Faye's Feedback

I have crossed paths with Steve Bell throughout my life, long before I came to work in his office in 2007. Nowadays, my husband fixes his lawnmower and he even sang at our wedding and at my mother’s funeral. He made appearances to sing at my first art showings. Below is one of my paintings that hangs in his home. One time in my employment with him, I took photos of his home for a proposal to a magazine that showed famous people’s homes, but the photos were turned down with the elitist reply, “We don’t do bungalows…” The first time I met Steve Bell was in my youth when I sang in a church band, and our group twice opened Steve Bell concerts at local Manitoba coffeehouses. At the time I thought he was a bit “snobbish”, as he didn’t say hello to the individual members of our band, except for our pianist, Jane Reimer. I again saw him when he showed up at the door of my home after I had started a freelance artwork business, and asked if I could try a sample layout for concert posters. At...

My artistic journey has been a series of awakenings, where I recognized certain aspects about art for the learning benefit, improvement of my craft and my ability to feel closer to God when I paint. I have always known about "the zone", but never before categorized it as a special place that every artist yearns for and works toward. My boss, singer/songwriter (and now author) Steve Bell is in that zone when he is onstage sitting alone on a stool, with guitar in hand. He doesn't prepare ahead of time with a set list, but allows the Spirit to lead him in what he sings and speaks. He also encounters the zone when, as he says "a new song comes down the pike". A song can arrive suddenly and be written on a napkin in a restaurant, or can come slowly with the collaboration of others. In his book "Balance - a story of Faith, Family and Life on the Line", Trapeze artist Nik Wallenda describes the zone as "the place in which God and His glory are manife...

A soon-to-be published book of thirty-two of my paintings for a dream project to help support an orphanage in Kenya. .. pinch me, I think I'm dreaming... here's my story... In 2010, the Mully Children's Family (MCF) choir performed in my home church, North Kildonan MB in Winnipeg. I was captivated by the talent on display and the simple, honest stories of lives changed because a man in Kenya gave up a multi-million dollar career to rescue orphans. A seed was planted in my heart - I wanted to paint these faces to help tell this fascinating story. But I didn't know how. I had only recently taken up painting in my spare time, and wasn't particularly confident in my abilities. I asked the official performance photographer, Ebonie Klassen if I could have copies of the photos from the night of the concert, and she gladly gave them to me. The faces were practically begging to be painted, but I didn't know what to do about it. So in my spare time, I chose a few fa...