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On the cover, Corb Lund, photographed by Neville Palmer at the Twin Cities Hotel, Longview.

routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Spring 2009

Premier Issue

a rural hip lifestyle magazine

OUR COVERS

Summer 2009

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Earth-Friendly Cayley School Principal Bill Holmes Generates Big Vision For Living Green

scrap heap visionary reclaims Alberta history

2008-2013

BRIAN KELK

Attitude & Artistry in a Unique Musical Style

Fall Harvest Meal REMEMBERING LITTLE CHICAGO

Fall 2009

GLASS CREATIONS FIRED WITH IMAGINATION

Complimentary Magazine

Cowboy Celtic

Best of Routes Issue 2013

COUNTRY GARDEN CENTRES HOT SPOTS IN THE FOOTHILLS

FOOD & FAMILY THE PERFECT COMBO AT LONGVIEW STEAKHOUSE

Winter 2009

Spring 2010

Summer 2010

Publisher Routes Media Inc.

a rural hip lifestyle magazine

Executive Editor Sandra Wiebe The Art & Soul of

Paul Rasporich

Art Director Sharon Dechaine-Syverson

2Great Recipes

Gnocchi di Patate Savoury Summer Salad HISTORY

The Cowboy Trail Great Wonders 7RIGHT HERE IN ALBERTA

A rural hip lifestyle magazine designed for the Foothills region, including: Black Diamond, High River, Longview, Nanton, Okotoks, Turner Valley.

Photographer Neville Palmer

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A rural hip lifestyle magazine designed for the Foothills region, including: Black Diamond, High River, Longview, Nanton, Okotoks, Turner Valley.

A rural hip lifestyle magazine designed for the Foothills region, including:

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MARCH APRIL 2012

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Calum Graham Rock’n the Big Stage

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BEST OF ROUTES | routesmagazine.ca

E D I TO R ’ S N OT E

his special edition of Routes is a celebration of art and is intended as a homage to artists everywhere, particularly those living in southern Alberta. As many of you know, I founded Routes magazine five years ago with a desire to show people of southern Alberta just how many talented and creative people are living in our midst. The magazine began with finding art director Sharon DechaineSyverson and together we established the brand and look of Routes. Finding the right photographer was key to the look we were seeking and we were fortunate to find, living right in High River, the talented Neville Palmer, whose images graced every cover and the majority of the primary photography for each issue. From there, with the addition of the fine writing and copy editing of Pat Fream, we had an unstoppable, passionate and creative team. A variety of local journalists and interns found their writing in the mix along the way and together we met, photographed and told the stories of celebrities like Mike Holmes, Amos Garrett, Terry Grant, George Canyon, Dragons’ Den participant Martin Reinhard, and rising stars like Calum Graham, all friends and neighbours living right here in our home town. We have met so many passionate artists from all walks of life, with so much talent, from potters to ironworkers, from

filmographers to falconers, and there are so many more extraordinary people we did not get the chance to interview and photograph. We wish you could have been apart of all the fun we had trying to get the ‘perfect shot.’ There were many memorable adventures, like the time we strapped the intern to a trailer towed from a truck so he could hold the lighting while Neville photographed motorcycles in motion. Or the time we squeezed Mike Holmes into boots one size too small – they were all we had! Or all of us trying to appear casual at a hurried outdoor staff photoshoot while a lightning storm raged a short distance away – apparently being struck by lightning once is enough for Neville! We did all of this in the name of business, passion, fun, and for the love of art because there are a lot of great people out there who make our lives better. Because we care and we think you do too. And because… “The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” (Robert Henri)

Sandra Wiebe Publisher/Executive Editor

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. - Pablo Picasso

C O N T R I BU TO R S

he house behind us is located in High River and was home to Jerry Zac Shiel before the 2013 flood. The house is currently unlivable, but a spontaneous community art installation happened when Jerry placed a piece of flooded artwork from his home on the outside wall to dry and added the quote from Martin Luther King: "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." The wall continues to be added to by friends and strangers, a beacon of hope for a healing community. (Left to right)

Mary Savage, Melissa Driver, Lisa Taylor, Sharon Dechaine-Syverson, Sandra Wiebe, Jacqueline Harkema-Overmars, Pat Fream routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Alain Dubreuil Reclamation Artist

“I

always salvaged. Even as a kid I was collecting copper and cleaning wire. I guess one of my first money [making] ventures was when my dad put a new bathtub in the house and I asked to have the old claw foot one.” Age twelve at the time, Dubreuil bargained with the local scrap yard owner to buy the tub. “I made a deal with a strong kid from school in which we built a horse-like harness and one of us pulled the 200 pound tub upside down while the other pushed it on the snow for well over eight city blocks and then we split the money.” A scrapper he is, in every sense of the word, so much so that he was the subject of National Film Board of Canada’s: Alain Dubreuil, Alchemist. Set in his previous Vancouver location, the award-winning 2002 film described this eccentric, if not brilliant man, as a demolition artist with a treasure trove scrap yard, saving the disused and discarded from the wrecking ball. Today Dubreuil spends his days reclaiming and brokering salvaged materials from the many buildings and structures he demolishes. He is living a lifestyle reflective of his over-the-top passions for reusing that, which would otherwise be landfill. In an ultimate downtown Vancouver experience, recovered shipyard materials are made new again and displayed in ‘highbrow’ restaurants and retail buildings in Vancouver’s famous, rejuvenated Yaletown. He has also turned abandoned warehouses into gallery lofts of exquisite living. Dubreuil has salvaged over 300 houses in his thirty years on the West Coast, “... taking bricks, wood flooring, mouldings, pillars, mantels, stained glass windows, doors and hardware, even the trees were a good reselling item, rhododendrons, Japanese maple, azaleas and more.” In 2002, while looking for a change, Dubreuil ventured into the reclaimed timber business, settled in southern Alberta and established Chinook Salvage Ltd. The company offers up a wide range of architectural and building items such as flooring, doors and windows, which he gingerly removes from historic buildings. His Fort Macleod shop yard sprawls amid the grounds of what remains of a World War II flight-training centre. There, he demolished two acre-sized airplane hangars one – piece of reclaimed lumber at a time. It was only natural that Dubreuil would hunt for another unique space to create his Alberta home. Atop three side-by-side, century old buildings in downtown Fort Macleod, he discovered an abandoned wreck untouched since 1963. After extensive restoration work in 2001, Dubreuil now enjoys over 7000 sq. ft. of loft-style living. The home features his eclectic collections of art, vintage lighting, old fireplace mantels, movie posters, radios, cloth and furniture fit for a king; including a grand

bed from the estate of the Earl of Egmont and a castle-size, handcrafted, timber table and chairs. His endless dedication to salvage spills out in the overflowing layers and layers of his passionate collections, to which he jokingly adds, “Do you think because it looks like this that I am not organized? I actually know exactly where everything is!” Dubreuil also dedicates his talents and knowledge of structure and salvaging to historic groups by assisting in moving and preserving many key historic buildings province wide. Dubreuil’s expertise played a substantial role in the reclamation of High River’s historic post office (now Carlson’s on Macleod). He is far from sitting still long enough to enjoy his efforts and vast private collections, as he currently spends every spare moment he can get tackling a century-old building in Medicine Hat. This living-large visionary from the past sees his long history of reclaiming and a passion for collecting as his contribution to Mother Earth, but sadly he predicts, “New construction methods of today will allow no one in the future to be able to salvage anything.” By Michelle Greysen Premier Issue, Fall 2008

F O L L OW U P

lthough a lot has changed for Alain Dubreuil since 2008, one thing still remains the same: his passion for salvaging. Since his interview with Routes, Dubreuil was sought out by the History Channel’s Canadian Pickers and he agreed to be filmed for its first ever episode (2011). Although this was a significant accomplishment for Dubreuil, he said he had a bad experience on the show. Apparently, he told the ‘pickers’ they could look at everything he had except for some transistor radios that were of sentimental value. Despite this warning, he said they basically forced him to sell the radios for a price much less than they were worth. However, after the show, Dubreuil ended up taking a trip to High River to buy 500 new radios. “It’s a good thing I did too,” he said. “I probably saved them all from being ruined in the flood!” Aside from being on Canadian Pickers, Dubreuil has been preoccupied with some intriguing investments in Fort Macleod. He purchased an old church that he now uses for storage, and a bus depot with a four-bus garage that he plans to convert to a coffee shop and auction house in the near future.

routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Do you think because it looks like this that I am not organized? I actually know exactly where everything is!â&#x20AC;?

Photos taken at Carlson's on MacLeod, High River

Amos Garrett Musician

usic and storytelling have long been bedmates. Troubadours have a certain humble artistry that lets us experience what mere words cannot convey. Some call it a gift from above, some call it genius, Amos Garrett calls it as it is: years of dedicated practice and hard work. Amos Garrett spins his tales with frets and strings, notes and melodies. The world traveled and world renowned guitarist knows just how to make his music talk, but the stories that make his eyes light up are not those of far flung places, nor are they tales of tribulation or triumph. The yarns that make his eyes twinkle are of fishing and the great outdoors. Garrett has spent decades honing his guitar virtuosity. Well known for his 1974 guitar solo on ‘Midnight at the Oasis’ with Maria Muldaur, the man is hard to classify. He is adept at a range of styles from rock n’ roll and country to blues and jazz, and has made a name for himself as both a hired solo act guitarist, and with his jazz trio and his blues band, The Eh’ Team, which has celebrated 26 years together (2012).

His life’s story is the prototype many could aspire to and he has a quiet secret to share, that of a long career. Choose your occupation based on passion, train hard and long with the hope of recognition. When it comes, enjoy and repeat. The two-time Juno award winner has known and played with some of the great names in music all the while refining his technique and giving voice to his own unique sound. If you know what to listen for – a pedal steel sound with only an acoustic guitar in sight, think Hawaiian luaus and tropical noises, you’ll know Amos when you hear him. This unique and purely Garrett style is achieved by bending more than one string at a time. With no one to tell him not to, Garrett invented his own guitar method and set his sound apart from other players. A solo by Amos Garrett is easily recognized once you clue in to his style. He graciously shares his method with students online and in person. For more than two decades, Garrett has made his home in the foothills of southern Alberta. His move from California to Turner

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Valley made front-page news in the local paper in 1989, an auspicious welcome to a man looking for a dramatic change of tempo. Now a High Riverite, Garrett takes the time to delight in the local hollows and haunts. “I love High River, I love the town,” he enthuses; admitting almost everything about this charming prairie town grabbed him the right way. The downtown, the artsy feel of the place, the location – perfectly poised to traveling any direction, and the river itself, Garrett claims there’s good fishing on the Highwood River. One of his favourite places to pull up a chair is Carlson’s on Macleod. The musician in him can’t fail to notice the perfect melding of acoustics and atmosphere. “Carlson’s is one of the top three or four small intimate venues in Canada,” Garrett says.. And he’d know, comfortable quarters to lay down a tune are his second home. During his multifarious career, Garrett has been privy to many of the particulars of the music business but in the past few years he’s noticed a change. Be it social media or just a change on the wind, musicians are now booking their gigs not mere months, but two years in advance. “There is a lot more competition and self-promotion with younger artists,” Garrett says. “Fortunately, I’m pretty well connected.” As for sage advice from a man who has travelled the often started but seldom realized path to artistic acclaim, Garrett is reluctant to offer words of wisdom. “I don’t think you could do it the same way,” he says of his climb up the music ladder. Garrett hypothesizes today it’s more a matter of luck than a steady climb. “Anytime you use the words ‘hit

record’ you’re talking major luck,” adds Garrett of his own history. The continuing story of Amos Garrett isn’t yet told. At the age of 70 (2012), it would not come as a surprise if he were to retire and head down to the river, find a quiet fishing hole, flies and pole at the ready. “But I’d miss the applause,” says Garrett of retiring. “I like travelling, returning to places. There’s nothing like riding a good band in a new country,” he adds jokingly. Garrett remains focused on the jazz side of his musical endeavours, logically called the Amos Garrett Jazz Trio in the hopes of having a new album out by this time next year. And of course, leaving time for fishing. By Veronica Kloiber July/August 2012

F O L L OW U P

till touring, gigging and laying down new tracks; Amos Garrett shows no signs of slowing down musically. With a slew of performances lined up for the near and not so near future, he happily states he’s “quite a busy fellow.” He and his blues band, The Eh’ Team, have been using their clout to raise funds for High River flood relief while his jazz ensemble, the Amos Garrett Jazz Trio is hard at work on repertoire for their second album. A loyal High Riverite, Garrett says he has no plans move away from the Highwood and the fishing, but perhaps a house on a bit of a hill would be nice.

I love High River... and there’s good fishing in the Highwood.”

BEST OF ROUTES | routesmagazine.ca

etting: A short-film set, at night, in the treasure-like – and so tiny one might overlook it – Town of Black Diamond. The scene opens at a place called The Stop, a cultural hotspot bustling with what appears to be every man, woman and child from town streaming through the door; a full house.

[Camera: eye-level; pans the crowd entering the quaint venue, now filled with 100 or so. A beer bottle jangles on the floor. A child cries. There’s the hiss of a steaming latté. The chatter fades to shushes and then silence as the room grows dark. The first film begins.] Narrator (in baritone voiceover): Amateur – word that can be complimentary and demoralizing. The word, from the Latin amator or ‘lover,’ conjures the noble idea of one pursuing his or her practice unpaid. But what does it mean to be an amateur filmmaker in this age, in this part of the country?

[Camera: fades to black. Opens again in the same room, now mostly empty minus a few friends, family and stragglers. There’s the clanging of cleanup. Zoe and Bailey, the stars, move tables, projection equipment and unsold DVDs to the car. A local reporter catches up with the two.] Interviewer: Good show you guys if it’s alright I’d like to video record an interview - a poetic change of pace from a regular interview. Bailey: We can do that – my camera is in the car. Zoe: Should we do the interview here? My place? The bar next door? Narrator: Sometimes it’s movie magic; other times just the luring possibility of Thursday night drink specials. Whatever it was that fateful night, Zoe, 23, and Bailey, 25, friends and co-filmmakers since Oilfields High School, choose the cinematic Black Diamond Hotel bar.

Photos taken the Wales Theatre, High River

BEST OF ROUTES | routesmagazine.ca

Bailey and Zoe Filmographers

[Camera: tabletop-level; frames the two in front of piping fire, sitting side-by-side in big, cozy chairs. Bailey adjusts tripod. Zoe instinctively holds up the interviewer’s notepad to check white-balance.] Zoe: We rolling? Bailey: We’re rolling. Interviewer: OK. Take one: Untitled Productions’ Zoe Slusar and Bailey Kerluke after A Year Through The Lens – their sixth annual free screening of film shorts. Black Diamond Hotel, December 29. Action. Interviewer: This must be a tremendous amount of work you two do every year. Bailey: I don’t think you can count the number of hours that go into it. I’d like to but I’d be frightened how much time I put into making a puppet move or to get a shot just right. Interviewer: Zoe, last night in Calgary, your mom went to get chocolate bars to hand out to guests and apologized for the late start (although, nobody seemed too bothered). And Bailey, I understand your mom made the puppet featured in the film Extended Play. [Camera: cuts to shot of burlap sack baby puppet.] Are both your parents in the picture – so to speak? Bailey: It’s a full family production. Zoe: We bring them in for acting. We bring them in for costume design. Maybe they like it a little bit themselves, too. Narrator: Zoe and Bailey have been a complementary combo since day one. Zoe preferred to act and direct; Bailey to film. While she attended workshops at the Attic in Dublin, he studied new-media production and design at SAIT. The two continue to cinematically combine and expand.

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Bailey: I think there are some pros to how we do things, definitely. You can look at the limitations of, “it’s not a big studio,” but we don’t have anyone to please except for us and we have great community. People support us because they know it’s just us. Looking back at competitions, a movie will play that has 80 people working on it and received eight grants and then there’s just “Zoe and Bailey.” It’s pretty cool that it’s just the two of us and we’re winning. Interviewer: Can we talk inspiration? Why do you do this and who do you emulate – actors, directors? Zoe: For me it’s the feel of a movie – movies like Garden State, 500 Days of Summer, or Juno, that have an independent feel but are done big-scale. You can really connect with the characters, their simple ideas and life observations. That’s what I want to do; make films that make people laugh, think about the world around them and say “that was an hour-and-a-half well-spent.” That’s what inspires me. Bailey: That’s a good answer. Mine is mostly names. I’m going to list a couple. Um, horribly depressing: Aronofsky – beautiful shot, great direction. Also great – different but great – Spike Lee. And of course Christopher Nolan. He’s a legend, but especially his oldest movie, Following, because it was extremely low budget. He had to film it on Saturdays for two hours a day and made the actors rehearse their scenes 80 times because they could only afford to shoot once. It’s mind-blowing what they could do when they didn’t have a budget. That’s what we strive for. Narrator: It seems [pausing for effect] there’s a funny thing about independent film: the more a filmmaker does with less, the less viewers expect more.

