Pam Jackson

I was reading an article in the e*lix*ir online magazine and learned about an Irianian artist Shahriar Cyrus. His painting “Twenty-Fifth of December 1981” is a portrait of seven of the eight Bahá’ís, members of the Iranian National Spiritual Assembly, who were executed without trial on that date. Read the full article here: https://www.elixir-journal.org/issue15/ShahriarCyrusInterview.php . The missing 8th member who was not in the painting was a woman Jinous Mahmoudi. She was not in the courtroom photo that Shahriar used as a reference because she was not included in the trial. On their way to the execution platform, one apparently said to the others, “Let’s say goodbye now.” When they started kissing each other, the firing squad didn’t understand what they were doing and they opened fire, killing them all before they even reached the shooting spot.

https://news.bahai.org/story/1076/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdsFrwJb8NM

Dawn Zypher George

Linen, Oil, Painting

Oct 10, 1984 to Jun 28, 2000

Sometimes it is hard to know when a painting is finished. For this one Dawn smiled at me and I knew I was done. Gary and I were just moving to the Island 24 years ago when Dawn died. We made the trip to Toronto for her funeral. She lived in Sudbury but died near Toronto. In Bahá’í Law, the deceased is to be buried no more than one hour’s journey from the place of death. I remember how beautiful and park like the green space of the Prospect cemetery was with lots of trees and dappled shade. A good resting place.

I painted this over a year ago and just mailed it off to her dad Ken. He is delighted to receive it. I will miss her presence in my studio. We stay connected through prayers.

Capstone

Alla Prima, Oil, Portrait

In July 2023 I completed a capstone project for the Alla Prima Bootcamp course that I am taking with Chelsea Lang. It has really moved my painting practice forward as you will see as I post more paintings. The painting in my previous post was a part of this project. The paintings were presented at the Centennial Museum during the Manitoulin Art Tour of 2023. I enjoyed a diversity of conversations about life and death over that weekend. This collection is five friends and I painted a two more but they were shipped and not available. I have three others on my list to paint and will get to them. While I was painting I prayed for all these souls, and I still do. I ask for assistance from them with this inspiration: “Such a soul provideth, …the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest.” It seems that we still have more work to do and continue to have a connection with this world after we have left our physical existence behind.

Corona Skakoon

Oil

Corona Skakoon – Nov 12, 1930 to May 7, 2020 (89) A woman with a world embracing outlook. She was a steadfast member of the Baha’i community when I lived in Sudbury. She was an articulate story teller and loved to read. Corona was always cheerful when I would see her at Nineteen Day Feasts. I painted her using a photo from her youth. It describes a confident women steering her way through this world of being.
O Thou Kind Lord! This dearly cherished maidservant was attracted to Thee, and through reflection and discernment longed to attain Thy presence and enter Thy realms.