and the Ministry of Natural Resources and as of this writing is still awaiting court appearances. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around what happened. Education is the key to living with bears. We need to educate our children in schools about wildlife, especially when we live in an area with wildlife. Be aware that it is a wild animal but also be aware that we have no right to take the animals life when that said animal is doing no harm. This whole incident could of been avoided and those bears would be hibernating now. Rest in Peace Momma Bear.
Well I guess I'm making up for a long absence. I will end it on a positive note. My best friend of 52 years gave me this poster for Christmas. It certainly describes me to a "Tee"!
RSS Feed
