Them Days

2017
Komatik: plywood, spruce strapping, wood glue, nails, acrylic paint, and nylon rope
Image: archive quality watercolour paper backing, archive quality glue, various pages and covers from Them Days magazine, archive quality pen, brush and ink
33” x 15” x 7”

Like the black ink covers the words on these few pages to form an image; time covers everything.

The winners of wars can change the ink to flow into new words to suit their needs.

Politicians can write new laws to change the flow of a river.

If it's on paper it must be true; these words I've heard more than once spoken by elders...

An outside ideology we've come to live by, be it in where our borders lie, who owns our land, how much poison is acceptable in our waters...

All on paper; written down; if it's on paper it must be true...

So how did we, as Labradorians, make sure our history as far back as we remember wouldn't be lost in the inkwells of those who write the history books?

Them Days...

Stories of early Labrador!

Stories from our elders, stories of how time was back in Them Days.

I remember, not that long ago, I had two sources of reading material: an old battered copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and whatever issue of Them Days magazine was on hand... mind you I still have that old yellowed copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales up on the shelf; and I wish I still had every issue of Them Days I've ever read...

It was a hard comparison: tales of "feats of derring-do" of princes, wizards and knights battling monsters in far off lands I could barely imagine; to tales of how Labrador came to be: the bravery, ingenuity, and outright stubbornness of a people so in tune with the land that they not only survived being on the Labrador, but made this great beast of the Big Land home!

Then! Then! One day, I was mesmerized... a special edition!

A Labrador colouring book!

Drawn by a person from Makkovik!

I might have had a handful of crayons at hand, but I distinctly remember spending hours going through this beautiful masterpiece of drawings of daily life of my fathers time, not colouring a single page!

I spent many a day, and used up many a precious scribbler page in school, trying to draw just like Gerald Mitchell... instead of paying attention in class or doing homework of course!

I have many favourite artists now; and many favourite authors...

But none have influenced me as much as the images and stories in...

Them Days