[Camera: Cuts to clip of event at The Stop, with ‘Black Coffee’– a 2010 first-place winner for CBC’s Calgary Short Films. In it, Bailey and Zoe are standing before a percolating coffee machine. Zoe: “Black coffee is such a metaphor for our society.” Bailey (with black nail polish): “Its darkness represents the bitterness of the world. But people try to cover it up. With cream and sugar.” Zoe: “Cream and sugar: man’s escape.” The two produce notepads, jotting something. The scene fades out and back in again. Zoe: “What did this inspire for you?” Bailey: “A poem; a quatrain.” Zoe: “I drew a self-portrait of me drowning in the darkness.” The audience laughs. The film ends. Hearty applause. Another begins.] Interviewer: This year you screened 1,100 kms and Back – 25 minutes and 25 seconds of clips from your road trip discussions from Black Diamond to Victoria and back.

[Camera: Cuts to Bailey and Zoe in a car, Bailey at the wheel.] Zoe: “What do you think of when you think of pears?” Bailey: “Pears.” And my personal favourite in that film is you, Zoe, returning at long last to Black Diamond. [Cut to clip in car. Zoe, stretching: “Ah. A four-way stop. All you need.”]

Zoe: If people watching say, “Wow, they did the same level of professionalism with just the two of them,” I think that sets us ahead. We know our limitations but we don’t think limited. You learn by doing, which is what’s great about independent film. It’s why we’re getting to a point of bigger and bigger success and international festivals; we’re taking what we learned from our past films and striving to make it more professional like it’s a funded rather than independent movie. Bailey: Worst comes to worse, we’ll just be doing these screenings in 40 years. Zoe: A cult following is acceptable. Interviewer: Here’s to that and here’s to 2012 – another long year of short films. [The actors raise their glasses and cheers.] I think that’s a wrap.

[Camera: Slowly pans the bar and then out onto main street. Outside is a quiet, black night. The sound of passing traffic is heard as the scene grows darker and fades to black. Fin.] Starring : Bailey Kerluke (as himself) Zoe Slusar (as herself) Peter Worden (as the interviewer and voiceover/narrator) By Peter Worden March/April 2012

F O L L OW U P

oe and Bailey have been continuing along their path to success as filmmakers and have reached a point now where they are trying to balance staying creatively passionate about their work while making an income. They were recently accepted into Prairie Tales 15 (September 2013) to showcase their film “Pop,” which follows bubbles around beautiful Alberta. The Prairie Tales program has Zoe and Bailey, along with a few other Albertan filmmakers, touring around the province teaching workshops to youth about filmmaking. They show a screenings of “Pop,” followed by a Q&A session as well as talk to the kids about the beautiful province of Alberta and what it means to make films here. Zoe and Bailey are on a mission to encourage people to tell their stories whether it be through film or any other platform. They say that everyone one has an important, amazing to tell and that they hope that these stories will be heard. Additionally, the duo have been doing a lot of corporate work including artist highlight videos for Bluerock Gallery and an informative video for the Rowan House fundraising gala. They say they are now in a place where they have some abundance from what they’re doing, but are at the same time staying true to their roots and are keeping things local. After a fun and busy year, they are working towards a feature to screen in the summer of 2014.

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Calum Graham Musician

ocally, he needs no introduction. Mention just his first name in these parts and automatically people know you’re referring to the 20-year-old, bright-eyed, frosted-tipped, wunderkind guitarist, Calum Graham. Nationally, he has broken ground already, sharing studios with Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk (the Chantal Kreviazuk) and – not too shabby either – the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As he naturally branches into international territory, all that is familiar might be about to change. He can play the guitar like few can on the planet. That’s not an overstatement. Of fans, now-legendary guitarist Don Ross counts himself one; a substantial endorsement considering Ross was Graham’s initial inspiration for learning to finger pick on the guitar. “It blew my mind that one guitar could make so much sound,” Graham said. With the admiration of such a big name artist, and spades of recent accolades (such as, 2011 Song for Canada contest grand prize winner), there seems only room to grow for the newly budded artist in an understory of musical fame. But putting it that way is too simple. Too nutshell. For one, it implies destiny. No self-respecting artist in the burgeoning part of his career wants to talk about something that negates tangible measures of hard work. It’s the teleological analogy of an acorn containing all the makings of an oak tree, though not necessarily destined to become one. For Graham, it’s a necessary denial at this stage. “I think the terrifying parts help keep me in check,” Graham explains about the recent up-shoot in his musical career. An example: it dawned on him one day that he was using the same master and mixer for recording his album that Led Zeppelin used. “It’s crazy,” he said, “Just the momentum itself.” Prior to breaking into the limelight, Graham was well tended to; nourished and supported by community, both that of High River

and of fellow musicians. He can’t talk about his early guitar years without making two parental footnotes: recalling evenings as he sat at his father’s feet and listened to him strum chords, and crediting his artistic flair to his mother who paints… with her feet. Graham knew the guitar would take him far. “I wanted to see the world with a purpose,” he said. “It was always my incentive to play.” From his dad’s few chords, he quickly learned every song by Don Ross. (Tellingly, when Ross first heard Graham, he told the young guitarist: “That’s your ticket.”) And that ticket seems good. His time is now split between his home in High River and recording studios in Los Angeles. If you’ve heard Graham play the guitar, it’s likely you’ve only heard him play the guitar. Whereas – up to now – his guitar did enough singing for the both of them, this new studio album, with the working title, Indivisibility, will feature the artist’s lyrics and voice too. In this sense, the title takes on new meaning, implying his voice and the guitar’s are one and the same. As he grows, Graham is still searching for that elusive idea of voice, like Zeppelin’s, he said, “You know it’s them.” And he is in good hands. He has a voice coach, Brian Farrell, and manager Neil McGonigle, who, incidentally, also managed Jann Arden. It was McGonigle who had just the right guy in mind in L.A., and that guy turned out to be producer CJ Vanston whose tutelage produced Tina Turner and N’Sync. Graham says that Vanston, acquainted with both the old, “dinosaur” way of music-making and today’s “ready, fire, aim” hyper-marketing method, wants to buck the modern convention of depriving the artist inside the celebrity. While there are plans for an iPhone app to accompany the release of Indivisibilty, Vanston and Graham both seek to preserve the album as a whole piece of art. “What usually happens is artists go through a model – like the Britney Spears and Katy Perry stuff. And it works. It sells. But he’s all about the music,” Graham said about Vanston. “Let people come to us.”

I’m just going to go for it – not letting fear hold me back. Years down the road I just want to be making music on a bigger scale.”

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Back home in Alberta, equally passionate artists are chipping in, in one case, literally. Local luthier, Chuck Shifflett, is handcrafting Graham a guitar – a “monster,” Graham calls it – with a harp engrained into its woodwork; a truly unique bit of craftsmanship matched only by the young artist who will play it. It’s obvious the beginning part is over. No longer bogged down by the torment artists face to get noticed or find their voice, Graham is bursting with ideas of new markets and major artists with which to grow alongside. “I’m just going to go for it – not letting fear hold me back,” he said, reaffirming the total dedication to a living. “Years down the road I just want to be making music on a bigger scale.” To wax philosophically one last time, an acorn’s end result might not be a tree. It could just as well be a guitar or dust or, who knows, a star. Graham gets this. It’s what drives him. By Peter Worden November/December 2011

F O L L OW U P

raham continues to make notable progress in his music career. He was invited to play at the 2012 London Olympics, and from there he travelled all over Europe, eventually returning to Los Angeles to release Indivisibility in September. After touring to promote his new album, Graham decided to move to Toronto – a hot spot for art and music. There, Graham met up with his idol, Don Ross, and the pair recorded the album titled 12:34. Now Ross and Graham are in the midst of lining up a tour of Canada, Europe and Asia to promote their new album. Graham has also been doing several flood relief concerts, as this was something that hit home for him, literally, his parents’ home in High River was affected, as was his favourite haunt, Carlson’s on Macleod. Even with all of this, Graham is still finding time to work on two new albums that he plans to release in the near future. One will have a funk/R&B/soul vibe to it, while the second album will be more blues focused. Graham is more confident now than ever that he has chosen the right career path and says he plans on playing music for the rest of his life.

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I’m very versatile, it’s my secret to avoiding a regular job.”

Chuck Shifflett Luthier

e is a sculptor and a craftsman with a penchant for music and two certificates of mastery in his rare trade. His creations are all originals; he has never built two exactly the same. Meet Chuck the luthier – maker of

fine guitars. Chuck Shifflett is a husband, a father and an amateur musician, and he makes a living handcrafting fretted stringed instruments. A luthier for the past two decades, High River-based Shifflett goes to work in an 800 square foot shop, 20 steps from his back door. There amid smells of hardwood and varnish, he spends his days cutting, shaving, carving, and buffing; eventually coaxing impeccable instruments out of a myriad of woods. “I have made dozens of instruments out of something like 80 different kinds of wood,” Shifflett said. “I like the challenge of designing a new instrument and bringing it all the way to completion, it’s very satisfying.” Shifflett first unearthed his unique passion for lutherie back in the ‘80s while working at a job that failed to nurture his need to create. “I had spent my early 20s painting and drawing people and landscapes,” he said. “My passion was in art and I conceded that I must do something artistic for a living.” Drawn to wood and natural materials, Shifflett was intrigued when he learned about a program at Douglas College in New Westminster that taught courses in musical instrument construction. He enrolled himself for two years and earned two certificates of mastery. Now an accomplished and highly sought-after luthier, Shifflett has made guitars for a plethora of musicians, including Calum Graham, George Canyon, Jim Peace, Vladimir Kaitman, Joe Vinikow and Mel Wilson. His signature guitars are his fine French-polished classical and flamencos, but he also specializes in high performance jazz guitars, such as the type invented by Mario Maccaferri and played by renowned Belgian guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt. “I love to build and create, but I also enjoy the challenge and complexity of repair work,” Shifflett said. “I have been doing repair work for Ian Tyson for many years, and a lot of repair work for many side men who play with the pros.” In 2011, Shifflett was commissioned to build a unique hybrid instrument called a harp guitar for High River’s own Calum Graham. “This instrument is really quite extraordinary, similar to the Schrammel Guitar built in Vienna in the mid-1800s,” explained Shifflett. “It will have a normal six-string guitar neck but will also have a number of extra bass strings off the bass side of the neck.” Like all of Shifflett’s innovations, Graham’s instrument will be peerless, and according to Shifflett, Graham’s guitar-playing talent is a good match for the invention. Asked what a musician can expect to pay for a handcrafted guitar, Shifflett said it varies, but some run upwards of $10,000. “Often a customer plans to spend $5,000 or so, but then can't resist adding some options. We make these changes together during the process of building the guitar, and in the end what we design is exactly what the musician wants – a one-of-a-kind instrument.”

Newcomers to the field of lutherie are likely to encounter a few obstacles in learning the trade. The program Shifflett took at Douglas College is now defunct and new programs are shorter and often quite pricy. While apprenticeship is an ideal way to acquire the skills, Shifflett says it’s tough to find a luthier who is willing to share all the tricks of the trade, or who can afford the loss in productivity that would occur if they took on an assistant. “Lutherie is not an easy trade, it’s highly meticulous and you have to be consistently good and reliable,” Shifflett said. “Consequently there are quite a few hobbyists, but few who make the jump to full-time.” Asked if he is making a good living at his craft, Shifflett paused then put the question in perspective. “It’s a steady modest living, but a good life? Oh yes, I think so!” By Pat Fream November/December 2012

F O L L OW U P

hifflett and his family were among the worst hit by the 2013 June flood. The main floor of their historic home had to be completely gutted, its 121-year-old foundation no match for the sudden surge of hostile water. In August the family moved into a tiny old bungalow in Nanton, where they still reside today. While there is no flood insurance to cover the cost of restoring the historic ‘cottage hospital’ that has been their beloved home for 21 years, Shifflett plans to chip away at the painstaking resurrection – hoping to reclaim their old life and be back living 20 steps from his workshop by next summer. Work-wise, Shifflett’s studio fared reasonably well – only a few inches of water and luckily all of his exquisite hand-carved masterpieces were hanging at eye-level, high and dry. On the woodworking front – business is booming; in addition to a number of commissions Shifflett was working on pre-flood, he now has a stack of flood-damaged instruments awaiting his deft skill of impossible revival. As for the long over-due harp guitar for Calum Graham, Shifflett says it is nearly complete and he is pleased with how well it turned out. He hopes to turn it over to Graham by Christmas, and perhaps at the same time, turn over a merciful new leaf.

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Photos taken at Twin Cities Hotel, Longview, AB

Corb Lund

Musician

alling Corb… Corb Lund’s phone rings, presumably reaching him at his North Glenora home in Edmonton. On the other end of the line, I make a mental list of talking points before he picks up: First, thank him for taking time out of life for the call; you know he’s busy as hell. Ask how (and where) he is, about his giant garage sale last summer, if he ever did sell that old cube van… Lund is in the midst of moving. He just listed his house in Edmonton where “the airport is like 45 minutes from downtown, it’s brutal,” and relocating to Calgary where vacancy is near nil and the post-flood real estate market is big time buyer beware. “I got to say ventilation is certainly a factor in economic points now,” he joked. I picture the musician at home packing, surrounded by boxes and clutter, guitars too beat-up for shows and piles of old notebooks with chicken-scratched lyrics and one-liners on scraps of paper. “Twenty years of living and stuff – moving it all is a lot of work,” he said. So much for the three-day garage sale he held last September to off-load some of the accumulated albums and T-shirts from 10 years of touring with the Hurtin’ Albertans. Not to mention mementos left over from his punk rock group, The Smalls, like their ’96 Ford touring camper van – it sold. Lund spent the first half of his life in the Taber area but has lived in Edmonton since the ’90s. Now it seems time for a change. Throughout his musical career, he’s been in a poly-amorous relationship with parts of the province – its capital, its south and particularly its foothills. “It’s pretty country,” he said of familiar spots like Longview, Turner Valley, and Pincher Creek. “I mean, people say California is beautiful and it’s really not. It’s kind of scrubby in places.” When it comes to the foothills, even casual conversation with Corb can sound like a country song. He considers landmarks like Old Chief Mountain a “big part of my soul,” and his ranch “smack in the foothills” is in the lyrics to Little Foothills Heaven: his //momma’s daddy’s daddy picked the spot and picked it well // and he’ll go when // tired of all this rockin’ rollin’ beatin’ me to hell//. While not exactly beat to hell, it has been a long year for the singer, first with his dad passing away, his band touring extensively,

playing ‘a million-and-one joints across the U.S.,’ another family funeral, and then – the flood. He recorded the song Blood, Sweat and Water with the legendary, and close friend, Ian Tyson. It was a much needed morale boost and instant anthem for the hardworking volunteers who helped shake southern Alberta dry in the few short weeks in time for the Calgary Stampede. “It kind of came naturally,” Corb said about the song. “I thought the Stampede was a really cool symbol for perseverance, the city handled the thing with a lot of class. Sometimes when things like that happen in the States, people start shooting each other, right? I thought we showed a lot of character.” His band played the song for benefit concerts to raise flood relief funds but it ‘ended up being like a drop in the bucket, as he put it. “The thing about benefits is, that one at McMahon made a couple million bucks but that’s (only) like three houses.” Whether playing concerts in his home province, or faraway (the Hurtin’ Albertans just played a festival in Australia) Corb’s southern Alberta heart shows in his music. “Alberta is really intertwined with my artistic vision. It feels good to be able to take my part of the world and play in Sydney or London, Tennessee or California,” he said, adding that it is not without difficulty in a region with “a bunch of broken history to work with.” “It’s a lot easier to write songs about L.A. or New York or Nashville. There’s a lot of mass media cultural resonance,” he said. “Everyone kind of knows what you mean when you say Houston – a bit of cultural shorthand. It’s trickier to put Calgary, or Saskatoon, or Mayberry into a song. You kind of have to explain it to people.” A lyricist and self-styled history nut, Corb landed a plum gig when he was invited to be Glenbow Museum’s artist-in-residence last winter. He spent his time stringing together parts of Alberta’s patchwork history. “It was really cool. It was a lot of work, actually,” he said. “The Glenbow people were fantastic they basically let me have free reign. Whatever I wanted.” Those who know Lund’s style may rank him on the same broad Canadian singer-songwriter list as Lightfoot, Young and Yoakam. As far as country musicians go, he doesn’t only sing about cowboy

Alberta is really intertwined with my artistic vision. It feels good to be able to take my part of the world and play in Sydney or London, Tennessee or California.” routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

country, he sings about the country – its politics, its history. If it must be country music, Corb opts for a boundless kind of country music. “It doesn’t really bother us. We play a lot of places they don’t have any country music. We’re sort of weird that way. I guess we play country but we play all kinds of festivals,” he said, listing off indie-rock shows in Victoria and Montreal. The only part of Canada he hasn’t played is Nunavut. As a lyricist whose inspiration is often political, he has a knack for singing about contentious country issues and meaningful dialogue couched in catchy ditties. Topics like solving the globe’s general reliance on oil, which Corb views as the defining issue of our time, will no doubt continue to figure into his music as he moves back to Calgary, the “belly of the beast,” he half-joked. “It’s clear we’re living in a petroleum-based world. There’s no way around it. All of us are guilty of it. All of our food is tied up with it and the plastics and computers and heating our homes and driving our vehicles. If you wanted to live petroleum-free it’d be really tough,” he said. He has family and friends who work on both sides of the industry. Short of some elusive global energy solution, which he admits is beyond him, Corb just hopes we can measure our me-first attitude toward the non-renewable resource. “I don’t see why we have to get it all out of the ground tomorrow morning. If every guy had one quad instead of two quads, you know what I mean?”

