See

TERRACE STANDARD. “

MY.POINT OF VIEW.
ARON STRUMECKI

The power of one

I WAS HAVING coffee the other week
with a couple of friends. We were
talking about the usual stuff when the
topic of democracy and government came up,
both subjects being near and dear to my heart.

I asked my compatriots what their opinion |

was, only to find that they had no good opinion
at all.

As far as they were both concerned, neither
subject really had much to do with the other
these days, but the truth was, they felt, was
that there was nothing much that they could do

“about it. The common person, it would seem,

has no power over the events around them, and
there no point in trying to prove otherwise.

Of course, being the stubborn, argumenta-
tive person that I am, I tried to do just that. As
far as I’m concerned we’ve all been gifted
with the power of free choice in our lives, it’s
just that we usually don’t like the choices that
we're given, but even the end, even the srnall-
est things we do can leave a big impression.
You never know how what you do or say can
impact on those around you.

For instance, I remember one conversation |
had when I was 14 or 15. The Cold War with
Russia was running hot, in the United States,
Rambo and Rap was a big deal, and growing

‘up in a small place called Terrace was not the

most exciting affair. My attitude was that if

‘there was a bright centre to the universe, we

were stuck in the furthest corner away from the
light, and our dull lives were in constant dan-

- ger of being sucked into oblivion.
Terrace was so unimportant, as my cousin .

pointed out one day at lunch, we didn’t even
have a nuke aimed at us. The rest of the civil-
ized world may have had mutual assured de-
Struction to look forward too, but we didn’t
even have that. If we were really lucky, we
might get to fight off a couple of free radicals
and radioactive mutants, but that was about it.
The rest of civilization would be blown to hell,
and it would obviously up to us to rebuild
things.

It was clear the salvation of the world was
in our hands. A small but thankless price to
pay for living in the middie of nowhere, but
consolation nonetheless.

At least this was the case until another
class-mate gleefully pointed out that we prob-
ably would, in fact, get blown to smithereens
as well. Terrace may not be anyone’s first tar-
get, but the Yanks and the Reds had more than
enough thermonuclear energy to go around.

Not only that, but Kitimat and Prince Ru-
pert were guaranteed to get nailed; one was a
vital industrial centre, and the other was a cru-
cial port. He assured us we get blown to king-
dom come no matter what happened.

It seems we were part of civilization after
all.

I laugh when 1 think back to it all now. It
was all sort of stupid, but that priceless bit of
sarcasm finally clued me into, the fact that the
world I saw through the window of television
actually had some bearing on my dull little
existence. Before that, the idea of a nuclear
war and mutually assured destruction were
cool themes for movies and video games. I
didn’t really understand that there were actual
people out there who actually had control of
actual bombs that could actually wipe out life
as we know it from this planet.

Suffice it to say, that litthe comment left a
big impression in me, although I’m sure no-one
else who was involved in the conversation

wauld probably remember it at all, but that’s

just how these things seem to wark.

The point is that I think we really can take
for granted the effect that we have on the
people around us.

It’s been my observation that a lot of people

If we were really lucky, we
might get to fight off a couple of
free radicals and radioactive
mutants.’

nowadays seem to take great delight in com-
plaining and bitching, but when it comes to
doing something about it, no-one is willing to
put their money where their mouth is, unless
they're getting paid to do it. They seem to
think. that there’s nothing they can da.

Let me assure you friends, your voice, and

the voice of everyone besides you, counts for a

lot more than you think.

You may not see it, but the impact you .
have on this world is a real and measurable:

thing. Feel free to give ita test..

INSIDE SECTION B
COMMUNITY JENNIFER LANG
EVENTS B2 638-7283

THE PAINTER seen here in a 1995 shotograph with his dag, Suzi, when the art gallery faatured a retrospective of his work.

‘Final Farewell” captures the
essence of a Terrace original

CONTRIBUTED
TERRACE HAS a last chance to
say farewell to the work of a man
who spent almost three decades
reflecting the many beauties of
this region.

Wally Humphrey, one of Ter-
race’s foremost painters, died last
August > and many of his
paintings will be leaving the com-
munity.

-Hlis:.friends and the Terrace
Communities Facilities Society
have made it possible for one last
look at this talented.man’s work
by offering "The Final Farewell”,
an exhibition of some of Hum-
phrey’s works.

The R.E.M, Lee Theatre is fea-
turing the show in the lower lobby
until April 24,

The exhibit encompasses some
early experiments with abstract
concepts, signature impressionist
pieces, as well as the last piece
completed just weeks before
Humphrey’s death.

The show illustrates many
aspects of this gifted painter.

