First, the colours came together out of obscure dabs of the paintbrush and wafts of music and babbling fountain noises.
Secondly, a plan came together to turn small, isolated efforts into a campaign for a friend in need.
It is perhaps not surprising that the cascade of ideas and efforts came from the creative minds of artists, but for Kym Gouchie and Jennifer Pighin, it was all just a matter of course.
The pair are Lheidli T'enneh multimedia artists, both possessing skills in music and painting. Pighin was already heavily involved in the Canada Winter Games (she designed the medals, designed Team B.C. apparel and had her paintings displayed in the CWG group exhibitions at the Two Rivers Gallery) and was in discussions with Games organizers and government officials to do something special for the national summit of sport ministers being held as part of the Games. The idea Pighin had, and they agreed to, was to set up an art station at which she would produce a painting, live on the spot, during one of the government meetings at the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. Pighin also suggested Gouchie be included, to create a tag-team alternating between musical instruments and the canvass. One would be playing a guitar or a drum while the other would take over the painting process, picking up where the other left off, in a timed event. They had two hours.
"I never felt any stress, I just wish we had another hour," said Gouchie, who played a large role in the live music inside the Lheidli pavilion during the Games. "For me, because I had just moved back to my territory (she had been living in the Penticton area for many years) when the Games started, it gave me such a feeling of welcome. I've never felt so supported by my home community. I felt inspired."
Pighin said the live painting process with the clock ticking felt similar to her experience at last year's Art Battle. "You have to put the details of an image out of your mind and stay focused on representative images and broader symbolism. We were totally in the moment. We had no idea where it was going to go. We even brought in colours we intended to paint with that in the end never got touched, because the painting took us in a different direction."
The two had no preconceived imagery planned. First, abstract colours were applied to the canvess, then, with each other's live music in the background, and a fountain burbling with water, a large fish took shape.
But not just any fish: a sturgeon. The salmon might well be the most common aquatic icon of the Lheidi people, and virtually any culture along B.C.'s primary rivers, but the sturgeon is special. As a species, it's as old as the dinosaurs and as individuals, they surpass people in elder longevity. They are rarely seen and live shy lives of humble, powerful survival.
When the painting was done, as per their agreement, it was purchased for the set price of $600 by the Canada Winter Games organization. Gouchie and Pighin had already struck upon the idea, in keeping with the symbolic meaning of the sturgeon, to donate the sale price to someone exhibiting shy, humble strength in a struggle for survival. Her name was Christine Gish, and she was fighting for life at the Prince George cancer clinic. Although Gouchie and Pighin had never met her, Gish was known to them. Gish was a veteran support worker for at-risk youth and marginalized local people. She had helped many local people fight from the bottom of their personal rivers, cut through unbelievable life-currents, and become survivors. Now she was the one struggling against one of nature's harsh forces.
"We wanted to build on this momentum that built up in the process of making this art," said Gouchie. "We wanted to give her some hope that even strangers care, that her family is bigger than she might think. We are all connected. When you make art, that is easier to feel."
"She deserved to know that people care," Pighin said. "When people talked to me about her, it's always with this big, warm glow, describing who she is. In our aboriginal culture, the living memorial is a big tradition. It doesn't take the place of a funeral, but when someone is struggling for life, it is a way to give them honour and uplift them with a true reflection of how people feel about them."
Gish was dumbfounded by the gift. It triggered a meeting between her, her family and friends, and the two artists at her room in University Hospital. She made a special request that Pighin and Gouchie were thrilled to carry out: hold a smudging ceremony for her outside in the Sophie Thomas Garden (named for the famed Saik'uz healer and educator) located alongside the cancer clinic.
A smudging ceremony is a common ritual for local aboriginal cultures. It involves a pinch of sweetgrass smoldering in a shell held like a small dish, then the smoke wafted over the body with the help of an eagle feather. It is done alone, or in large groups. Smoke is lightly applied to the head and body to promote a sense of growth, health, mental clarity, or healing.
Gish's request was not as easily accomplished as it might seem. Initially, her desire was met with resistance from Northern Health personnel.
"The staff was very confused. I am not aboriginal. I hadn't even been told the Sophie Thomas Garden existed," Gish said. But she persevered. "(Local Lakota elder) Aldon Pompana was a teacher to me, and I came to really appreciate smudging."
With her colleagues from the Native Friendship Centre and Elizabeth Fry Society pushing, the staff consented to a smudging ceremony focused on a non-native. Pighin and Gouchie conducted the ceremony and presented Gish with a photograph of their painting. They also told her about a fundraising event being organized by Pighin's sister and fellow artist Crystal Reierson - a young woman Gish once directly helped in a time of need.
"Being a youth growing up in a low income home with a mother who was an alcoholic, I had very few healthy people to look up to," Reierson said. "I started drinking at age 11 and doing drugs such as mushrooms and acid and marijuana at age 12. This continued for a few years until I signed myself into the care of the ministry and used the services offered at Youth Around Prince. This is where I was lucky enough to meet Christine. She was working with Reconnect (a Native Friendship Centre program for at-risk youth) at the time and was helping many youth who were in similar living and social situations as I was. With her help, support and guidance along with many others who worked down there I was able to see that I was stronger and smarter than I was holding myself to be. I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for supporters like Christine who believed in me, who showed me that there is so much more to life than substance, and that I had the power to change the course of my life. I didn't have to follow in the foot steps of my mother. With that being said, I cannot help her financially but I can help by hosting an amazing event for a wonderful woman."
"It made me come to tears," said Gish. "It was so moving. I never realized I'd made any impact, you don't get to see those things, that kind of service is intangible, so it was wonderful to hear what they thought of me. I'm just fortunate that they allowed me in to share their lives. And look at who I'm surrounded by now: all these strong, intelligent, wonderful women. Sisters."
On May 9, her spirit sisters and many other supporters will gather at the P.G. Golf and Curling Club for an event called A Wish For Chris, which includes a dinner, silent auction and other fundraising measures to help Gish, her husband Kevin and their children Conor, Julia and Kaia.
Music will be provided by Geno DJ Chump, the Khast'an Drummers and a performance by Gouchie. She and Pighin will then replicate their first act of support by creating another live painting during that night's events.
Tickets are $30 each or $200 for tables of eight. Contact organizers by email at [email protected].