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I ask about his considerable powers as a spokesperson with radio play – how much sway does he hold to influence decision makers? “Very little. Not much,” he said. Still, if there’s an Albertan artist who doesn’t hesitate to take on a tough topic like this, he’s it. “There are a lot of facets to it. I’d like to see Alberta become a leader in innovation.” Luckily, in the meantime, he’s got his little foothills heaven and a cabin where he can // keep the world out of his hair on that Northern Rocky range and I hope that I’ll be back again someday//. I hope so too. By Peter Worden

Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans released their seventh studio album Cabin Fever in 2012. In 2013 the album was long-listed for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize and nominated for a Juno. CCMA Roots Artist/Group of the Year, 2013 Edmonton Music Awards (Canada) 2013 Male Artist of the Year 2013 Country Artist of the Year 2013 People’s Choice Award Edmonton Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards (Canada) 2013 Ambassador of the Arts

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Photographed at Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump

Dallas Arcand

World Champion Hoop Dancer

o witness a live performance of Dallas Arcand hoop dancing is to connect to a vibration hovering somewhere between primal and existential. It may be the effect of the drums tuning the soul to harmony. It may be the singing – mournful and stirring. Most surely it’s the dancer, a brilliant spectacle of colour, skill and ardent focus. “My dance is my life – it’s what I believe in and what I know best,” says Arcand, during an interview following his performance with his son Dallas Bobby Arcand Gladeau at the 25th Anniversary of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (2012). “It’s the story of our people and an appreciation of the land and Mother Earth. The goal is to restore balance and harmony in the world.” Arcand took some time finding his way to serenity. Along the way he dabbled in confusion, anger and crime, as is often the case

with a people he calls his own. But once he found his path he committed himself to solid ground and high ideals, creating vast opportunities to match his plethora of talents. “I hope I can be a shining light for my people. For me there’s a lot of integrity in that,” says Arcand, who has taken his 25-hoop dance routine to stages all over the world and is currently a threetime world champion. “I am constantly creating new pieces of art through music, through dance, even in teaching my son to be a good person.” Native American Hoop Dance is a form of storytelling that uses hoops as props to create static and dynamic shapes or formations representing various animals, symbols, and storytelling elements. The hoop has no beginning and no end; it represents the continuity of the spirits of all living things.

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I hope I can be a shining light for my people. For me, there’s a lot of integrity in that.” Arcand also composes music, plays traditional cedar flute, has just released his fourth CD, Sweetgrass (2012), and is trying his hand at film work. He is also engaged with programs that help young people reach their potential beginning with his own son, who at age 14, is following in his father’s footsteps as a talented musician and a passionate hoop dancer. “Teaching my son my craft means a lot to me, it keeps the circle going,” Arcand says. “I tell him the best thing you can do is show up on time, know your craft, be the best you can be and stay true to who you are and what you stand for.” By Pat Fream September/October 2012

F O L L OW U P

rcand had several noteworthy performances this past year including Aboriginal Days in Winnipeg, and his 13th appearance at the Calgary Stampede and sixth year as principal dancer at the grandstand show. He also performed on APTN Live and at a variety of locations around Western Canada with his son, Dallas Jr. His film, Dallas Arcand Hope has been accepted into the 2013 Dream Speakers Film Festival in Edmonton. This hoop dance documentary (available on YouTube) is now in the final editing stages and he anticipates its release and tour starting in 2014. Arcand is very proud of both his children. Dallas Jr. continues to excel musicality with piano and guitar. “I am very confident he will continue and surpass my moccasins,” he said. His daughter Meadow is also interested in hoop dancing as well as fancy shawl and hip hop dancing. Arcand is currently working on a new vocal album for 2014, and has set the intention to release a flute album annually for the rest his days. In addition to his lofty five-year plan, he remains committed to his roots, saying “I will do everything in my power to ensure a healthy future for my children and the future generations of modern warriors!”

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Photos taken at Schmidty's Barbershop, High River

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Darrel Janz

Broadcaster/Quartet Bass Singer

or many he is the distinctive voice delivering the daily news over the dinner hour. For some, he’s a regular at the local barbershop. Others know him as the robust bass in High River’s Willow Creek Gospel Quartet. No matter how you know Darrel Janz, you feel like you know him; his voice brings you home. I asked Darrel Janz to tell me something about himself that the world doesn’t know. It turns out, his career has produced a surprising number of outlandish tales. My favourite is the story of how he survived a helicopter crash while on a news chopper assignment covering the highly anticipated 1969 baseball event – Montreal Expos versus the St. Louis Cardinals, in Jarry Park. Janz, still relatively new to the Montreal scene at the time, went up in the chopper with a rookie pilot whose inexperience with turbulence resulted in a nosedive into the ice laden St. Lawrence River. “I broke a finger when I hit the instrument panel,” Janz said. “But what’s worse, I swallowed a whole lot of filthy St. Lawrence River water.” Janz, then working for Montreal’s CFCF News, said this was particularly disconcerting because the station had recently done a documentary on the alarming number of contaminants in the river. However, as someone once said, you can’t keep a good man (or reporter) down. While the pilot went off on sick leave for a few weeks, Janz was back up in a replacement chopper before the afternoon rush hour. Soon after that, the station purchased Canada’s first Hughes 500 helicopter for their high-flying reporter. “It was really something! Just like the yellow one in the TV show Magnum PI,” he said beaming. “My reward for surviving the crash I guess!” To this day, Janz is crazy for flying. “I’ll hop into just about anything that flies! I’ve gone up in gliders, home-built planes, hot air balloons, and at least a dozen different types of helicopters.”

I’m not a retiring type person – I’ll keep going as long as I have a voice.”

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Who would have guessed Darrel Janz, that steady, trusty, familiar face on the 6 p.m. daily news, is a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie? “I can’t help it, it’s my attention deficit disorder,” he confessed with a wry smile. “I have the attention span of a two year old.” In fact, a well-reputed time management coach once told Janz, “You just love it on the ragged edge of disaster.” If thrill seeking is his weakness, it doubles as his strength and has taken Janz on one heck of a wild ride. His story began in the small Mennonite farming community of Main Centre, Saskatchewan. Growing up, he wanted desperately to be an athlete, but this was not in the cards for the youngest Janz son. “Sports were huge in our town, but I was a lousy athlete. I mean really bad – a total klutz,” he said. A teacher who saw his love of sports directed Janz toward a career in sportscasting, and that idea, coupled with his talent for writing and his passion for world affairs, set Janz in motion. “I had no idea how to get into broadcasting, but I knew I had to start somewhere, so I went to teachers’ college in Regina,” he said. After a grueling year of teaching grades one through seven in a small town north of Regina, 19-year-old Janz hit the road and didn’t stop until he found himself a radio job. “The first station I worked at was in Altona, Manitoba,” Janz said. “The guy who hired me called me ‘a diamond in the rough,’ and said, ‘You need polishing but you have a voice that, if properly developed, will make you a career.’” He called it right. The deep illustrious voice that identifies Darrel Janz (even if you’re blindfolded) has proven to be quite the jewel, and since that first radio job in Altona, Janz has never had to apply for a job again. “It works like that in broadcasting. Once you make a name for yourself, job offers come to you,” he said. After a year, Janz was back in Saskatchewan where he worked at CHAB in Moose Jaw, got his feet wet in television, and married his first wife. In 1965 he took a job at CFQC in Saskatoon and became the permanent 6 o’clock news anchor. By this time he had two children and a satisfying job, but Janz wanted more; his sights were set on Montreal, a city he had fallen in love with during Expo 67. In the fall of 1968, Janz was recruited by famous news director Bert Cannings and on two week’s notice, he packed up his family and took a job as a back-up anchor at Montreal’s CFCF radio and TV (CTV). There he survived the crash in the St. Lawrence, and covered a tremendous number of exciting events, including the 1970 FLQ Crisis. “The day Pierre Laporte’s body was found, I had just finished a 16-hour shift and had gone home to sleep when the phone rang and it was our news director,” Janz said. “He said, ‘They found the body and I need everybody here.’ So I took a shower and went back in and worked 25 hours, non-stop.” In that shift, Janz did the coverage for his own station, and he also did reports for ABC World News, CBS Radio, ABS Radio, and Radio Chicago. “That month

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I probably worked well over 100 hours of overtime,” Janz said. “I made money like I’ll never make again in my life.” After four years in Montreal, Janz took a short assignment in London, Ontario, before being recruited to CFCN Calgary in 1973. By the ‘80s, his marriage was over, but his teaching career was revived. Throughout the next three decades, Janz taught broadcast journalism, first at SAIT, then at Mount Royal College for a combined total of 26 years. In his practical job, he became a dinner mainstay for thousands, as anchor of the 6 o’clock CTV Calgary news, alongside co-anchor, Barb Higgins, who joined him in 1989. Also the co-producer, Janz remains at CTV, but he had to give up teaching in 2003 when he accepted a job doing radio news for the Okotoks Eagle and Drum FM (Drumheller). Today, Janz is remarried and has returned to his rural roots, proud to call High River home. “I love High River. I’ve lived here for over 17 years now and I feel like this is my town,” he said fondly. “I love the fact that it’s right on the edge of farming country and I can drive through the beautiful countryside and see the cattle and horses on my way to work. You just can’t beat it!” Every fall Janz nurtures his love of farming by helping his friend with his fall harvest. Asked if retirement is anywhere in his sights, Janz frowned for the first time in the interview. “I’m not a retiring type person – I’ll keep going as long as I have a voice.” By Pat Fream Fall 2010

F O L L OW U P

oon after this story went to print, Darrel Janz’s career took a few more notable twists and turns. In December of 2010 he traded his weekday CTV news anchor job for weekends only and launched CTV’s Inspired Series with Darrel Janz. The uplifting weekly segment features everyday extraordinary people in and around Calgary, and airs during the 6 o’clock news hour on Wednesdays. In June of 2013, Janz celebrated 50 years in broadcasting and was inducted into the Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The prestigious award is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a Canadian broadcaster and Janz was both humbled and delighted to be selected. Asked how he fared during the High River flood, Janz was overcome with emotion as he recounted the stories of kindness and altruism he experienced during the disaster. Today, pleased to report that he missed only one day of work during the crisis, Janz is back home in High River, filled with gratitude and flush with material for his Inspired Series.

Photo taken at CTV News Room, Calgary

George Canyon Musician

s a small boy, George Canyon dreamed of being among the stars. He wanted a life as a pilot in the Canadian Air Force, a dream that sustained him throughout his young life. However, it seemed he was destined to remain earthbound when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 14. When he first picked up an acoustic guitar at age five, Canyon couldn’t have imagined the road he was to travel later in life. Now in his 40s, with a string of hits to his credit, a stack of Junos and Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) awards, his life has been driven by creativity and a desire to help and support others. Not only is Canyon a top-flight musician, he also paints and is an enthusiastic photographer. “I have always had an innate instinct to be creative, be it in music or other art forms,” Canyon said. “Some days it is the only way I can truly express myself.” The creative spark that has driven Canyon to make chart-topping music is matched by a drive to live life to the fullest. After a handful of visits to Kandahar, Canadian Defence Minister

Peter MacKay and Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Hillier made Canyon a honorary colonel. “Our military holds a very special place in my heart,” Canyon said. “I have been working with them for over five (2009) years now and it has been very rewarding. I am so proud to be Canadian after watching the successes of our military.” In 2009, Canyon embarked on a coast-to-coast tour flying an Ultralight aircraft to 15 cities to talk with, and perform for, children living with diabetes. The tour, called The Sky’s Not The Limit, focused on showing children that they don’t have to accept limitations because they have diabetes, and that they should always aim to fulfill their potential. “The success of this event has given us a drive to continue holding these events in the future,” Canyon said. A parent of one young attendee was moved to email the event organizers the following day. Her message read: “As a parent of a teenage diabetic, I thought that George Canyon was amazing in talking to and connecting with how young people feel about having diabetes. He is an excellent role model.”

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I have always had an innate instinct to be creative... some days it is the only way I can truly express myself.”

Canyon’s music future is also looking very bright, with a new album due for release next year (2010). He hopes to continue his musical collaborations with Chad Kroeger (Nickleback) and producer Richard Marx, which began on his last album titled What I Do. Canyon has received five nominations for the forthcoming Canadian Country Music Awards. When asked how he feels about these nominations, Canyon remarked modestly, “Any time I receive a nomination I feel very blessed. I have been in the music business since 1990 and always dreamed of what it would be like to receive a nomination for a CCMA … it’s still awesome.” By Neville Palmer Fall 2009

F O L L OW U P

n September 2013, Invictus Entertainment Group and Universal Music Canada announced the launch of Big Star Recordings Inc. with Canyon as their first and flagship artist. The first release was Canyon’s new single Slow Dance. Beginning in November, Canyon will tour coast to coast in the The Huron Carole with Tom Jackson, One More Girl, Beverley Mahood and Shannon Gaye to help raise funds and awareness for Canada’s hungry. You can also see Canyon in his new role as an actor. He plays the part of Sheriff Broyles in a 1929 remake of The Virginian, now airing on Movie Central. Also, this upcoming holiday season, George has a primary role in the movie Coming Home For Christmas, to be broadcast on CMT Canada this December. As for his home near the town of High River, the day after the devastating June flood, Canyon flew into town and he and his wife donned rubber boots and gloves and rallied “Team Canyon CleanUp Crew,” a group of eager volunteers ready to help in the recovery of the town. “This is just what Canadians do, they help each other out,” he said, “I feel extremely proud to not only live in the foothills, but to live in Canada as well.”

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Jason Glass

World Champion Chuckwagon Driver

ooting around the unconventional life of western-bred Jason Glass, one gets a clear picture of three distinct compartments in this man’s heart: his family, his horses and an inherent passion for the rip-roar’n hell-raising sport of chuckwagon racing. There was a time when Jason Glass was outside from sunup till sundown, tending his 40-strong herd of Thoroughbred horses and training them for chuckwagon racing. In those days, he derived all his pleasure from his animals and his sport, and for a couple of decades, that’s all he needed. Today, the fourth generation World Champion Chuckwagon Driver has expanded his purpose to make room for marriage and for his most rewarding achievements yet – a son and daughter. And while the long-time cowboy bachelor welcomes the change with unabashed pride, it is clear that chuckwagon is in his blood; a staple in his character. Only now he has a new title and his home team is four-strong. “For years I thought of nothing but the horses; I put them ahead of everything,” says Jason, who explains that this is what it took to get to where he is today – a three-time world champion. “Now I look at things differently. I still love spending time with the horses (he calls ‘the boys’), but I love being with my family too, so I try to set things up more efficiently outside so I can get back inside where my wife and kids are.” Getting to this day in Jason’s life has a lot to do with guts, grit and fiery family roots. Born in Calgary in 1970, Jason inherited his grandmother’s get-it-done attitude and an indomitable appetite for wagon racing from his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. “Ya, it’s a natural for me,” says Jason, pausing to point out faded portraits on the walls surrounded by a whole slew of elaborate bronze wagons; more exquisite art than trophy. “My great grandfather, Tom Lauder, started chuckwagon racing in the Calgary Stampede in 1924. His daughter, my grandmother (Iris), married Ronnie Glass and he won the world championship four times. My dad, Tom Glass, was a three-time world champion.” He grins sheepishly and implies the obvious – he pretty much has to carry on in a winning fashion.

