Birds of a Feather Art Project
Faith, Democracy and Nature
Painted beside Herman Poulin’s Service Through Christ beginning April 15, 2019 — the day Notre‑Dame de Paris burned — this acrylic work (completed in 2021) carries the imprint of moments. The Alberta Legislature appears without its dome, a gesture toward unity and shared responsibility. It became a communal painting painted by many, including a Catholic woman approached, prayed for Canada’s leaders to be blessed, and then added flowers. Her words remain part of the piece: “When we love ourselves, it is incumbent upon us to love everyone around us and to do good. I pray for Canada, I pray for peace, I pray for unity, and I pray for leaders with compassion with the drive to bring unity today and forever.” Her prayer, her flowers, and the shared act of painting together transformed the artwork into a testament to service, and the idea that unity can sometimes be accomplished with art.
Pop pop Dazzled by Eveyday
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Smokey Silence, Edmonton's Low Level Bridge
Cover Art, July 22, 2026 Day 2 painting — Six young at heart painters, including this young Picasso age 4 and myself at 71, added stormy and wildfire‑smoke filled clouds this week, ending with a sky full of butterflies. On the backside of 2018, Smokey Silence, imagination stretched past the limits of reality, revealing all four flags that can barely be seen in the smoke atop the Alberta Legislature. On the West Wing, the British Union Jack flies. On the front, North Side, Front Entrance, the Lieutenant Governor’s Flag. Over the East Wing, the Alberta Provincial Flag above the Premier’s office. Above the Assembly where Democracy, Debates and Points of Order collide — the Canadian Flag completes the quartet. The painting now reveals storm‑laden weather gathering overhead, the sky bruised with unsettled colour, wildfire smoke drifting in from Ontario giving the Legislature an otherworldly haze. Butterflies this morning move through the smoky air, bright little optimists ignoring the forecast. The Mother, the Grandmother, and the Daughter stand together in the foreground — three generations watching layered symbols of Empire, Province, Office, and Nation shimmer through smoke, storm, and the fluttering wings of nature's climate change. Art is Freedom Continued
Alberta Wildfires, Floods, and my...
lifelong passion in the arts and free press
109 St. Bridge O’er Smokey Skies, Muddy Waters The High Level Bridge — built 1910–1913, once carrying streetcars, trains, cars, and the daily north–south pulse of Edmonton — stands now in a long pause, its future weighed by engineers and echoed in recent news stories. This YouTube pairs June 2014 with July 2026, two summers spliced across twelve years of change. Clear skies meet wildfire haze; steady brown river meets heavier muddy churn. The bridge does not move, yet everything around it shifts. A Pop pop Dazzled by Everyday, Presentation, cut‑up, the piece listens to a century‑old structure waiting its fate — suspended o’er the city’s past, o’er its uncertain future, o’er troubled waters and times.
Free from Artifice
Doug Brinkman's Rare White Bird Gallery
In Memory of Virgil Abloh and Dennis Edney.
Birds of a Feather Inspired in part by
Jackie, Shadow, Gizmo, Sunny
Sandy and Luna.
Left Stage, Exit
Right!🍁
US
2014, Alberta Legislature Fire Hydrant
July 23, 2026 Day 3 painting — The canvas waited overnight, holding its smoke, its butterflies, and its four half‑hidden flags, wondering what I might attempt next. Morning continues to find the Legislature under a toxic burning skyline, still bruised from yesterday’s storms, wildfire haze drifting from coast to coast, including parts of the USA like a unwanted guest who overstays without apology. The clouds we painted lean toward the building, testing its patience, while the butterflies continue their abstract patrol through the shifting shadows and light. New colours are being mixed, intuition steering the brush more than any plan ever could. The Mother, the Grandmother, and the Daughter remain the center point — three generations watching symbols of Faith, Democracy, Nature, of a Nation's flicker through smoke and weather, as if Day 3 intends to deepen the mystery rather than resolve it. Fire & Rain Continued
Cover Art: 1979, Between Friends
Montana, Alberta Border, Foothills.
