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Alberta

A breathtaking image of Alberta from a passionate Alberta artist – Bow Lake by Larry Reese

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6 minute read

With gratitude, Todayville shares this work from well known Central Alberta artist Larry Reese. Larry has been a fixture in the artistic community for decades.  

In this brief article, Larry shares the inspiration behind this recent work “Bow Lake”

In these busy and interesting times, we invite you to take a moment to stop and smell the flowers, or in this case to drink in the overwhelming beauty of Alberta.

From Larry Reese:

The Painting of Bow Lake

Last October my wife and I left our home in Half Moon Bay, Alberta very early in the morning heading out to Summerland B.C. to attend a dedication in her father’s name, of the new George Ryga Arts & Culture Centre.
It was a clear, crisp day and around 9:30am we passed by Bow Lake. I have stopped at Bow Lake many times over the years but was so awestruck by the scene on this particular morning that we decided to turn around and go back to have a closer look. The sunlight and reflections on the water were extraordinary. There was just a slight breeze and honestly it made the lake and mountains look incredibly spectacular. In fact more spectacular than usual.
For me it was a profound experience. I quickly got a few photos and mentally did a rough sketch. When we returned home I was somewhat disappointed with the pictures as they didn’t capture the emotions I felt at the time. But my mental image was so vivid that I decided to see if I could replicate the feeling in a painting.
I knew I had to go big so the canvas I used was 40”X60”. It took me a couple of months to paint but I was in no hurry. Which was a good thing because I used oils and needed to wait for them to dry after each layer of glazing (which there were many) in order to get the water to look believable. I worked hard to get the light just right, the way I remembered the sun’s beams nestled amongst the mountain rocks and crags.
As a result I’ve got to say I am proud of the way it turned out because it comes close to expressing those wonderful sensations I had on the day. I don’t paint to make a living so I’m not sure I want to sell it. However if anyone is interested in Bow Lake, they can contact me through my website: larryreese.ca
P.S. Bow Lake is situated along the Banff/Jasper Highway 93 just south of the Saskatchewan Crossing turnoff to Highway 11. This area is one of my favourite places to go plein air painting. I have painted in this region for decades and will continue to do so for as long as I can.
Larry Reese

Photo from Artist Profile on RedDeerMuseum.com

About Larry Reese (from IMBd.com)

Born in Wisconsin in 1951 and immigrating to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ten years later, Larry made his first impact on the art scene by winning a city wide contest to attend art classes at the Edmonton Art Gallery. There he was taught by the renowned Alberta artist, Sylvain Voyer. In 1966 his family moved to Dacca, East Pakistan where Larry learned to play the sitar, meeting Ravi Shankar in 1967 in Calcutta. Two years later Larry returned to Edmonton to pursue his music studies earning a degree in music composition at the University of Alberta. In 1971 Larry opened for British rock group, Procol Harum the night they recorded their platinum selling LP, Procol Harum – Live with the Edmonton Symphony. He toured North America with the Canadian Rock Opera’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and took UofA extension art classes with another famous Alberta artist, Harry Savage and family friend artist Harry Wolfarth.

Larry was off to Brandeis University near Boston Massachusetts to get a Master’s Degree in Acting in 1976 culminating in a stint at the famous off-off Broadway theatre, Café LaMama, NYC, in 1978. Larry’s first major role was in the Canadian classic film, The Hounds of Notre Dame, which over the years was followed by roles in Academy Award winning films including Clint Eastwood’s, Unforgiven and Ang Lee’s, Brokeback Mountain. Most recently Larry had a role in the Ridley Scott produced TV mini series, Klondike.

In 1983 Larry and wife Tanya Ryga went to Mexico and various places throughout South America, where Larry met and worked with German Expressionist artist Georg Rauch.

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Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s premier said her government will be holding a special caucus meeting on Friday to discuss Alberta’s independence.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted her province could soon consider taking serious steps toward greater autonomy from Canada in light of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party winning yesterday’s federal election.