“As far back as I can remember, I was either in a wagon or on a horse,” Jason says. “When I was a little kid, I’d climb in the back of the wagon and try to grab the lines from my dad.” If there’s such thing as genetic ambition, this family makes a case for it with champion drivers and outriders in every generation descending from Tom Lauder. While the sport has mostly brought gratification and triumph to this long line of tenacious horsemen, it has also claimed lives from the 50-year chuckwagon family dynasty. Tom Lauder’s grandson, Rod Glass, was tragically killed at age 18 while driving chuckwagon in 1971. Two decades later, Richard Cosgrave, married to Tom Lauder’s granddaughter, was also killed in a chuckwagon race. Having lost two uncles to the sport, no one knows better than Jason what can go wrong in the high-speed adrenaline-charged atmosphere of chuckwagon racing. But that doesn’t seem to faze him; he accepts risk like it’s his birthright. And while tipping his hat to predecessors he clearly admires, Jason does what it takes to earn his own place on the family wall of trophies. Beginning with meticulous care of ‘the boys.’ “It’s all about the horses, you can’t win without them,” Jason says. “It’s not like race car driving where after the race you put the car away and forget about it.” For Jason, training and caring for his Thoroughbreds is a rigorous year-round commitment. “Every day I go outside and feed the horses their oats individually, so I look at every inch of every one of them – make sure they’re all healthy and happy.” From September to March he spends hours with seven or eight new Thoroughbreds, immersing them in the herd and doing a variety of exercises to help them adjust to pulling a wagon. “You can’t take a Thoroughbred off the race track and hook it to a wagon, that would stress him,” he explains. “It’s a long process to get them where they need to be. Some take two or three years, but once in a while you get one that takes to it in a couple of weeks.” Come March, with the rodeo season just two months away, Jason ramps up the conditioning of his thirty-some other horses, already chuckwagon trained but in need of strength and endurance training to reach peak racing form. These horses get daily stints

As far back as I can remember, I was either in a wagon or on a horse... when I was a little kid I’d climb in the back of the wagon and try to grab the lines from my dad.” routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

of trotting in an Equisizer, a motorized exercise pen, that Jason and his cousin (chuckwagon driver and World Champion Outrider, Chad Cosgrave) constructed using some innovation and some market-made parts. The slick equi-invention can accommodate four horses at a time and is computer generated so Jason can set the speed, direction and duration of the sessions. “The horses love it!” He says, with giddy enthusiasm. “Turn it on and they come running; they’ll run you over trying to get in there!” When May rolls around it’s off to the races. Jason and his wife Brienne load up their twin toddlers, Steele and Bodie, along with 16 horses (four full chuckwagon outfits) and a crew of workers and outriders. The Glass ‘checkered wagon’ team takes four big rigs down the highway hitting every major rodeo in the province. “We love being on the road,” says Jason, explaining how his travelling accommodations have gone from truck and camper as a boy to his current bus-sized coach complete with four slides and bunk beds for the twins. “We basically go from town to town for four solid months, 10 rodeos in all, it’s a blast.” The Calgary Stampede, with over $1 million in prize money up for grabs in chuckwagon, is the crown jewel for most drivers, especially the Glasses whose family legacy began there.

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“My family has been a part of the Calgary Stampede since 1923 and I’ve been going to it for all of my 41 years. It’s the most important 10 days of the year,” he says earnestly. Potential winnings aside, Jason has high praise for event organizers and volunteers. “The work that goes in to the Calgary Stampede is astounding; I think it’s absolutely amazing they’ve kept it going, and made it better every year for 100 years.” Asked the obvious question... can a person make a living in the sport of chuckwagon? Jason explains that sponsorship is everything in this business. “I’ve been fortunate to have three or four goodsized company sponsors stay with me over the years. My main sponsor – Shaw GMC is great. I’ve had them for 22 years.” Between winning races and having excellent sponsorship Jason says many in his family have been able to make a living at chuckwagon. But this is not the only family business Jason is heir to; the tenacious line of Lauder descendants have carved out a second unconventional career niche doing stunt work and small acting roles in movies. “My family has been in the movie industry since 1970, my grandpa was in Buffalo Bill and the Indians,” he says. “Dad and grandpa saw people getting paid to fall off their horses and they said ‘why can’t we do that?’ So they got themselves into it.”

Jason started doing stunt work when he was 16 and has since performed in more than 150 movies, shows and commercials. His older sister (Corry Glass) is a full-time stuntwoman in Vancouver and his dad (Tom Glass) has been in more than 200 movies and has also performed stunt coordinator duties for some productions. “Mostly I get hired for Western scenes, but I also do car racing, or I hang on a wire... basically anything they need.” says Jason, adding, “The movie business has been great to me and my family over the years.” But there’s no doubt that chuckwagon is this man’s greatest passion, and his aim is to put more bronze on his walls. “You can compete at the Stampede until you’re 64, so as long as I’m healthy, I’m going to keep going for it. Writer’s Note: Remarkably humble in spite of several noteworthy accomplishments, Jason names a whole crew of uncles, cousins, friends and hired hands, who have contributed to his success along the way. At the top of his list of mentors he names his father, Chuckwagon champion Tom Glass, and his grandmother, Iris Glass, who passed away in 2008. “She was the matriarch of wagons, always there in the barns, at the races, a very important person to all of us.”

F O L L OW U P

n 2013, Glass finally managed to win his first GMC Rangeland Derby Championship - a sweet victory following on the heels of the previous year’s disappointment when Glass came in first, only to get his title swept away by an interference penalty. Glass says redemption feels great, and now he can relax a bit as winning takes the pressure off for the year ahead. Although $100,000 is a large sum of money, Glass says it’s not hard to spend, adding he is putting it to good use towards things that will help improve his operation, such as replacing old equipment and buying new horses. Glass recently bought 10 young horses ranging from six to eight years old. He plans to train his new ‘boys’ this winter and slowly incorporate them into his lineup. Apart from his fast-paced life, Glass enjoys time with his wife and their three-year-old twins.

By Pat Fream May/June 2012

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Kamla

My struggle in attempting to be a musician is like pushing water up hill. I have to keep reminding myself that everything now easy in life was once hard, usually very hard. Just keep practicing!â&#x20AC;?

Photo taken at Highwood Distillers, High River

Kamla Hari-McGonigal

Nurse, Baker, Drummer

reezing through university degrees faster than a speeding bullet, raising two boys, managing a nursing career, and baking specialty cakes all in a single bound, Kamla McGonigal comes across as a modern-day superwoman. Yet through it all, she still finds time to inspire others to seek their passions and follow their dreams. Kamla (Kam to family and friends) grew up on a farm west of High River as the second oldest of six children. It was her paternal great grandfather, Harnam Singh Hari, born in northern India, who, over 100 years ago, came to farm in Calgary, then Dewinton. Kamla, now a registered nurse and patient care manager for two urgent care centres in the area, credits a generational strong work ethic for her success. She comes from a family of strong, energetic women, particularly her mother. Even at age two, Kamla was said to be a very focused child. “Most things just came easy for me,” Kamla said. That is, until she decided to pursue her passion for music, and found her kryptonite. “My struggle in attempting to be a musician is like pushing water up hill. I have to keep reminding myself that everything now easy in life was once hard, usually very hard. Just keep practicing!” When she was young, Kamla fell in love with the drums while watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and later became a fan of Judas Priest, The Doors and AC/DC. “Before drumming, I wasn’t easily intimidated,” she said. “Now I know fear – especially the first few times playing publicly in a band. Yikes! I just felt so exposed; it’s like baring your soul.” Although she has managed to earn herself a spot as a drummer in a band, Kamla claims to have no talent, just desire and discipline. “I am a true amateur,” she said. “Struggling to learn a new skill is very humbling; it has made me more understanding, compassionate, patient and accepting of others, especially as a nurse and a manager.” In order to learn new songs, Kamla listens to music over and over for hours every Saturday morning. At one time, the ritual also included baking ‘Whisky Cakes’ – another passion she aims to perfect. In 2007, with a couple of business partners, Kamla set out to produce a unique, first-class gift, that would represent the unbridled spirit of the West. “I wanted it to be the ‘Bernard Callebaut’ of cake.” Kamla envisioned the cake as one of the three things tourists would take home from Canada: B.C. salmon, maple syrup and the ‘Alberta Whisky Cake.’ Today she works with grand ambition, her goal not yet fully materialized. The cakes will provide an avenue for supporting young people interested in artistic and cultural activities. Presently, every cake package contains a frame-ready card with an image that showcases the work of a local amateur artist, (paintings, photogra-

phy, airbrush, sculpture, jewelry, leather tooling, etc.). Eventually, Kamla hopes to also include samples from local musical artists as part of each cake purchase. “I feel privileged to have met some of the most amazing young people lately, who are making our world a better place, and with such passion and confidence,” she notes. “I feel honoured to promote their work.” Kamla also dreams of one day opening a youth centre. “Youth who are not academically inclined can fall through the cracks (of society); they could use a safe, enriching, and fun place to go. I call it the grassroots of health care,” she said. Even now, her basement is packed two nights a week with young musicians, including her own two sons, playing, writing and recording music. Kamla seeks to encourage young people to reach their potential, to boost self-esteem through their art forms. “I realize how much skill it takes and how truly gifted, unappreciated and unsupported many musicians are,” she said. While Kamla said she feels blessed to be in great health and have the energy that comes with that, she is otherwise humbled by her gifts of leadership and inspiration. “I’m nothing special. We all do as much as we can. I just use my abilities to help others be productive and recognized for what they do.” By Sandra Wiebe Spring 2010

F O L L OW U P

n June of 2013, just as business was starting to take off, the flood threw McGonigal an unexpected curveball. Her contract bakery in High River was severely damaged, as was the company that supplies the rye whiskey for her cakes. “When something of this magnitude happens, you stop to do a lot of reflecting about whether or not you should just abandon things altogether,” McGonigal said. “It was the overwhelming response from the community that pushed me to keep going.” The bakery will take many months to rebuild, however, McGonigal is looking at starting a much smaller bakery in Calgary with the goal of only making Alberta Whiskey Cakes. Despite the flood, McGonigal is still extremely busy and is working hard to fill orders from the Millarville Farmers’ Market, corporations and individuals. With a renewed sense of purpose and appreciation for her business, McGonigal reflects on the fact that you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.

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Karl Kjarsgaard Aviator/Treasure Hunter

esting on the Atlantic Ocean floor, more than 1,700 metres deep, is the renowned Handley Page Halifax LW170. In her day, the valiant Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircraft executed some 28 bombing missions, including significant prep missions for the D-Day invasions of Normandy in 1944. When the aircraft sprung a fuel leak while on post war patrols 200 kilometres northwest of Ireland in 1945, her crew was safely rescued, but the ill-fated aircraft was lost to the great sea. Nearly seven decades later, thanks to modern day treasure hunter and aviator, Karl Kjarsgaard, the great bomber will see daylight again, as she is rescued and honoured with a new resting place in Nanton. Kjarsgaard has a passion for preserving and honouring Canadian military history and our combat heroes. His detailed plan, to recover the Halifax LW170 bomber, has been on the radar of many supporters since his first successful raising of a British Halifax bomber in 1995. From 240 metres below the surface of Lake Mjosa in Norway, the Halifax NA33 now sits restored in the National Air Force Museum in Trenton, Ontario. Following that successful raising, Kjarsgaard, as project manager in 1997, recovered a RCAF Halifax from a bog in Belgium with the purpose of providing a formal burial for the three airmen trapped in the unsalvageable wreckage. A steadfast dedication to Canadian military history and this country’s combat heroes now has Kjarsgaard well underway to his most significant recovery to date - that of the Halifax LW170. The Handley Page Halifax is a national symbol of the Canadian contribution to freedom. The RCAF flew more than 70 per cent of its WWII missions in Halifax bombers and the submerged LW170 is the only restorable combat Canadian Halifax in existence. “This will be the only real McCoy for Canada – a true combat plane with Canadian history, Canadian crew and Canadian pride,” said Kjarsgaard, founding director of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) dedicated to preserving the Halifax and its international heritage.

We must know where we came from to know where we are going.” Photos taken at Bomber Command Museum of Canada, Nanton

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In Kjarsgaard’s view, bringing this significant artifact home to Canadian soil is paramount to all Canadians. “We must know where we came from to know where we are going,” Kjarsgaard said. He also laments that history should be preserved and lessons learned – the losses of war need not be repeated. Kjarsgaard never loses sight of honouring those who paid the greatest sacrifice with their lives with his dedication to raising the LW170. His mission is to create a monument to the Canadian soldier – past and future. “Karl has enriched our museum by being a first class supporter and proponent of our goals and activities,” said Dan Fox, past president of the museum. “Since he became a director of the Nanton Air Museum last April, he has aided us in our efforts by offering his opinions and advice based on his considerable experience in the aviation field.” The museum is a loyal supporter of the Halifax 57 Project with funds designated in support of Kjarsgaard and a future display of both the Lancaster and the Halifax bomber; a unique opportunity for the facility. “Karl is a great patriotic Canadian and is not ashamed to show it. He has done more to promote the memory of wartime veterans than anyone I know,” Fox said. The future home for the celebrated Halifax LW170 is in the world-class Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum, also home to the rare Lancaster Mk.10 FM159. The museum houses almost 40,000 sq. ft of hanger and display space of aviation history. “In all of the adversity and complications of our quest for the Halifax Project, I have always tried to emulate and follow in the footsteps of my heroes of the RCAF and Bomber Command. Such great examples of courage, honour, excellence, and sacrifice in this giant Canadian sword of Freedom, the Halifax,” Kjarsgaard said. “If these young men could weather such hardships for us, we must continue on no matter the cost or effort.” By Michelle Greysen Winter 2009

F O L L OW U P

n the summer of 2011, Kjarsgaard came across an almost complete wing of a Halifax bomber and two complete Hercules engines for a Halifax, in a scrap yard on the island of Malta, just south of Italy. Kjarsgaard was thrilled to be able to acquire, disassemble and ship the parts back to Canada. With the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton beginning its expansion to double in size within the next five years, this means there will be lots of room at the museum for the Halifax artifacts.

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Art is my passion; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been carrying around a sketch book and drawing since I was a child.â&#x20AC;?

Karon Argue

tricken with severe Type 1 diabetes that robbed her of her eyesight, this graphic artist says things are looking up. Not because she can see, but because her kids are launched, she can walk again, and she has never lost sight of her greatest passion – art. Karon Argue beams as she points to her newest painting on display next to her kitchen table. She is exuberant as she unveils page after page of brilliantly detailed sketches – illustrations for two children’s books she has nearly completed. Her talent is extraordinary, just ask acclaimed children’s author Robert Munch, who saw samples of her illustrations a few years ago and gave her an urgent thumbs-up message – You’re good, get going! The question is: How on earth is she going at all, with minimal vision and decades of failing health? “The alternative to pushing through challenges is to sit back and feel sorry for yourself,” she says, smiling brightly. “I’m not that kind of person.”

Illustrator/Artist At age 40 Karon looks remarkably healthy and robust – hardly the picture of a blind person who has battled back from near death. She moves around her house astonishingly well, proudly pointing to pictures of her three adult kids, a family that has flourished against staggering odds. “They’re incredible – my kids. They've been through so much but I think they’re okay; maybe even better for it.” The story of how this incredibly talented High River graphic artist arrived at this point in her life is astounding, if not downright unbelievable. It began with gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her first son at the young age of 18. “Diabetes runs in my family. My grandmother and all her siblings had it,” she informs. By her mid-20s Karon’s diabetes turned Type 1 and with a husband, three kids and two businesses in full swing in Medicine Hat (Ruckers and Fabutan), the family was in for a tumultuous ride.

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The sicker Karon got the more people rallied around the family to help. “When we were still living in Medicine Hat, Darren got a call to come to the kids’ school, and we were worried that maybe they were having some difficulties,” she said, choking up. “When he got there he found tables full of food – teachers and parents had made all of it for our family.” On insulin injections daily, by her late 20s, Karon developed neuropathy in her feet and lost her ability to walk. “I would go around the house on my knees,” she said. “I couldn’t stand anything touching my feet.” Her health further deteriorated when she contracted a bacterial infection in her stomach. Undiagnosed for months, the infection caused internal ulcers that prevented her system from absorbing food and reduced her to a fragile 90 pounds. “My oldest son was 10 years old at the time and he would pick me up and carry me around the house,” she said. “We were a strong family unit.” In September of 2001 Karon visited an endocrinologist in Calgary who told her that if she didn’t get the treatment she needed she would be dead by Christmas. “By that time the muscles in my hands and feet had atrophied so badly my feet were floppy and my fingers curled over.” Desperate to live, Karon moved in with her parents in High River and began intensive treatment at the Foothills Hospital. Back in Medicine Hat her husband tended to their businesses and took care of their three kids. “When I wasn’t at the hospital or in the pool doing physiotherapy I just slept all the time; it seemed to be what my body needed to heal,” Karon said. “Darren and the kids would come up every week-

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end and the kids would just climb into bed and stay there with me.” After about six months the treatment began working and Karon got stronger. Her husband sold their businesses and moved the family to High River. Karon got an electric wheelchair and gradually began to regain her mobility. “I would pick the kids up at Spitzee (Elementary School) in my wheelchair. One would ride on my lap, one on the arm and one on the battery pack,” she said. Anxious to return to her training as a graphic artist, Karon was thrilled when her extended family bought her a laptop. “I wore plastic formed casts on my hands to straighten my fingers, and I started plucking away, doing small jobs for family and friends,” she said. Within a year and a half she got her driver’s licence back, returned to her normal weight and, miraculously, started walking again. Her neurologist, who had prepared her for life in a wheelchair, was stupefied. “He told me there was nothing medically to explain how I was walking; I told him I have a lot of people praying for me.” In 2004, Karon purchased a sign shop, changed the name to Gecko Graphics and began operating out of her home. When business took off she moved the company to a downtown High River location and divided her time between work and family. By this time the diabetes was affecting her sight – she had limited vision in one eye due to a blocked optic nerve, but she was still able to do her job; she wasn’t letting it get her down. Then two years ago Karon woke up with a retinal hemorrhage in her good eye. She lost sight completely in that eye rendering her legally blind. Once again she was forced to forfeit her business ambitions and summon the courage to rebuild her life.

