One of my
artistic goals is to do a collection of portraits of local homeless
people. I want to show others how those
individuals who may be spotted on our downtown streets can have such
interesting stories. They deserve more attention
and respect than they usually receive.
It was July
of 2013. I was taking a week of independent
painting with instructor George Glen at the Prince Albert Art Centre. It was a great opportunity to use this
location to find models for portraits by looking out the second floor
window at the downtown park below. I
spotted an older man sitting on one of the benches. Quickly I gathered my notebook, camera, and a
prepared model release form and went outside to meet him.
I
introduced myself and offered to pay five dollars for a few photos and a
little information. The man immediately
agreed. I had him sign my model release
form, getting his name and his signed permission for me to use his image for a potential
painting for which I retained copyright.
Legalities out of the way I told him to tell me a bit about himself
while I took some impromptu photos.
Augie’s
first statement about himself was this: “I am a Writer.” He went on to tell me that he was writing
stories about himself for a book. That
was not an unusual thing to hear – even from someone who declared himself to be
relatively homeless. It was his
subsequent descriptions of his life that had me thinking, “Okay, this man is
obviously a story teller, and a good one.”
Some of his experiences, such becoming a star boxer and meeting Sugar
Ray fit in with my understanding of story tellers, for whom accuracy of fact
takes a back seat to fictional embellishment.
I enjoyed
listening to him talk as I photographed and sketched him. As he described his experiences of
residential school I consciously kept my mouth shut, for that is an area I deal
with in my work life as a mental health therapist. Here I was just being an artist. I already had a notion of just how the
experience of separation from family and community and language would have
affected the child that he was. He went
on to describe his adult life as a northern guide and naturalist. He said “The things I know about survival in
the bush – those are things that will be important to many other people very
soon. I am writing about that too. The
world needs that knowledge.”
Very satisfied
with the time spent with Augie, I returned to the studio in the Art Centre and
commenced the under-painting for the portrait of this interesting man; his full
name, Joseph Augustus Merasty. Later in
the year the painting was enhanced by applying a final layer of paint with a
dropper, rather than a brush.
On its
first public display the portrait of Augie was purchased by the Mann Art
Gallery for its permanent collection.
Subsequently it was displayed in Saskatoon as a part of a show curated
by Michel Boutin. It was at that show
that someone relayed the information about it to the University of Regina
publishing company – the one that was in the process of publishing a book of
memoirs of Augie Merasty!
I found
that out when I got an email from the publisher, Bruce Walsh. He received a photo of my painting and
wanted to know if it could be used in the book and if it was, indeed, Augie
Merasty. I was grateful that I did have
the foresight to have had Augie sign the model release, although I was teased a
little in the class for being so business-like with street people. Sending him a copy of the document was an easy confirmation.
Perhaps
that is the lesson behind this painting.
People that we may see (and most want to avoid) on the streets –
particularly those that appear a little shabbier, may contain the most valuable
stories for all of us. We would not know
that unless we treat them as rightful citizens and take the time to listen.
The Book The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir has now been published and available through the University of Regina Press. The link brings another story about the man and his book.
That is an amazing story and reminds us that people are usually not what we see.
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