Stepped away for a week or so for a little rest and relaxation. Drove out to PEI in search of salty sea air and fresh ingredients to bless my palette. Time to get back to the grind.
Here's some info on my brother's art show this weekend at Artscape's Wychwood Barns Gallery (click on the flyer or googlebot it). Well worth a visit, for info on the artist read the below excerpt.
A bit about the Artist:
On September 27, 2006, Matthew’s 30th birthday, he first heard the diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease (www.alsont.ca).
In November 2006 Matthew was definitively diagnosed. ALS is a neuro-muscular disease for which there is no known cause, nor any cure. It normally affects adults between the ages of 55 and 65. The outcome over on average 3-5 years is death.
Matthew lives and works in an artist’s community in Toronto, known as Artscape at the Wychwood Barns, under the care of his personal care team of 4 young men who provide him with care 24 hours 7 days a week.
His courage and determination is a constant inspiration to all who know him with his many friends calling on him to support him and also to bathe in his love and compassion for them. A past love visits him with her daughter and thanks Matthew for teaching her how to love.
Matthew continues to work on his art everyday except when the weather is so beautiful that he has to be outside for a prolonged time. How he works with virtually useless arms and hands I do not know. All I know is that his work is ever more beautiful and a salve for one’s troubled soul. He is planning his next show which will be his narrative on nature and how valuable it is to his well being knowing full well that what is deeply personal is also universal he believes that all will resonate with his feelings.
Early on what Matthew refers to as his journey on the ALS Express he told me that this disease has given his life meaning and purpose. An interesting reflection given that I know for a fact that he has never read Viktor Frankel’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”. In this work Frankel credits 3 sources for meaning and purpose in our lives, our work, our family and the courage with which we face adversity. There is no question in my mind that while Matthew draws meaning from his work and his family his fountainhead is his courage.