“You can’t give up when everyone is so good to you. My parents have been there every step of the way – they help us all the time. My husband is amazing; he really is a rock. My kids are my biggest fans,” she explains. Karon’s daughter and a good friend ran the shop until she managed to sell it. Highwood Printing bought the sign shop and offered to keep Karon on for a year, to offer her expertise as they took over her sign business. “I’m still there part-time doing graphic design for them. I love my job and I’m so grateful to (owner) Catherine – there is nowhere else I could go and get the kind of compassion and flexibility she gives me.” A referral to Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) was the next leg up for Karon. The agency supplied her with a mobility cane and some sight aids in her home, such as magnifiers and indicators on her appliances. “CNIB changed my world completely. Except for work, I had been totally homebound but now I can go grocery shopping and take walks around my neighbourhood.” The greatest life changer came in the form of a computer magnification device called an Acrobat LCD enhanced vision machine. This endowment from CNIB gave Karon back her dream of becoming an illustrator of children’s books. “Art is my passion; I’ve been carrying around a sketch book and drawing since I was a child,” she said. “For years I’ve been working on these children’s books but I was always too busy and too afraid to put my work out there.”

Recently inspired by the encouragement of an art teacher, and gratefully rewarded with improved health and effective vision aids, Karon has thrown herself into her illustrations and set her sights on publishing her works. “I feel renewed and ready to achieve my purpose,” she declares. “I hope this will be my year to shine.” By Pat Fream March/April 2013

F O L L OW U P

hortly after the release of her cover story in Routes, Argue held her first solo art show, and with well over 350 people in attendance, she sold out of all her paintings. She is now selling prints online and has since received numerous calls to illustrate for writers. Argue has also been interviewed on several local and national radio and television news programs and she was featured on CTV’s Inspired Series, with Darrel Janz. Like many of those affecting by the June flood, Argue says she has been distracted with flood mitigation in her home and it has been a struggle to get refocused. Thankfully, all of her work for her books survived the flood and she hopes to have both of her own stories to the publisher before the end of 2013. Argue is also working on a book to commemorate the flood of 2013.

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Mandy Stobo

hat comes to mind when picturing a bad portrait, is just that; a bad portrait. However, Mandy Stobo’s artwork is anything but, and many people have been appreciating her unique, funky work all over the world through her Bad Portrait Project. So what exactly is a Bad Portrait? According to Stobo, it’s her way of giving back to the community and letting people know how “rad” they are. You can give her a photo of yourself and in about 45 minutes she sketches you and will splash vibrant watercolours all over the picture, creating a painting that slightly resembles a more colourful, distorted you. “People seem to really jump on the project because it’s just so full of joy!” Stobo says, adding that highlighting people’s flaws can be a beautiful thing. A Calgarian and a single mother with a huge passion for art and people, Stobo came up with the idea out of her desire to stay home with her son while at the same time building an art community from her living room. As Stobo was pondering the idea of how to use the Internet to grow a business, she observed many different social media platforms and noticed that they all had one thing in common – an avatar (user’s photo). “I just started painting people’s avatars that I thought were cool,” Stobo says. “I thought that was perfect because I’d never run out of material.” In the fall of 2011, Stobo went straight to work painting several celebrities’ photos that she would grab off their Twitter accounts, making sure to send back her painted version as a way of saying, “High five, you’re rad!” It turned out the celebrities loved their painted portraits and shared them with thousands of fans and followers on their media sites and in their communities. In less than two months, Stobo became a social media phenomenon, with more and more people requesting their own personal Bad Portrait. To date, Stobo has painted more than 15,000 pictures and is getting lots of feedback that people like her “rad” idea and are thrilled to get a unique piece of personal art for such a reasonable price. “I only charge $100 so people can start collecting artwork without breaking the bank,” she says. “I thought there needs to be an avenue where people can get involved in collecting art and in the art scene without it hurting their lifestyle.” For the more adventurous art enthusiasts Stobo also creates large contemporary paintings that sell anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.

Artist

And for those on a really tight budget, there is a solution for them too. Every Sunday, Stobo sets up shop at the Ship and Anchor pub in downtown Calgary where anyone who asks can watch her paint his or her own Bad Portrait, right there for free. Not only does Stobo stay humble by continuing to paint anyone who asks, she also keeps adding to her list of well-known people, ranging from NHL players to musicians to politicians, including Calgary’s own Mayor Naheed Nenshi. During the Calgary flood, Stobo felt extremely helpless and was moved to do something to help. She came up with the idea to create a Bad Portrait of Nenshi in scuba gear, symbolizing his great leadership skills during the flood, while proving some much needed comic relief. The Scuba Nenshi painting was put on T-shirts that people could purchase for $20 with all proceeds going towards the Canadian Red Cross. As the image was shared through Twitter, it became a social media sensation. Thousands of people ordered the T-shirts and Stobo scrambled to hire staff to keep up with the demand. These days it seems like there is no end in sight to Stobo’s success and people can expect to see more big things from her. She’s currently working with NBC and a documentary crew in the U.S. who want to use Bad Portraits to create a brand to end violence. She will be working with several programs that rehabilitate ex-convicts and put them back into society. Not only does Stobo have an optimistic outlook of her future, but also the future of art in Alberta. “We have such an amazing foundation in so many ways that we can really nurture style and art and work really hard to put us on the map because there are just so many talented people in this province,” Stobo says. By Lisa Taylor Photos Submitted

People seem to really jump on the project because it’s just so full of joy!” routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Mark Williams Falconer

he air is sharp and cold the morning I set out on a hunt with falconer Mark Williams. Prior to leaving, Williams spends a good hour weighing his birds (Coal, Wallace and Lucky), and taking copious notes on their weight and condition. After packing his gear – camera, electronic tracking devices for the birds, and portioned raw meat to trade for the (hoped for) fresh kill – he is ready to load the falcons. A faint pink hue brushes the dark sky as we head east into the rising sun. Leaving the foothills behind, we head for the flatlands. The prairie is where these birds fly best. Better prey, fewer fences and less cover make for satisfying hunts. Bumping along the back roads, Williams’ eyes are trained on the stubble in the fields, not on what lies ahead. His truck is easy to spot, the license plate reads FALCNR and the vehicle is usually pulled to the side or stopped on the road, the operator busy scanning the grassland. Once spotted, we park a ways back from the quarry (prey). Williams chooses a falcon, un-hoods the bird and removes its jesses. He then releases the bird into the open sky, most likely saying a prayer that it returns. Then the dogs are out and the hunt is on. “The falcon watches the dogs and the dogs watch the prey,” comments Williams of how all his animals work together. He goes on to explain that it’s not training that made this team, it’s experience and some innate peculiarity that all predators seem to possess. The rush of watching the raptor corner its prey never gets old for Williams. He has been hunting with falcons and hawks for going on four decades, making him somewhat of an expert on this 4,000-year-old field sport. “Believe it or not, I’m rooting for the prey,” Williams says. It’s all part of the enjoyment of the hunt in which Williams deems – nature at its best. “We just arrange the meeting,” he explains of being a falconer. “The only reason you need to catch prey is for the falcon’s sake.”

The bird allows you into its life. It teaches you patience, humbleness...”

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Once the dogs flush out the quarry, the falcon, fixed on its prey, dives from unseen heights, reaching speeds of almost 300 kilometers per hour. Just missing a direct hit with the ground, the falcon brakes and in an almost cartoon-like maneuver changes course from vertical to horizontal, catching its prey from behind. When the deed is done, Williams moves in for the trade off. “It’s my feathered shotgun,” says Williams with an exhilarated grin as he swaps the fresh kill for a pre-portioned morsel. Feeding hawks and falcons just the right amount is imperative, and something every falconer takes very seriously. “You have to weigh it (the bird) to know if it’s too hungry or too fat to fly,” explains Williams. “The only bond we have is trust and food,” he adds. Becoming a falconer or even an apprentice to one isn’t something that happens overnight. As Williams points out, falconry isn’t so much a cool hobby as it is a way of life. It defines you. “If you’ve ever owned a dog or a cat, you aren’t prepared, owning a wild bird is nothing like it,” asserts Williams. “You can give a dog food and leave it in a run. If you did that with a falcon it would go wild.” With more rules than fishing or other styles of hunting, falconry is provincially regulated and coupled with a mandatory apprenticeship designed to weed out those who aren’t capable of handling the

Photos by Mark Williams, Dubai

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commitment. All falconers must be members of the Alberta Falconry Association, which administers the apprenticeship program as well as assigns species of birds based on the skill of the user. Registered and papered falconers are allowed to take up to two birds of a specified species from the wild per year. Most are birds trapped as juveniles or taken from the nest. In the wild, 75 per cent of all young will not live to see their second year and if they make it to six, they are considered old. A ‘haggard bird,’ one of few that survives its first year, is never taken from the wild. The most limiting factor of falconry is the huge demand of time, explains Williams. Once they are trained, daily handling is vital to keep the birds from turning wild. A raptor has limited intelligence. Basically it’s a feathered reptile, adds Williams. Vacations, family time and work for a falconer are all centered around caring for and training the birds. “The one underlying thing all falconers have in common is they make their job work for their falconry,” Williams says. The softer side of falconry is all about the conservation and management of wild birds of prey. In the ’60s falconers were the first to notice the decrease in raptors, the Peregrine Falcon in particular, due to DDT (a controversial pesticide banned in 1972). “Much of the breeding stock, for captive breeding and eventual re-introduction, of Peregrines was supplemented with birds

from falconers,” Williams explains. “Falconers were the first to breed falcons in captivity,” he adds, something no one else working in the conservation of these birds had accomplished. The knowledge gained from captive breeding and general falconry husbandry expertise was shared and is now used in several government-run captive breeding programs. This was the focus of the Canadian Wildlife Services captive Peregrine breeding facility at CFB Camp Wainwright and at Saskatchewan’s co-operative falcon breeding program in Saskatoon where more than 500 birds were bred in captivity and released back into the wild. Falconers can also take credit for the banding and tracking of wild falcons. Several members of the Alberta Falconry Association worked to build artificial nesting sites on natural cliffs as well as nest boxes on high-rises in Edmonton and Calgary. The program is now managed by Alberta Fish and Wildlife. For Williams the aspect of falconry that appeals to him most is the special bond between man and animal – an animal that will retain its wildness no matter what. “The bird allows you into its life. It teaches you patience, humbleness and that you are second to the bird. It has a spirit you can’t break; you’ll kill it before you break it,” Williams philosophized. “You are that bird’s servant and it bows to no one.” By Veronica Kloiber November/December 2012

F O L L OW U P

his past September Williams took a two-year “dream job” in Dubai, UAE for a company that produces micro radio telemetry transmitters that falconers place on their birds in order to locate them should they inadvertently get lost. Unfortunately the move overseas meant he had to find new homes for his birds and his dogs. He has since acquired a new falcon, an untrained black Shaheen (a sub-species of Peregrine) that likely originated and migrated from the southern Himalayas. Williams says while much of the Bedouin lifestyle has changed drastically in just the past generation, not least their economy, the local people have managed to retain much of their culture and customs. Falconry is now a recreational occupation rather than a means to find food to live. He feels fortunate in his work. The product he is selling and servicing is crucial to their Gulf customers’ success of the practice of falconry. In the course of his daily job he gets to meet Sheikhs and members of the royal family. The move has been a busy one but Williams aims to take some time for his photography while living in this fascinating culture and maximize the great travel opportunities that the proximity to Dubai presents.

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Martin Reinhard

Master Blacksmith

hese days, blacksmithing seems akin in antiquarianism to a job in the fur trade or a car dealership selling only Model Ts. But for one of the last remaining master blacksmiths in the country, it says we are truly a people disconnected from the elements – earth, water, wind, fire – and our past. Martin Reinhard cups a few handfuls of damp coke, pushing a pile around the edge of a small flame. The forge feeds voraciously on vented air and is soon ablaze, rising to a near-instant 4,000 F. “Beats any acetylene torch,” he announces. Seconds later a steel rod inside the heat is orange-hot, or in blacksmith language, warm. “We never say hot.” He strikes it. When it starts to cool (though, still warm enough to sear a third-degree burn), Martin continues with the natural rhythm of a blacksmith, musically tinging the hammer twice against the anvil face in between each heavier metallic clang of the rod. Clang. Ting, ting. Clang. Ting, ting. “Heat it and hammer it, heat it and hammer it, tempering it,” he says as he places the rod back in the fire for a second heat. While his storefront is located on Nanton’s Main Street, Martin’s workshop is located in a non-descript back-alley entranceway off Hwy 2. For all its modesty, it’s the only one of its kind in the province and there are three (maybe) like it in Canada. Likewise, Martin himself is equally modest and rare. He’s a master blacksmith of which fewer and fewer remain (none in Canada, to his knowledge). He’s a sculptor of art in which “each piece is one of one.” He’s an inventor of a wall-mounted kindling-splitter called Mr. Quicksplit. And he’s a chemist or – chemistry’s medieval precur-

sor – an alchemist, possessing knowledge of elements’ properties with an ability to meld them into wrought iron – something stronger and just as historically significant as gold. “Material gets 10 times stronger after it’s been forged,” he says. The rod he’s forging now begins to take shape with a twisted loop at one end and a hook at the other. “I make my own tools,” Martin continues, explaining how he petitioned the Government of Alberta once in a letter to advocate at least 14 different trades that could benefit from a day in his shop. “I can work with no electricity,” he says. “You show me a trade that can do that.” There was a time when a town couldn’t survive without a blacksmith; but today, a one-man shop working with the four elements, fire, water, earth and air, is quaint, parochial. If ‘humans’ – traditionally held as the fifth element – are shapers and tinkerers, then Janet Rose, Martin’s partner at their Willow Creek Forge storefront is the sixth, tirelessly promoting Martin and blacksmithing in general. “Martin has no apprentice,” she says, explaining that when the blacksmithing world loses Martin, a lifetime of master blacksmithing experience will be lost with him. What does it say about a generation with no understanding of wrought iron? Either Janet or Martin will tell you, it says something about the world’s “Wal-Mart mentality” and explains in a nutshell how society popularly defines value. Martin knows first-hand the hard balance between blacksmith-as-artist and blacksmith-as-knick-knack-maker.

I make my own tools... I can work with no electricity... show me a trade that can do that.”

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“It’s tomorrow’s antiques, my stuff. The stuff that comes from China …” he says, trailing off to insinuate the obvious. “This,” showing his previously forged work, “is like having an original oil painting.” One measure of a blacksmith’s work is how many times it has been placed in the fire or how many “heats” it took. Like this, Martin has undergone several heats. He grew up in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of a long line of hard-working oven builders. He passed his master blacksmith exam, which requires six types of welding know-how. “It’s not multiple choice, believe me,” he says. In 1976, he moved to Alberta, welding in the oil patch, doing stainless steel work at the Calgary airport, helping restore the Banff Springs Hotel, and more recently, from his shop in Nanton, forging gates for luxury homes in Canmore and Bearspaw and other works, which like everything in blacksmithing: “You have to start from scratch. Nothing will be identical.” With all the tools, knowledge, shop space and patience (his blacksmith course is open to anyone) all Martin needs is to find an apprentice. The job isn’t perfect, “Oh you get burned,” he says. But there’s a need for more and more of it, and importantly, money to be made. “I got a call this morning,” he says. “Well-spoken man. Wants a window basket made by a real blacksmith, like what you would see in England,” his steely blue eyes, gunmetal in the reflection of the anvil as he continues to work. “I’m the guy for you.”

