In May, I collaborated with an abstract painter Wayne Boucherand a blacksmith Brad Hall to design and make a 7ft high by 12 ft wide stage backdrop for a series of theatrical performances marking the 300th anniversary of the naming of Annapolis Royal after Queen Anne (1710), the last queen of England, Scotland and France.  It was a commission by the local Arts Council, ARCAC.   The backdrop needed to be portable, flexible in size, reflect the cultural heritage of the region and  artistic enough to be sold after the summer celebrations.

In designing the screen, we decided to give homage to the three founding cultures of the region, the Mi’kmaq, French and English, by incorporating motifs of sweet grass, yellow Acadian stars and Queen Anne’s coat of arms.  And just because I like the plant, the wild carrot known as Queen Anne’s Lace to represent the diaspora of the new world.