November 18th is opening night for the fifth annual Figureworks Awards Show. Figureworks aims to provide an opportunity to celebrate visual art of the human form. The organization puts the spotlight on artists, their works and the life models. This year they had a record number of entries, 142 submissions from 82 artists. Of those, 62 artworks by 43 artists made it through the jurying process and will be part of the exhibit. I’m thrilled that both of my sculptures made it through – they are “Lest We Forget” and “Coffee Break Generations”.

“Lest We Forget” was inspired by the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. The story was featured in the June issue of Reader’s Digest and inspired me to create this piece as a tribute to mark the anniversary, but also to honour the bravery of the Canadian soliders who landed on Juno Beach that day. The salute represents the acknowledgement of one soldier to the other, but also us, as civilians, acknowledging the sacrifice and bravery of those who served our country and protected the freedom we sometimes take for granted.

“Coffee Break Generations” goes in a different direction and is a statement on the differences between generations in something as simple as enjoying a cup of coffee. Personally I love relaxing with a newspaper and a steaming cup of coffee, but with all the technology available today, it’s not uncommon for some people to multi-task even their relaxation time. At best I find this annoying, at it’s worst it can be rude. But what I find sad about technology is that we are losing the personal contact, the pleasure of conversation without distractions, eye contact, body language and the art of social interaction.

FigureWorks 2014 promises to be the best show yet. If you live in Ottawa or close by, I encourage you to see the show in person, if not, please check it out at http://www.figureworks.org once the show opens.  The vernissage is Tuesday, November 18th from 6 to 10pm. Free admission and refreshments . . .  you are all invited!