F O L L OW U P

n 2012, Reinhard appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, where he presented his homemade wood splitting device, Mr. Quicksplit. All five Dragons were thrilled with Reinhard’s clever invention and each of them was interested in making him an offer. When he stepped out to make a decision, a bidding war started over the16inch high, iron-forged dragon that Reinhard crafted and brought on the show. In the end, Reinhard was offered, and accepted, $50,000 for 10 per cent of his company. After the show aired, orders for Mr. Quicksplit began to pour in and he says that being on the show has significantly helped his business and was a valuable experience. He laughs and says that he has become almost like a celebrity in Nanton, as many people have come by his shop just to take pictures of him. In post-show discussions, Reinhard declined going any further with the offer for a variety of reason; however, the offer remains on the table and Reinhard is happy with where he is at now and says business is doing very well. He has yet to find an apprentice but is enjoying bragging rights to being a one-of-a-kind blacksmith. And as for Reinhard’s iron dragon – it went home with Kevin O’Leary.

By Peter Worden Fall 2011

Martin Reinhard and Janet Rose on Dragons Den, 2012 (photo submitted)

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My whole life is a hobby â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I just get paid for some of the things I do.â&#x20AC;?

Matts Zoumer

ook up and all around and you’ll find “The Zman’s” work everywhere. From the caricatures on ceiling tiles in the Twin Cities Bar in Longview to business windows all over Calgary during Stampede, in carvings, on walls, to even in his self published books. Around here, most people know Matts for his murals, most recently, East Longview Hall, the colourful depictions of the ranching lifestyle can be seen for miles. Matts also loves to sketch, draw, carve, chainsaw or otherwise, turning anything into a work of art. “I just can’t stand white walls,” he told me as we sipped coffee together one afternoon. He was wearing the same well-worn cowboy hat he had on the first time I met him. In fact, I’ve never seen him without it - it is as much a part of his distinctive character as is his bushy, walrus moustache. Born in Edmonton, Matts always felt a calling to the cowboy lifestyle and moved from place to place all along the Cowboy Trail, including Sundre and Priddis, and for the past 10 years, Longview. He spoke of moving again, going south – 30 kilometers south that is. “I think I have one more move left in me, but this area is home,” he said. At 59 years old (2011), he has held over 46 jobs to which his good friend remarked: “You’re either the most interesting person in the world, or the most, unstable individual I’ve ever seen.” “What makes me happiest is doing, it’s a fire that needs fuel,” Matts said. He has a real passion for learning. One of those past jobs was being a physical education teacher, where he said, “The biggest job is to instill the love of learning.” Matts’ love of learning is evident in his latest creative venture, a Western historical novel (set in the Pekisko area), with the details based on facts of the era in which the story is set. While preparing a sample for the East Longview Hall, he found the project to be a history lesson. “I had depicted cowboys doing strictly ranch work in my original draft and the history of the East Longview area, as I learned, included more farming activities. There is a strong distinction, yet strong ties between the cattlemen and the farming community of east Longview.” Another of Matts’ art projects, fueled by his creative mind, is turning a seven-foot plaster Greek urn

Illustrator/Muralist into a lingerie wearing, big busted trashy bar maid – complete with a moving arm acting as a lever to dispense beer. Everything Matts touches becomes a one-of, a unique piece. But don’t go looking for Matts’ work in any art gallery. “What makes me happy is doing something – seeing something, creating it, then selling it,” he said. A one-of-a-kind himself, Matts won’t refer to himself as an artist. “My whole life is a hobby – I just get paid for some of the things I do.” By Sandra Wiebe Summer 2011

F O L L OW U P

ven though Zoumer said he might still have one more move left in him, he now says that he is content living in Longview, jokingly adding that unless he gets to move to the Playboy Mansion, he’s not going anywhere. As far as other projects go, Zoumer is, not surprisingly, working on many different things. He has been sculpting and painting up a storm and has recently painted a series of 53-foot western murals on semi-trailer trucks. Additionally, Zoumer has written a western historical novel entitled, Lost in Pekisko, which is about a man who encounters many adventures while trying to survive in the Pekisko area. The novel is set to come out sometime in November. On top of all this, Zoumer is on a mission to cross off as many items from his bucket list as he can. So far, he’s learning to play the guitar and the bagpipes and he has picked up a bit of Spanish from a recent trip to Cuba. Zoumer says that everyday presents a new challenge, adding that he’s got his list of things to do and he’s “pretty darn happy.”

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Photos taken at Banff Springs Hotel, Banff

Mike Holmes

Residential Contractor/TV Host

fter spending an afternoon with Canada’s most trusted contractor, it became apparent that Mike Holmes is even more personable than his “non-scripted” television demeanor depicts. Behind his piercing blue eyes and diamond-studded ears, the self-proclaimed workaholic is starting to realize the importance of enjoying life by stealing pockets of time amidst his breakneck schedule. His vision for change never sleeps. “For whatever reason, we don’t think outside the box: we know it’s wrong, but we don’t change our approach to building better homes. It’s not about changing the minimum building codes, it’s about changing how we look at things,” Holmes says. “Things won’t change until we know better – by learning from our mistakes.” He appears to be a knight in shining armour to the thousands of families he personally helps to ‘make it right’ when renovations go wrong, so it’s no wonder he has a global following. “We’ve got to stop doing things because that’s the way we’ve always done them. We haven’t changed the minimum building codes for 30-odd years and they’re not working,” remarks Holmes. “Two of the fastest growing businesses are home inspections and mould abatement.” Because according to Holmes, every single house has mould – the question is how much. “Imagine living in a house that won’t mould or burn, it won’t fall down or blow down. Imagine building a community that operates as ‘net-zero,’ meaning it actually produces more electricity than it uses,” Holmes adds. When Holmes forayed into the Wind Walk project, a sustainable community slated for development south of Okotoks, his vision of the Holmes Community was to build houses that would last for centuries (costing about 15 per cent more than the going rate). Three years later (2011), the project sits before the provincial government awaiting its decision, and Holmes has no intention of giving up. “Eventually, it will move forward because I’m not giving up, it’s the right thing do to. I picked Alberta because it’s progressive with respect to the environment,” explains Holmes. “It’s about doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time.” Holmes explains that the project’s greatest challenge has to do with water. “We want the water and sewer to be 100 per cent contained within the community. The water source comes from the aquifer: we’ll use it and clean it and return it to the aquifer. Everything in life is about that cycle: how can we move, how can we grow, how can we continue – for our kids and their future.” And when it comes the next generation, Holmes has met with the prime minister on several occasions to talk about ‘green’ initia-

tives. “We’re all thinking green, we’re all talking green, but who’s teaching it? How do we move from the level we’re at now, building minimum code that’s literally not working, to designing differently?” he asks. Holmes Communities will hire local apprentices and teach them how to build these houses. It creates a brand new certification and will change the industry overnight.” When it comes to building a better house, Holmes combines history with technology and a bit of common sense. “When you think about how we built years ago, we had canopies over our windows and they were positioned at perfect degrees. In the summer, it shaded us from the solar passive and kept the house cool, but in the winter, it still allowed the sunshine to heat the environment,” he says. “Why did we stop using canopies? Was it cheaper or did we just become stupid?” His forward thinking, backed by his drive for action, has landed him in a league of his own where he is both respected and disliked. Regardless, Holmes has already made a tremendous difference and he attributes many of his traits – like them or not – to his father. “My Dad was a real unique person and, among other things, he taught me respect and to think for myself,” Holmes says. “I grew up in a tough neighbourhood and maybe that’s what made me strong. I was a wimpy kid and got beat up a lot. I was about 14 when I finally stood up for myself and realized I was strong enough to fight back.” Holmes has been working on a Mighty Mike a cartoon character to be launched in 2012. “It’s a version of me as a kid. It follows Mighty Mike’s activity with a crew of kids around him. It’s going to help teach kids integrity, kindness, respect, having a passion for what they do and, of course, how to become a contractor,” Holmes explains. “He’s going to be an icon for the next generation.” Looking at Holmes’ bucket list, there appears to be a lot of checkmarks. “In the last 10 years, everything was planned, with one exception: the accident was going from Holmes Homes to Holmes Communities!” With four companies, a bi-monthly magazine and four books under the Holmes Group, he’s on a roll. “I planned every book ahead of time and I’ve still got two more to go. The fifth one is about the environment and how we need to understand the changes that are necessary. The sixth book is called, Men are Easy, because I have always been drawn to write a book about love, life and sex,” he says with a grin. “When I read the book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, I was 30 and newly divorced. Afterwards, I said to myself, ‘It’s that easy?’ Then I called my ex-wife and apologized – for everything.”

To me, there’s never a mistake in life. Everything is a lesson and that’s how we learn. I’ve never regretted anything that has helped me understand life better and helped me get to where I am today.” routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Holmes looks at life as one continuous learning curve, turning mistakes into lessons and moving forward. “To me, there’s never a mistake in life. Everything is a lesson and that’s how we learn. I’ve never regretted anything that has helped me understand life better and helped me get to where I am today.” Holmes admits he thought Wind Walk would have been better received, but like most things in life, he sees it as a learning opportunity. “There’s nothing negative about this project – we spent over a million dollars planning and testing it,” he says. “No matter what happens, after the first community has been built, I’ll have changed the industry.” In a rare moment, when Holmes is not working, you’ll find him on his boat or travelling across the country on his new three-wheel motorcycle. “I calculate my time by what’s important to me. It’s important to finish what I’ve started and I speculate I’ve got about five years to go, but I doubt it will ever stop,” he adds. The next bucket list will take him to 60 and according to Holmes, it’s anybody’s guess what happens after that. “I always said I’m going to buy an island and disappear and I’m probably going to do that, but then again, maybe I’ll build an underground house.” By Mary Savage Fall 2011

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F O L L OW U P

olmes has been keeping extremely busy these days. The success of Holmes Communities has the handyman flying all over the country and he recently wrapped up Canada’s Handyman Challenge. He is also working on a Father’s Day special with his son, which he can’t offer details about just yet, but promises it is going to be “HUGE.” Aside from all this, Holmes has also finished episodes of Holmes Makes it Right in Calgary and High River, which shows the flood devastation in some areas and teaches the right way to deal with the damage. Holmes says his visit to High River was shocking, and describes the devastation as even bigger than what he saw in New Orleans, in terms of landmass. He encourages residents in the area to be patient, work with the government and get the right people to help, in order to keep things safe and get the job done properly. As for the Wind Walk project near Okotoks, it is still in the works. He and his team are working with the MD of Foothills to develop a joint long-term water solution that will help the entire region. His vision for the project is a “model community for building a healthy and responsible future for our kids and grandkids.” With a heart for education, Holmes is still fine-tuning the Mighty Mike show and is seeking the right network for it. He wants children to learn about tools, building and using their imagination while having fun at the same time.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never forget that experience on the mountainside... I think about it every day of my life.â&#x20AC;?

Paul Rasporich Artst/Teacher/Screenplay Writer

n artistic type since the tender age of five, Paul Rasporich has painted hundreds of people, some common, some famous. In the big name category, he has painted the Dalai Lama, prima ballerina Karen Kain, Field of Dreams author W.P. Kinsella, and Alberta musician Ian Tyson. He’s been shortlisted to paint seven prime ministers, and in 2010 he was asked to submit samples of his work for consideration to paint the Queen’s portrait to mark her Diamond Jubilee. In the common category, Paul has painted countless portraits of people and families, a smattering of scenes featuring nature and wildlife, and numerous compelling depictions of Aboriginal people embracing their colourful traditions. His big name work is the stuff of a great story

– a talented artist in our midst. But fame and popularity is not Paul’s thing. He doesn’t get fired up until he gets to the part about his affinity for First Nations people – a detour in his life journey that began with an extraordinary vision he experienced over ten years ago. Here’s the story as Paul told it to me: “I was in my early thirties and I was at home painting and looking after my two boys. Suddenly I got extremely tired and my body felt heavy, so I laid down. I had this strange dream; only it wasn’t a dream – it felt like an out-of-body experience. I felt a loud drumbeat, or thunderclap, and I was an eagle, flying over ridges toward a mountain where there was an enormous tree with two aboriginal men, one on each side of the tree. I didn’t know these men but they knew me, and they wanted me to remember what I was seeing and what they were saying to me,

This oil painting, titled Raven Singer was used as the latest album of new works by Ian Tyson.

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although words were not necessary where I was. There was this huge red cliff behind the tree and it was full of holes. They said the holes represented youth who had not realized their potential. I understood they were referring to youth who had committed suicide. They told me, ‘You know what to do about this; you can help eliminate this barrier.’ Then I was back in my living room and I didn’t know what to make of the experience. It was completely real. Later, I did research and found out that the two men were holy First Nations men from the 1800s: Black Elk, a Sioux visionary, and Walking Buffalo (George McLean) a former Chief of the Nakoda First Nation.” Soon after that profound experience, Paul turned his career in a new direction. Feeling that he couldn’t properly support his family on an artist’s wage, he went back to school and supplemented his fine arts degree with a degree in education. His first teaching job was as a Native Liaison at the Cochrane High School. There, he got to know the Nakoda people and their culture, and he began to devote his art, both painting and sculpture, to scenes that depicted First Nations’ life and traditions. “I felt at home with these people. I owe a lot of what I know about our connection to nature and animals to my adoptive grandfather, the late John Stevens, a medicine person who is famous for bringing a peaceful outcome to the Gustafsen Lake conflict in 1995,” Paul said. Emboldened by his calling to help youth at risk, Paul began to dream about a school that would more effectively engage and include the aboriginal perspective. He envisioned a cross-cultural school that would teach kids through art. As his idea began to take shape, a charter school, Calgary Arts Academy opened in Calgary. The school’s mandate, to teach the Alberta curriculum through visual art, music, drama, dance, and the literary arts, appealed to Paul and he took a job at the school teaching Grades 1 and 2 for a few years. Since then, the school went on to build a new facility and Paul moved on to teach at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond. In this role, he continues to champion programs that promote multiculturalism and to reach out to aboriginal youth with his art and his genuine appreciation of their history and traditions. For now the path of this artist/teacher is a slow and steady trek; a soulful journey that appears to have been carved out by late, enlightened spirits still shining for their people. “I’ll never forget that experience on the mountainside,” Paul said. “I think about it every day of my life.” By Pat Fream Summer 2010

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F O L L OW U P

lthough he was not chosen to paint the Queen’s portrait, Paul says he doesn’t mind, it was just great to be nominated. These days, the artist and teacher has moved away from painting portraits to make room for his newfound creative outlet - screenwriting. He says he originally took some courses on screenwriting because he planned to produce a graphic novel; however, plans changed when he got the opportunity to work on the screenplay based on the life of American poet, John Neihardt. Paul, and his wife, Lee Kvern, are now working as a team to have the screenplay ready for Hollywood this spring. Lee (a published novelist) is tightening up the writing and Paul is working on the illustrations. Paul currently teaches Grades 7 to 12 art and digital art at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond. He says he loves working there because he finally gets to be a First Nation liaison by helping First Nations kids feel welcome and experience success. He says he is even using his school kids as models to help him with the visuals for his screenplay, adding that the illustrations will also help the director when it comes time to cast actors. Paul has recently finished the cover for Ian Tyson’s album and is in the process of painting a cover for The Travelling Mabels’ new CD. Paul feels like he is exactly where he should be, doing exactly what he needs to do.

A recent sketch to accompany the screenplay Paul is writing based on the book Black Elk and Flaming Rainbow, by Hilda Neihardt.

Peter Fuller

The armour I make is an extension of that artistic gift. It’s basically sculpting the human form in steel... it’s made to be worn and used.”

Peter Fuller Armourist

hen Peter Fuller was just four years old, a salesman came to our door peddling Ajax Laundry Detergent. Back in the day Ajax ran a series of TV commercials where a white knight jousted with the clothesline to get the clothes clean and this particular salesman was dressed in a suit of armour painted white to match the guy on TV. From that moment on, Fuller was hooked on all things medieval. “I always wanted to have my own armour, but it just wasn’t available, so when I was 20, I started tinkering and making armour as a hobby,” Fuller said. By the early ‘90s, he was working in the Military History Department of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. “Then Ralph Klein decided I didn’t need to work there anymore. That was almost 18 years ago, and I’m still making armour!” Since starting his own company in1994, Fuller has been carefully reproducing historically accurate renaissance and medieval arms, armour, and artwork like the piece Mike Holmes is wearing on the cover of Routes, Fall 2011. “It’s a copy of a German gothic harness, circa 1485,” he said of the suit Holmes wore. “It’s probably what most people would consider what the classic ‘knight in shining armour’ would have worn,

but it’s more early renaissance than medieval.” Fuller explains that by the latter part of the 15th century, chivalry had gone out of vogue and men fought more for money than honour. Since there’s no such thing as an armour-making school when Fuller started, there were also no books on making armour. “I just went out and bought an anvil, some hammers, and some steel, and started pounding,” Fuller said. His grandfather, who taught metallurgical analysis during the Second World War, showed Fuller how to shape metal. “He wasn’t very interested in what I wanted to do, but I managed to get a very basic explanation out of him,” Fuller said. The rest was experimentation and the school of hard knocks. Not only is he self taught and skilled at his craft, but he is one of only approximately a dozen or so professional working armourists in Canada. When making armour, Fuller said that is always his goal to make it as close to the original as he can, working from surviving originals that he has examined in museums or from contemporary artwork. When it comes to suit worn by Holmes, it appeared that armour was made to order.

