Art Fx is a year-long series on Huntsville Doppler featuring Huntsville-area visual artists.
This drawing holds special meaning for emerging artist Zoë Valentine.
“I’ve been slowly working on this drawing for almost two years now, and I do wish I had finished it sooner because all I wanted was to be able to give this to my grandad in person but I haven’t been able to give him anything, even a hug, since March because of the pandemic,” she writes.
“My grandad will be turning 97 in the spring and I hope that I can be with him to celebrate when the time comes. When I started this drawing, my grandad was at Chartwell retirement home, and doing beyond well for his age. Through the course of drawing him I’ve seen him moved to Fairvern Nursing Home to be with his wife, and slowly start to slip away himself due to dementia. Because of restrictions on visits to nursing homes, I’m only able to see him right now every few weeks through a window visit, where we can talk over the phone separated by glass. It does remind one of the prison visits you see in movies.”
As she was drawing, Zoë referenced a photo she had taken of her grandad while he was reciting poetry from memory. “I believe it captures who he is perfectly,” she writes. “This piece was to honour him and remind him how loved and cherished he is by his wonderfully large family.”
“Grandad” is a drawing in coloured pencil on paper.
About the artist: I consider myself very fortunate to have flourished in 2020. I got to paint murals for Sandhill Nursery and for the Downtown Huntsville BIA, I started attending OCAD university to pursue art further, I recently painted the gallery sign for Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and was interviewed on Hunters Bay Radio! I’m incredibly excited to move to Toronto full-time and to develop more as an artist, and I hope that time will come shortly. I’m not decided on what type of career I’d like to have just yet, but for now I’m keeping my options open and exploring every avenue possible.
See more local art in Doppler’s Art Fx series here.
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Bev Belanger says
Wow! I love your work….shows so such character in that portrait. Your grandpa has to see this!
Kate Brown says
Fantastic drawing
Kate Brown
Christine Rivière-Anderson says
Zoë,
What a moving portrait of your granddad…
You beautifully captured him. I remember him well when he was our neighbour. Always a kind gentleman and this is perfectly rendered in this painting.
You are incredibly talented and I wish you every success in your artistic development.
Carolyn Lapham says
Such a perfect representation of Mr. Tonks! It took me right back to the days when your mom and I lived around the corner from each other. I hope you get to hug him again soon! ♥