Remembering the great Guy Lafleur.

If anyone wonders why I’m a Star Trek fan, the reason is simple: it illustrates a future that we can strive towards, and reaffirms our capacity to make a difference now.

Admiral Kirk tells Captain Picard that as long as he’s in the captain’s chair, he can make a difference. To that I would add: anyone can make a difference.

Sunny Bean’s first appearance was in November 2016 – before he even had a name. I had my artwork on display for the first time and I wanted to come up with a new character. The idea to “Smile More” originated ten years before the first drawing, when I was facilitating a human rights education workshop in Nepal. At the end of the day, while reading participants’ evaluations, I came across one comment that said, “The facilitator should smile more.” I took that to heart, and did my best to do just that.

The original artwork, now in the hands of a good friend, was using ink and watercolour pencils on watercolour paper.

We have now ended our second fundraiser and the response has been tremendous. Both fundraising rounds raised nearly $20,000 for the Canadian Red Cross efforts in Ukraine. Thank you!