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“Although it looked good – probably more due to Mike than the armour – if he had tried to move around in it, he would have noticed that it wasn’t made for him, mostly by what we, in the industry, call ‘armour bites’ where parts of your body get pinched by ill-fitting pieces,” Fuller said. He explains that when making armour for an individual, every curve and contour of the intended wearer's body is artfully sculpted in steel. His every move is accommodated by an ingenious system of articulated joints, sliding rivets, and internal leathers. With Mike Holmes a willing participant, Fuller had an easy job suiting him up. “I asked him to let me know if any of the straps were too tight, and he answered, ‘Just do what you need to do, man.’ I got no complaints from him at all.” Although Fuller rents his armour out to movies and television, Holmes was the first celebrity that he personally suited up in harness. “If everybody’s like him,” Fuller said. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat!” Fuller provided pieces for the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, and the Higgins Armory Museum, Worcester. His replica of the armour of George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, champion to Queen Elizabeth I was made to display in Appleby Castle in England, where the original once was. (The original armour is now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.) Fuller explained that a very plain, simple style of armour would take him about three months to complete, whereas more elaborate armour (like the one Mike wore) would take longer, up to six months, and the Clifford armour took him three and a half years to produce. However, he is skill goes beyond armour. Fuller came from a family of artists, and in his youth he attended art school so he can paint, sculpt and carve wood. He is especially keen on watercolour, pen and ink, and likes to write, with a novel and 76

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numerous short stories already published. He is working on two more novels, as well as a non-fiction book about armour. “The armour I make is an extension of that artistic gift. It’s basically sculpting the human form in steel, but it goes beyond that; it’s also functional; that is, it’s made to be worn and used. By Sandra Wiebe Fall 2011 Getting the Shot When photographer Neville Palmer had an idea to photograph Mike Holmes in a suit of armour, he found craftsman Peter Fuller in Calgary. Peter was willing to drive his authentic, handmade replica suits of armour to Banff to dress Mike. We were all surprised and grateful that Mike was so willing and it took longer to suit up Mike than it did to do the photoshoot.

F O L L OW U P

t 53, with chronic tendonitis and more than 20 years of hard work invested in the business, Fuller is looking to hang up his hammer soon, or at least exchange it for pen and paper. In fact he’s working on an adventure novel and screenplay called Valley of the White Giants, set in British Columbia and based on native legends. Still, armour and its corresponding sports are close to the heart for Fuller. He has recently completed work for a new video game promotion by SEGA, and is looking forward to attending the reenactment of the Battle of Agincourt, in France in 2015. One wouldn’t think there would be much demand for personal suits of armour these days, but Fuller says it’s just the opposite. He says there is plenty of interest in the growing art form/sport of mêlée and jousting (some are working to get jousting recognized as an Olympic event), as well as those interested in battle reenactment scenarios and he still receives plenty of calls from collectors looking for authentic replicas.

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Shannon Lawlor Artist

er horse paintings are exquisite, more like photographs than brushstrokes. They capture the true essence of the animal from each hair and contour to their spirits. And in her art, the stories unfold, both of bridle horses and of Lawlor’s life. Shannon Lawlor knows horses. “I’ve never not been around them,” she said. “If I wasn’t riding them I was drawing them.” From an early age, Lawlor found her path in life. While she may not have known it as a child, looking back it’s apparent that she would make her way with horses. She grew up in a Manitoba town barely big enough to fill in the dot on the map. The small farming town of Kenton shaped her early years. Horses featured strongly during her girlhood with most of her time spent at a small barn on the outskirts of town. “As a kid, I was always painting and drawing them,” Lawlor reminisced. “All I wanted to do was be around them.” As time passed, Lawlor’s girlish crush grew deeper still. By high school, she knew her life’s work was to be with horses, be it as a trainer or somewhere in the equine industry. What she didn’t know was that she was to become an artist. After years of western competitions, equine companions loved and lost, and working in the equine industry, Lawlor found herself in Alberta (currently Nanton). She continued to live and breathe horses until 2005 when everything changed. “I worked so hard for so many years I became exhausted, physically burnt out,” she said. “I rode so many horses I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and I was mortified because I never thought I’d feel that way.” So she quit riding, sold all her horses and sat down for some hard thinking. “I never took the art seriously. I never thought I could make a living at this, ever,” Lawlor said. “I had no other source of income besides art and no idea what I was doing but somehow I made it stick.”

Clichés best detail what happened next for Lawlor: One door closes, another opens. It’s always the darkest hour before the dawn. The people and things you need most somehow materialize right when you need them. Enter Lawlor’s mentor, friend, teacher and confidant David Kitler. They met in 1998 and in 2005 when Lawlor changed horses mid-stream so to speak, she began taking art lessons from Kitler. Fifteen years on and the lessons have worked well. Lawlor’s talent, obvious from the get go, has grown into a type of mastery. The fine details she sees and coaxes off her canvas are intense. You have to take a break from looking at her work or your eyes will become lost in the precision. “I’m obsessed,” she joked. “I close my eyes and there’s a horse. It’s like breathing, I know them so well.” Her bond with the horse is apparent in her work. It’s not just her comfort with the anatomy and conformation that makes her paintings mesmerizing. Lawlor can capture a feeling of being in their presence and share it on canvas. Two of her most acclaimed works are Cholo a close-up study of a flea bitten grey in a tooled silver bridle and bosal, and Casey, a portrait of a beautiful bay with a mane and forelock to die for. Both paintings won the Ex Arte Equinus International Equine Art Competition in 2007 and 2011 respectively. To date Lawlor is the only artist to have received this award twice. Cholo also won the People’s Choice Award at the Phippen Museum Wild Horse Exhibit in Prescott, Arizona. Lawlor considers Cholo her signature piece and one of her most recognizable works. It wasn’t always so. When she first broke into the western art scene, naturally no one had heard of her. She recalls bringing her own lunches to weeklong shows in the United States and watching longingly as other exhibitors walked by with fancy coffees she couldn’t afford.

I’m obsessed, I close my eyes and there’s a horse. It’s like breathing, I know them so well.”

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“I hope that phase is over,” Lawlor said. “I did the starving artist thing for the first five or six years. It took a long time, but a couple of years ago it started to change.” Her next big show will be this July at the Calgary Stampede where she plans to unveil the next phase of her art, something she’s been working on for some time and something that will bring her full circle. “The work is changing and it’s a little exciting and a little scary,” she said. Shannon Lawlor knows horses. She can ride them, train them and capture their very spirit in paint, but perhaps her greatest gift is recognizing her dreams from the past when they play out in real life. By Veronica Kloiber May/June 2013

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F O L L OW U P

hannon had a great experience being an art exhibitor at Calgary Stampede 2013, giving her the opportunity to reach so many viewers and make great contacts. Her portfolio of art is on ongoing process as is keeping in front of the public. Her new website is updated with a contemporary feel. Shannon is happy to report she has the rest of the winter to be at home and paint.

Steve Coffey Arist/Musician

fter flipping through large canvas after large canvas of his artwork in storage at his home in Vulcan, Steve Coffey heads to the fridge to grab a beer. In the living room, tunes from Steve Coffey & The Lokels’ album Bovine World Rail boom, the cover of the album features a Coffey painting. In the kitchen he points to the pantry where a previous album, Runaway Slave, was recorded, casually mentioning how Bravo Canada purchased the rights to his band’s DVD, and joking, “What do they want with a bunch of middle-aged bastards like us?” The Coffey’s 100-year-old home once belonged to Vulcan’s former mayor, pharmacist and owner of King Drug Store, Errett King. Now, as its current owner, this prolific painter and singersongwriter happily homebrews his own elixir – equal parts music and paint. If you’ve seen or heard of Steve Coffey before, it’s probably because you’ve heard or seen his art. Coffey’s band receives regular play on CBC, CKUA and CJSW and his paintings are handled by half a dozen major western Canadian galleries. But for all his artistic success Coffey remains remarkably nonplussed about the whole thing. His band has been together over10 years but doesn’t tour or apply for awards, and while there are devoted Coffey art collectors, his first painting, a bowl of fruit that might well be worth a small fortune someday, is buried in the garage somewhere. He thinks. He’s not sure. “I made up my mind, I wasn’t going to do art for money because there wasn’t any money in it to begin with,” he says. “I’m not painting for anyone or anything. I’m just painting. As far as music, it’s not a money maker. It’s just another outlet. Another palette.” Striking a balance between visual art and music has defined his professional life more than anything else. “It’s switching gears, dropping one tool and picking up another – a constant reflection of what’s going on around me and in me.” Five years ago the Coffey family moved from Calgary to Vulcan. He and wife Barb fell in love with the old King house and a community where they say everybody watches out for one another, even if sometimes too much. (The first few years, the neighbours would curiously glance in the window of his modest six-by-ten foot studio at the front entrance. Steve was baffled; he thought maybe his house was on fire.)

I’m overwhelmed by nature and I try to capture it... I just create art, if people buy it - cool.”

There was an adjustment period for the artist – when he mentioned he was a painter, people would ask if he could paint their house – but ultimately Coffey found what he’d intuitively sought with the move: a quiet place off the beaten path to drink beer, watch the northern lights and paint. His oil paintings are distinctly ‘Coffey,’ on wide canvasses. “I paint big,” he says, “seven-eighths sky and thin strips of landscape.” The sky in a Coffey painting seems boundless, sometimes static, sometimes stormy, sometimes cumulous clouds thick like bunched up Kleenex or wispy, spidery curlicues, a million different shades of brown or blue or vanilla. His paintings, he explains, are mental snapshots, digested memories of drives home or reminiscent of youthful days driving out to a grid road with a few buddies and a flat of beer to watch storms roll in. His artwork often features freight trains, which Coffey calls “kinetic sculptures” and “travelling galleries.” In fact, trains have figured into his work for years at different angles and distances much the way they’ve figured into his life. “There’s a lot of romance to it for me,” he says, explaining that his family moved from Manitoba by train, and how every

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few hours, trains used to blow past the family home in Innisfail, Alberta. Trains are part of his identity. “I think of the train as a symbol of connectedness.” Coffey loves trains and pattern-making in his art, toying with other longitudinal features like a long, simple trail, laundry lines or telephone poles. He insists his method is gestural, expressive, raw, don’t-let-it-stop-at-the-brain, and shrugs off any formal classification. “The more I try to be part of an ‘ism’ – whatever ‘ism’ it might be – I’m going to fail because I’m trying to be part of it,” he says. It all adds up to a storeroom full of priceless paradisiacal country-scapes that Coffey and his art buddies nonchalantly consider “slapping paint on stretched bed sheets.” “I’m overwhelmed by nature and I try to capture it. But I have to create a balance between what I see through my eyes and what’s in here,” he says, pointing to his head. “I just create art, if people buy it. – Cool.” With a home so full of music and artwork, it’s not surprising the whole Coffey family is artistic. His wife Barb spent 15 years touring with the Alberta Ballet. Their two daughters Grace, 13, and Lydia, 8, both play piano, draw and dance. (During this particular interview Grace is upstairs practicing the guitar. Says Steve: “She’s got

chops and licks I can’t even find. I suck at bar chords.”) As for Daisy the dog, what does she do? “She does a little dance,” Coffey says. “It’s expression and our house is about that. We teach our kids that art is important to express yourself; use art as a vehicle to help you.” As an artist who paints by his front door and records music in the kitchen, a portrait of Coffey would be only half-complete with no mention of his home life. As seamlessly as he divides his time as a musician and a painter, Coffey divides his time as an artist and a father. He has painted his own life and says it has taken a long time to get it just right. Last year, he says, marked a year of stress, sickness and sadness and, without going into too much detail, “upped the ante” as an artist. “The people around me are just so much more important,” he says. “Art has become really important as a cathartic activity in my life. It helps me keep my head clear. 2011 taught me so much about life, I can’t take things for granted.” Of course, with great artistic talent comes great artistic responsibility. Coffey briefly entertains the notion that someday his paintings could do for southern Alberta what the Group of Seven did for the Canadian Shield, and that peoples’ perceptions of the foothills be seven-eighths surreal, swirling sky with a train or storm on the horizon. By Peter Worden September/October 2012

F O L L OW U P

n the year since this interview, Coffey reports, “It’s been crazy!” On the art scene he has picked up new representation across the country at White Rock Gallery in Vancouver and Gallery 133 in Toronto. He has had several solo shows at: Collector’s Gallery, Calgary (Nov 2013); Geomatic Attic, Lethbridge; Rouge Gallery, Saskatoon; and Woodlands, Winnipeg (April 2014). Steve is thrilled with all the shows but tries to keep it all under control so there is still time to do the art. “As a Prairie guy – it’s interesting to see how the pieces are received in different locations.” His other love, music with The Lokels, has also keeps him busy. After the 2012 release of Bovine World Rail, the band has been working on its next album as well as developing the soundtrack for a short film. Yes, film! It began with a wall-size installation art mural Coffey painted on the side of a barn belonging to music producer and musician, Lance Loree (Nanton). The process of painting the mural was shot in HD with several cameras under the direction of Calgary filmmaker and friend, Thomas Funasaka. The result is an eight-minute short film and is part of a series called Love Letters to the Prairies. Not much for convention, Coffey takes his art, music and film off the beaten track and you won’t find the films on the Internet just yet, but at film festivals and select showings. For the coming year, Coffey is looking at more film work, mixed media and even working on an animated short film. “I’m visually satisfied and exhausted,” Coffey says.

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Photos taken at Anchor D Ranch, Turner Valley

Terry Grant

Tracker/Author/TV Personality

ith just a ball cap and silver beard, he would likely blend in – simply another face in the crowd. Swap the ball cap for a signature black cowboy hat, keep the beard and now he’s an easy mark for Terry Grant, the face of the popular reality show, Mantracker. Grant is a cowboy to the core and it’s a way of life he has chosen because of his passion for animals, land, people and Mother Nature’s unpredictable presence. Terry Grant and his three sisters had a typical life growing up in Creemore, Ontario and their homestead, surprisingly, was not a ranch. They did, however, have two ponies, and his earliest memories of riding were on the backs of those ponies – learning to ride and honing his roping skills on everything from cattle to cowgirls, but life back then wasn’t just about aspirations of riding the range. While his peers were enjoying the carefree days of summer, Grant’s teenage years were spent helping his stepfather build a new family home. He spent many a hot summer day pulling nails from wood plank siding that had been salvaged from a local motel and vacant houses. As he watched their new home come to life, he developed a real interest in carpentry – an interest-turned-hobby that he still enjoys today. When he wasn’t pulling nails, Grant was down the road at his cousin’s ranch where he and his friends helped with chores, rode horses and roped. At 17, Grant traded his hammer in for the open road and headed west to see the Rocky Mountains. He started working at the Bar U Ranch in 1976 and shortly thereafter, he crossed the road to work at J. Allen Baker’s place (originally part of the Bar U). “By the time I got to Alberta I had the basic roping and riding skills, but I started working with the good cowboys. I watched their technique, I learned from them and I started to make a living at it,” Grant says. “I’ve been a cowboy for 30 years and no matter the weather, I’m happiest when I’m on a horse.” Grant has worked on ranches throughout southern Alberta, moving cows with some of the best cattlemen in the area: Warren Zimmerman, Bert Sheppard, Steve Hoar, Gaile Gallup, Rich Roenich and Bob Spaith. “They moved cows the old way: you had the point, the lead, the swing, the flank and the drag and everybody knew their job,” he explained. “We could move 600 cows about 10 miles in four to five hours. Nobody moves cows that way anymore.” So what does moving cows have to do with tracking prey? Grant spent many seasons tracking big game in the Yukon and Territories in Northern B.C., but his expertise comes largely from being a cowboy because, as he explains, a tracker, like a cowboy, is always

watching the environment: the land, the weather, other animal tracks and how the herd moves; always tracking something. “If you look in front of your horse and you see bear or moose tracks, it might not be a good time to have a snooze on your horse – you might want to hang on a little tighter and pay closer attention!” In the early ’90s, Grant became involved with a group of people in Turner Valley who were interested in forming a search and rescue organization. “At the time, there was nothing in the area – no Calgary search and rescue, the closest one was in Rocky Mountain House,” Grant says. “Guy Kerr, a search manager with the City of Calgary Police Department, was instrumental in helping us get the permits in place. It took us about one year to get 20 to 30 members trained and then we started getting calls.” Grant adds that the team has to be called out by the RCMP, and they find most, but not all, of their missing people. During the winter months, when Grant wasn’t moving cows or on a search and rescue mission, you would find him working with wood – as all things, for this cowboy, lead back to the land. His early years have served him well and fostered a love of carpentry: building custom furniture or working on renovations projects. In early 2005, along came an opportunity that seemed almost surreal to Grant; his life was about to become something far beyond ordinary. “It was one of those rare moments in time when life presents you with a chance to do what you really love – while being paid to do it. Toss in a little fame and now you’ve got something that most people only dream about,” Grant says. As the story goes, Grant’s cousin Dewey called him, having just returned from the Toronto Sportsman’s Show where he ran into a colleague, a producer from the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), who was scouting talent for Mantracker. Dewey suggested the producer contact Terry and about a week later, Grant found himself, riding horse in front of a camera. “During the test shoot, I saddled up the mare and rode around and then the producer asked me to track something. I asked him to give me track, so he stepped in the snow. I walked over and got off my horse, looked down and played with the track. By now, the horse had come over and had placed her head over my shoulder, and I looked around and said, ‘Well horse, we’ve got company.’ I stood up, got back my horse and rode away,” Grant says. A few days later the producers called and said, “We’ve got our man!” They knew what they were looking for and found it in Terry Grant; he was the one and only test shoot to fill the role.