Originally a sign painter, Hum- .

phrey had no formal training as an
artist, but he taught himself by
studying master painters and by
copious reading about technique.
His amazing colour sense is ap-
parent to even the most uninitia-
ted observer,

Through reading and painstak-
ing experimentation, Humphrey
became adept at painting techni-

Art Attack

A bit of a farce

* ques, but it was his ability to cap-

ture a likeness or an instant of life
that makes his work sland out.

Friend Jim Faber remembers
Humphrey as a man with strong
opinions and tastes.

“He would tell people how to
do things,” Faber recalls. “He had
a strong mind but he was also
very generous with his knowledge
and would share anything with

_ whoever. was interested.”

Humphrey was known amongst
the-artists in this town as a mentor
who was happy to demonstrate his
technique through sketches and
larger works.

He preferred to have little de-
tail in his work, only suggesting a
detail with a flick of colour or a
line. He preferred to let the mind
supply the detail.

Humphrey felt it was not tm-
portant to record everything, but
that a sketch or painting had to
capture the feeling of what was
there. Faber recounts seeing a

THIS PAINTING | is among “0 those | featured ‘at the R.E. M. Lee.

the essence of the woman.”
New painters brought their
work to Humphrey for a critique.
“He was very kind,” says
friend Randy Penner. “He would

“Wally was very generous with himself and it
was an adventure (o spend time with him."

quick sketch that Humphrey made
of a young woman, and a few
days later, recognizing the woman
al Ferry Island.

“That sketch was only a-_

profile,” he remembers, “without

eyes or details, but Wally caught ©

always find a section he could
praise for some reason. But slow-
ly, he would get tougher, and he
would instruct a little more each
time.”

But it is for his sharing that
other artists will remember Hum-

phrey best. Through his willing-
ness to instruct and model, Hum-
phrey was able to help other art-
ists go further in their own work.
“It was enjoyable to be with
him,” says Penner.

“It is always wonderful to be
with someone who can do some-
thing really well, Wally was very
generous with himself, and it was
an adventure to spend time with
him.”

The REM. Lee will be open
days arid evenings throughout the
Pacific Northwest Music Festival
April 8-20, offering the public an
excelient opportunity to view The
Final Farewell.

By JENNIFER LANG
THERE’S NOTHING like
a crummy review to ruin
your day — or even your
career, says award-winning
director Daniel Barnswell
says.

“It’s something that
anyone in theatre has ¢i-
ther experienced ~ or
knows somebody who
has,” explains Barnswell,
who has directed an en-
semble cast of seven in
Art Attack, a mile-a-min-
ute farce about human
frailties and neuroses
opening tomorrow night at
the McColl! Playhouse.

“If you’re an artist, no
matter how talented you
are, you have to be ready
to be torn apart in public.”

He’s onto something
here: a desire to creale
often comes bundled up
with the need for approval.
it’s enough to drive a sane
artist mad.

The critic in Art Attack,
a man not-so-subtly named
Arthur Hurlz ( of, “Art
Hurtz,” get it?) has laid
waste to the careers of

several artists, sending
them off in search of psy-
chological repair.

Small wonder business
is booming at the Famous
Happy Hall of Art, a re-
treat for troubled artists.

“In other words, it’s an
insane asylum,” Barnswell
points out, likening the fa-
cility to the Betty Ford
Clinic for artists.

Once the patients are
assembled, chaos ensues.
Think countless costume
changes, a dizzying num-
ber of entrances and en-
trances as the characters
find themselves in one
zany situation after an-
other.

“It’s not slapstick, it’s
not sitcom and it’s not
spoof. It’s mathematical
precision,” says Barns-
well, who’s better known
for tackling heavier, dra-
matic fare.

He was drawn to Art Ai-
tack, written by prolific
Vancouver playwright
Kico Gonzalez-Risso, for
those very reasons.

“I’ve basically been

COMEDY ISN’T always gentle: Ann Compton | accosts Baxter Huston. Both

actors appear in Art Affack, opening tomorrow night.

doing tragedies up until
now,” he says. “Now I’m
just doing the other side of
the mask.”

And that. means Barns-
well is having to find and
hone new rhythms.

“Comedic timing is
everything. It’s gatta be
snappy,” he says. “It’s hi-
larious when it. works.
We're certainly striving for
that. As somebody leaves

the stage, somebody has to.

be coming on. That’s the
kind of eye candy that
farce has.”

It took a small army to
built the set pieces and art
works on the stage.

Not only does the set
contain numerous door-
ways and entrances, the
stage is filled with visual
treats like busts of Shake-
speare and a large, eight-
armed goddess,

: Presented March 21-13,

28-30, and April 4-6 at the
McColl Playhouse. Tickets
at Uniglobe Courtesy Tra-
vel,
HERE

The Terrace Little
Theatre is trying some-
thing a little different this
time ‘round to raise money
for its building fund - a
blind auction. Audience
members can place theit
bids two trunks decorated

~ by local artists,