In a statement posted to her social media channels today, Smith, who is head of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, warned that “In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

“As Premier, I will facilitate and lead this discussion and process with the sincere hope of securing a prosperous future for our province within a united Canada that respects our province’s constitutional rights, facilitates rather than blocks the development and export of our abundant resources, and treats us as a valued and respected partner within confederation,” she noted.

While Smith stopped short of saying that Alberta would consider triggering a referendum on independence from Canada, she did say her government will be holding a “special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further.”

“I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded,” she noted.

Smith’s warning comes at the same time some pre-election polls have shown Alberta’s independence from Canada sentiment at just over 30 percent.

Monday’s election saw Liberal leader Mark Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader, for now.

In Alberta, almost all of the seats save two at press time went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.

The Carney government has also pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

Smith: ‘I will not permit the status quo to continue’

In her statement, Smith noted that she invited Carney to “immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.”

She noted that a large majority of Albertans are “deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

Smith then promised that she would “not permit the status quo to continue.”

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith praised Poilievre for empowering “Albertans and our energy sector as a cornerstone of his campaign.”

Smith was against forced COVID jabs, and her United Conservative government has in recent months banned men from competing in women’s sports and passed a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

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Alberta

Hours after Liberal election win, Alberta Prosperity Project drumming up interest in referendum

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News release from the Alberta Prosperity Project

Carney’s In. Now what?

You’ve been paying attention. You understand this is really bad. Worse than that, it’s dangerous. The country has somehow chosen several more years of a decade-long Trudeau Travesty…on steroids. Because this new Prime Minister has a three digit IQ, deep and questionable connections and a momentum to accelerate the further dis-integration of a nation we all once proudly belonged to. It’s untrue to say the country is dying. But it’s also not a stretch to say it’s on life support.

The era of Carney Carnage is here. While every province will experience it, there’s no secret he’s placed an extra big bulls-eye on Alberta.

It’s not personal, it’s financial.

His plan includes continuing to limit three of Alberta’s most prosperous sectors: energy, agriculture and, by extension, innovation. To acknowledge this requires we abandon our sense of romanticized national nostalgia. Nostalgia is a trap that prevents us from assessing the reality we exist in.

For instance, GDP is considered the financial heartbeat of a country. Over the past decade of Liberal Leadership, the national GDP has been an abysmal 1.1%. By relatable comparison, Mexico was 4%, the UK was 6%, Australia had 8% growth and the US was a whopping 19%.

That’s great information for an economist, but what does it mean to your pay cheque?

The everyday impact on the average Albertan —say, a teacher or mechanic— of 10 long years of 1% GDP means rent’s up at least 25%, a trip to the grocery store always stings, and driving an older car is the norm because an upgrade is out of reach. Does this sound like your reality?

We aren’t starving, but we’re not thriving, either.

Does this make sense for 4.5 million people living with the third most abundant energy deposits in the world? There’s an absurdity to the situation Albertans find themselves in. It’s akin to being chronically dehydrated while having a fresh water spring in the backyard.

The life you’ve invested for, the future you believed was ahead, isn’t happening.

If Alberta stays on this path.

So what can you, as an Albertan, do about it?

This Fall, we’ll be provided an opportunity. A life raft in the form of a referendum. It requires curiosity, imagination and courage to step into it, but the option will be there — a once in a lifetime shot at prosperity for you and your family: Alberta Sovereignty.

A successful bid means Albertans can finally paddle out of the perilous economic current that’s battered us for ten long years.

Alberta has the resources, talent and spirit of collaboration to create a prosperous future for our families and communities.
If you want your vote to finally mean something, if you feel you deserve more from your pay-cheque, grocery store visits and  need greater control over your family’s future, register your intent to sign YES to sovereignty now.


UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Click here to see all upcoming APP events.


WHAT CAN ALBERTANS DO?

Register Your Intent To Vote “YES”

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