After a morning storm, Big Whiteshell Lake




Ian Shaw (Leader, Provincial Health System Transformation)

Covid-19 gave me the opportunity to pursue a long time goal to learn how to paint. This painting is my third project lifetime! The original scene was from a cloudy fall day but as the painting emerged the sky evolved to show a bright sky following a morning storm. Good paintings always play with light and dark and contrast. I tried to show the sun pushing back the darkness. In that sense, this scene is optimistic and positive despite the foreboding sky. The process of this painting allowed me to reset my mind and to give me things to focus on other than contact tracing statistics, PPE demand & supply and a myriad of other things during the first and second waves of the pandemic. It improved my own outlook and allowed me to see many positive things amidst the chaos – unbelievable accomplishments of all front line workers, strength in family & friends and the sheer determination of people coming together to meet a challenge. After the storm, there always is light after darkness.