I’ve been a cowboy for 30 years and no matter the weather, I’m happiest when I’m on a horse.” routesmagazine.ca | BEST OF ROUTES

Now in his sixth season with the show, Grant has traveled all over North America tracking human prey. The show takes two people, known as ‘prey’ and drops them into the middle of nowhere. They have two days to travel about 40 kilometers, through seemingly rough terrain in order to reach the finish line. The goal was to get there before Grant found them. There was no prize money – it was just for the thrill of the challenge. Grant’s stoic demeanor is not just for the show, it is who he is. He took the job very seriously and admittedly he hated to lose, but he didn’t always get his prey, in fact about 30 per cent got away. When he’s not on location, Grant calls High River home and is never at a loss for things to do. If he’s not in the woodworking shop, there’s a good chance you’ll see him at a charity event. He manages to pack about 20 events into a four-month period every year. He still helps his neighbours move their cows and takes on the odd renovation project, but he finds a great deal of satisfaction in building custom furniture. “I like being in the shop: you have to think and plan and figure out your joinery,” Grant says. And when he gets a call from Search and Rescue, he joins the search team whenever he’s in town. By Mary Savage Winter 2010

Editor’s Note: At the time of this interview, Grant was very busy with television, books and his own business opportunities. We were granted a few hours, to both interview and photograph him. It was always preferable to have the story written first so that we could plan the photography to best represent the story - but sometimes we have to make exceptions. We all got to know Terry a little more personally after the shoot, with a few drinks, at the Black Diamond Bar.

F O L L OW U P

s it turned out, the sixth season of Mantracker would be Grant’s last. Contract disagreements had Grant replaced on the show; however, he continues to have rights over the title. His new book Mantracking was released in November 2012 and became a Canadian best seller within three months. Grant stays busy travelling and public speaking at various events including outdoor shows and home and garden shows. As well, he’s been a key speaker at several universities, schools and horse clubs. He says that he’s been doing this for six years now and usually does about 25 to 30 appearances per year. Apart from the public speaking, Grant is also working on putting on one and two day tracking courses where people can come and learn how to track everything from people to animals.

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To me success is not about the money... if every show we do, big or small, the people go away happy, that’s it – that’s my success.”

Photos taken at Bar U Ranch

The Travelling Mabels Musicians

er name is Mabel, and she’s a big ol’ Bluetick Coonhound dog with a voracious appetite for shoes, spaghetti and sofas made of supple Italian leather. She has no notable qualities except the ability to plant her 100-pound torso on any unoccupied lap and clear a plate of edibles – midstride – with just a quick sweep of her fluid tongue. If the connection seems obscure, it is, yet somehow this incorrigible canine is the namesake for The Travelling Mabels – a hip musical trio that is enthralling music lovers across the province. “We all love Mabel, and we want to travel,” said Eva Levesque, Longview-based band member. “Put the two together and the name just seemed to fit.” The Travelling Mabels came together serendipitously in 2008 when all three women were in Winnipeg for the Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA). Suzanne Levesque, on tour at the time performing bass and backup vocals for country music singer, Gord Bamford, was nominated for the CCMA Bass Player of the Year Award. Her mother, Eva, along with good friend and fellow singer/ songwriter, Lana Floen, were on hand to provide support. At a party hosted by a record company, there was an open mic session and the trio – Eva, Suzanne and Lana – got up and performed an impromptu (and unpractised) a cappella version of the Eagles’ song – Seven Bridges Road.

The response, from a crowd of record executives, managers and other performers, was positive. The rest is history. The women, who named themselves after an unruly hound dog, have since written a variety of songs, produced two CDs, and played at numerous venues across Alberta. Eva and Lana play acoustic guitar; Suzanne (who has since left her gig with Gord Bamford to fully commit to The Mabels) plays bass guitar, and Eva adds harmonica to some numbers. Keith Floen, the band’s leader and manager, joins the trio playing keyboard on some occasions. Asked to define the band’s genre, Eva shook her head. “Since we all write music and we’re all so different, you can’t really narrow our style into one or two categories,” she said. “We’re roots, we’re folk, some songs are pop, others come out sounding pure ass country.” Eva, a self proclaimed ‘Earth mother’ and the most seasoned of the group, has been writing songs and singing for decades. She likes to write songs that tell a story. “I get my inspirations from life. Just look around you – everything is an idea for a song,” she said.” Sometimes you have an idea and it takes months to turn it into a song. Other times you wake up at two in the morning and it’s all there – words and music.” Suzanne adds kick to the band with her country flair and an ear for pop. Lana’s style is what Eva calls “elegant;” she writes heartfelt

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ballads and brings polish to the group. Together the women perform a broad spectrum of songs ranging from poignant ballads (Let Me In), to an uproarious tune about some unscrupulous endeavours south of the border (Della's Gentleman's Club). Highlights thus far for The Mabels include being on stage with Ian Tyson (who wrote a song for them), opening for Prairie Oyster and playing to a standing ovation at the Big Valley Jamboree. In November 2010, The Mabels performed at the Blue Christmas Concert in Calgary put on by Rev Elvis and Friends. Along with their contribution of some crisp harmonic Christmas carols, The Mabels took to the stage and performed A Song for Spirit – with Grades 1 and 2 students from the Calgary Arts Academy. “We didn’t know what to expect,” Eva said. “but oh my god, we fell in love with those kids.” She added that The Mabels felt proud to be on stage singing backup to the youngsters, who wrote the song as a fundraiser to help care for a blind golden eagle that was captured and taken into captivity by Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation. “With the kids on stage, and the eagle, and the hoop dancer, I had to close my eyes – it was just so spiritual and I was getting all choked up.” With two years invested in The Mabels, and two CDs behind them, Eva said she is fully satisfied with the road she is on. “I know 150 per cent that this is what I’m meant to do. I get on stage and I just know this is where I’m supposed to be,” she said. As for measuring the success of The Mabels, Eva takes a humble approach. “To me success is not about the money or having a guitar-shaped swimming pool. If every show we do, big or small, the people go away happy, that’s it – that’s my success.” By Pat Fream Spring 2011

F O L L OW U P

he Travelling Mabels have been in a whirlwind of gigs, fundraisers and showcases since their last interview with Routes. Aside from finding time for that third album, the Mabels have been busy playing at various festivals including Longview’s own Longstock Music and Arts Festival. The festival, organized by band member Eva Levesque, was a success with a great turnout and plenty of money raised for local charities. The Mabels also played for the Halo High Water Benefit Concert and Telethon to raise money for The Calgary Foundation’s Flood Rebuilding Fund. As well, the trio performed again at Ironwood Stage and Grill in Calgary this October to raise money for the 2014 Folk Alliance. They were also asked to perform at the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta, October 2013. This event allows them to showcase their talents for promoters who plan concert series. This winter, the Mabels are looking forward to performing again at the Blue Christmas Concert in Calgary. They say they are excited to be on the same stage with the featured artist, Moe Bandy.

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Tyrrell Clarke Artist/Psychic

merican artist Andy Warhol said, “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” It would appear that High River artist and psychic Tyrrell Clarke lives that mantra, as she has been making art, and more art, since she was young enough to put crayons to paper – or in her case – to walls. Clarke says her upbringing with a father who was a pilot in the air force set the stage for her budding passion, as the family’s multiple moves meant there was plenty of packing paper on hand, which her mother took to plastering on the walls when she couldn’t keep her daughter from drawing on them. “I was blessed with great parents. They were both very supportive of me.” Clarke obtained a fine arts degree in 1985. After graduating she really wanted to get out there and experience life. She first became a hairstylist, then a waitress, as she found her way to being a professional artist, but always she had a studio, worked on her art and held shows. Her art, generally large-scale oil on canvas, is inspired by five themes: flowers, landscape, portrayals of love or soul-mate connections, and scenes from the spiritual realm (such as tarot series, shamanism, animal totems and soul portraits). She combines these subjects and blurs the lines between them with bright colours and bold imagery, reflective of one of her favourite artists, Georgia O’Keefe, Chagall and Lauren Harris (Group of Seven). Clarke never pre-draws, but chooses instead to work directly on the canvas. “I’m a fast painter and I paint all the time,” she said. When inspired, she admits, she can whip up a large canvas piece in just a few hours.

A lot of people have this ability naturally but they sometimes get so driven with their mind and cannot relax enough to let the soul be heard.”

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Clarke feels that she is now in a unique situation where she can paint whatever she wants and only do the work she is inspired to do. “In the world of professional artists you get branded, so it’s not popular to be the type of artist who just paints whatever comes to you. A lot of galleries like you to paint one series so people will get to know you by your work. I did that for a few years but I didn’t feel I was following my heart,” Clarke said. When she does take on the occasional commission piece, Clarke says she she gets a flash of the whole painting in her mind. “It’s like a huge surge I feel in my body if I really want to do something.” Recently, while trying to get a piece just right for a client, she ended up painting it three times – on the same canvas. “I could tell the first two versions weren’t his, that’s where my intuitive side comes in.” In her heart of hearts, Clarke explains, she is an artist. However, even as early as six years old she knew she was different. “I remember telling my mom about the colours people were. Now when I think back, I was seeing auras,” she said. She remembers when she was five or six, living in Oklahoma and always asking adults “what’s wrong?” “I could feel their stuff,” she said. “That made me different and I felt people didn’t like me, that started a period of low self-esteem.”

By the time Clarke was in high school she was more aware that she “just knew things” and discovered her gifts with the help of a healer. She would play around doing psychic readings for her friends, but her first real client was a complete stranger, and that one reading spread by word-of-mouth for the next two decades. Over the years Clarke has learned to embrace her extraordinary skill but has limited her readings to only a few days per week. “I get to connect with people on the deepest level possible. I don’t take that for granted,” she said, “but it’s very draining.” She says she doesn’t read people unless they give her permission to, explaining that she has learned to turn on and off the switch inside her that allows her to connect on that level with people. “It’s an interesting thing with my psychic stuff because as an adult I’ve learned to be really conscious of my boundaries. Some people are intrigued and some people are freaked out by it (spiritual work); I can tell if someone is open to having me talk about it,” she said. Just how does this ability work for Clarke? She explains that it is basically about being in service with whatever that other realm needs to tell or bring to the person she is working with. “It’s just a heightened ability that’s beyond intuition. It’s listening, interpreting signs, feelings messages and visual things,” she said. Using Tarot, and other cards, Clarke also listens to her own spiritual guides who work through her to share information from other people’s guides. “I see it like movie snippets - a mixture of sounds, words and phrases that play out in symbols and give me feelings around certain things.” Clarke says that meditation is key for her health as well as to keep her mind clear for working with her clients. “I have to be able to receive the information without bias, prejudice or inquiry from my side, interpreting but not judging, and I try to be very careful not to edit things out.” She says she thinks a lot of people have this ability naturally but they sometimes get so driven by their minds, they cannot relax enough to let the soul be heard. In order for Clarke to hear that language, she says she meditates regularly, gets plenty of rest and avoids unnecessary stress. These simple ingredients, she says, give her clarity in her life and for her work. “My clients sometimes wait up to 14 months to see me so I need to be 100 per cent on when I am with them,” she said. Clarke feels extremely fortunate to be a part of this experience with others. “It’s like we’ve locked souls and I get to experience that sweet spot of that person that is so amazing, it’s like a current going between us.” One of the most well known clients she has done a reading for is musician, Sting, in 2004 after a concert in Calgary. “I read him for about four hours. He’s really open-minded.” Clarke is currently living and working in High River, doing readings and playing host at her own gallery. “I didn’t intend to be in the art business, I meant to be in the studio business but I can’t resist it. It’s good to be around the final outcome of what I’ve been working on, I like to see the response and see who awakens from it.” By Sandra Wiebe

Neville Palmer Photographer

t’s a time when everyone with a guitar declares himself a musician, everyone with a brush, an artist and everyone with a camera or an iPhone is a photographer. In an age of visual overload, it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. That is until you hear a song, see a painting, or come across a photograph or artwork that stops you, moves you and makes you think. “I am inspired by the work of Robert Frank, it has emotional content. I think that any endeavour that’s worthwhile must have that,” Neville Palmer said of the photography work that is more art form to him than it is a job. Palmer grew up in Newbury, England and found his love of photography at a very early age. “In middle school, one of the masters built a darkroom and we worked negatives and prints for fun,” he said. “I had the most basic of cameras – not even a built-in automatic shutter or light meter.” But it wasn’t until he was ending his 10-year career with the British Army that he had his first photography gig. “I had an opportunity to photograph out of a helicopter. Now that’s challenging, and I knew after that I can do this, I can do this job,” Palmer said. His interest grew throughout the next 20 years, taking him to the point where he turned professional in 1999. He quickly attracted several large commercial clients in the UK including Bayer and the Rentokil Initial Group. Turning professional, he believes, is about the approach to the work, not the quality. “I consider it an art form and anyone approaching it with that in mind can call themselves a professional,” he said. With a deep understanding of image-making, Palmer tries to share his experience of the moment through his pictures. “Good photographers like Joe McNally are able to construct what they see in their heads. That’s what I try to do – I pre-visualize what I want to do and take steps to that end result,” he said. As a self-taught photographer, Palmer has put in the time with years of continuous study, and admittedly, to the point of obsession. “Technique study is good to a point and then you are really looking to better express what you feel or think,” he said. “It is like learning language – you get a few words, you practice, you use them in context, add grammar rules, etc., then you reach a point where you can really express what you are feeling.” For Palmer, a large part of his role in the army was about problem solving, and he found that it was something he was very good at doing. “It’s all about problem solving, particularly if you are on location, it’s even more so. You are continually having to mentally wrestle with not only the technical aspects of the camera, but with what you are trying to achieve, keeping the overall theme, and keeping the tempo and communication going.” When photographing any subject, Palmer researches what has been done before and then tries to think of some context that would present the subject in a new way, and in a way that would cause someone to take a longer look.

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I consider it an art form and anyone approaching it with that in mind can call themselves a professional.” Neville Palmer has been the staff photographer for Routes magazine for five years.

“Then I look at the environment, the lighting, the technical details, and I ask myself, how can I make them drop their guard? When he had an opportunity to photograph cage fighters, Palmer’s method of getting them to drop their guard was to step into the cage and spar with them. “Straight away it’s all good, because I’m doing what they are doing,” he said. “It’s about getting them to forget about the camera. I call it sneaking up on people in plain view.” To date, George Canyon has been Palmer’s biggest celebrity to shoot. “He’s easy – he’s a tall good-looking guy and over time we have developed a friendship and he trusts me. It isn’t hard – it’s fun.” He has had the opportunity to photograph CD covers for George as well as for Calum Graham. “Each shoot I do is interesting,” he said. “Calum has great energy and Peter Fuller (see his story, page 74) knows so much interesting shit. What he does is absolutely fascinating.” According to Palmer, when you engage in something expressive like photography, you reach a point where the best way to improve is to explore the way you look at the world. In his case, some great additions to his world over the past few years have added a new dimension to his work. “I was told, as I was leaving the house, that my family is my inspiration,” he joked, but notes that his work has significantly changed when he became a dad. “It’s like life is in colour.” By Sandra Wiebe

“I will do everything in my power to ensure a healthy future for my children and the future generations of modern warriors!”- Dallas Arcand

“Black coffee is such a metaphor for our society. Its darkness represents the bitterness of the world. But people try to cover it up with cream and sugar.”

- Bailey and Zoe

“Art is my passion; I’ve been carrying “To me success is not about the if every show we do, around a sketchbook and drawing big ormoney... small, the people go away happy, since I was a child.” that’s it – that’s my success.” - Karon Argue

“To me, there’s never a mistake in life. Everything is a lesson and that’s “I realize how much skill how we learn.”- Mike Holmes it takes and how truly gifted,

- Eva Levesque

unappreciated and unsupported many musicians are.”

“It is the soul’s language that you hear.”

- Tyrrell Clarke

- Kamla McGonigal