Artist Working to Promote Kidney Health

In mid-May of 2014, I returned to dialysis treatments at St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon, after thriving for over 34 years, with a wildly successful kidney transplant. My brother Steven donated a kidney to me on October 17th, 1979. It was at Sunnybrooke Medical Center in Toronto, where I was living and working at the time, that I was originally diagnosed, at age 19, with End-Stage Renal Failure. Only a scant fifteen years prior to this, ESRF was pretty much an assured death sentence. At Sunnybrooke, there were highly trained kidney specialists who immediately recognized my symptoms. Thanks to this, I received an emergency operation that allowed the life-saving intervention of dialysis, the following day. Dialysis is a technological marvel that allows the kidney patient to have their blood cleansed by an artificial kidney machine. 

At age 19, I designed and painted the mural "Recovery 1", which I donated to Sunnybrooke Hospital in Toronto.

My first response, after I felt better, was to design and paint a mural called “Recovery 1”, that I donated to Sunnybrooke Hospital in Toronto. My brush with an early death greatly influenced my artistic direction. Thinking of my artistic heroes, who had painted monumental murals that earned them a certain sense of immortality, I decided early on that I would not leave this life without leaving my mark on the art world. It was with this in mind, that I decided early on to carve out a career as a mural-painter. With this focus, I have in the interim designed and painted well over sixty large murals from coast to coast in Canada, with an emphasis in the past couple of decades in Western Canada.

Working on the mural "March of Trinity" at Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon, SK.

I've lived and worked for about twenty years in the beautiful Resort Village of Manitou Beach, since I met the love of my life, fellow artist Sharon Gibson. Together, we have established the seasonal business “G-G's Gallery and Gifts”, that has enjoyed modest success over the past six years. I am also an easel painter, and G-G's has created high-quality, sustained exposure of our artwork to thousands of visitors since its inception. The great thing about G-G's is, it has generated many exciting commissions for “heirloom-quality” portraiture (another of my specialties) and other artistic projects, along with generating many sales of original artwork.

While my decision to pursue the career path of “monumental mural-painter” has been very fruitful, the question of precarious health lead me to reach out to the renal (kidney) community, to create a Facebook page called “Kidney Transplant Donors and Recipients”, where we welcome and embrace the renal community worldwide. We welcome anyone with a “kidney connection”, in all stages of their health journey. My wife Sharon originally came up with the idea to form this group, and she and I were the first members. After about two years, the group has grown to over ten-thousand strong! So, much as I hoped that my career as a muralist might assure a certain measure of immortality, the formation of KTDR has superseded this goal, as it is a living, thriving community. It has far exceeded my expectations, to say the least! And, it continues to expand its reach on a daily basis.

Since I re-started thrice-weekly, four hour dialysis treatments, I have fast-tracked a writing project that I've dabbled in for a few years. Thanks to this dedicated “me-time”, I am just about ready to release Book 1 of a trilogy called, “Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality”. Thanks in large part to my friend and mentor, the best-selling Saskatchewan author Wes Funk, I'm going ahead to self-publish. You might say, I don't really have the luxury of unlimited time to wade through “rejection” letters from the publishing houses. Don't you think it might be a bit ironic to stare down these notices for a project of this sort? 

With Canadian literary darling Wes Funk, host of "Lit Happens" on Shaw Cable TV.

To read more, and to follow the trajectory of the impending world-wide launch, please crank up your high-speed internet to visit www.mrgaudet.com.

TV Interview with Wes Funk

It was a good time and very interesting to make an appearance on the Shaw Cable TV show 'Lit Happens', hosted by well-known novelist Wes Funk. As the name 'Lit Happens' implies, this is a show dedicated to highlighting the literary talent of Saskatchewan and has included interviews with many best-selling authors since its inception. 


So it was a thrill when Wes invited me to go on the show as a 'blogger'.  I was pleased that the producer spliced in several images of my art, commissions and our 'G-G's Gallery and Gifts' business. 


It was overall a great opportunity to share my art and art philosophy with the viewers. Without any further ado, here is the show. Sit back and enjoy the interview...it was a lot of fun!
 

Only on 'Lit Happens'

My friend Wes Funk is well, to put it mildly, a cultural icon in this corner of the world and rapidly ascending to a stellar level globally thanks to the rush of success he has enjoyed since the world-wide release of his best-selling novel "Dead Rock Stars". 


Are you still with me? OK. 


The long and short of it is, Wes brought a dear friend of his - fellow author Jacquie Moore - out from the city to do a reading at our local library in Watrous from her bestselling book "The Saskatchewan Secret" a few days ago.


Well. We could hardly stand all the excitement.

Photographing a photograph of Jacquie Moore 'in the wings' as she is being introduced to the group of almost 60 people in attendance to hear her read from her best-selling book "The Saskatchewan Secret". We were not disappointed!

The Master of Ceremonies read the glowing reviews on the back cover of "The Saskatchewan Secret". By the time she had finished her introductory remarks, the room was enchanted at the prospect of meeting the author.

Author Jacquie Moore pauses in a reflective moment during her reading.

Jacquie was a very gracious speaker who instilled a sense of trust in her audience by her even-measured explanation of how she came to write the remarkable chronicle that explores the special gifts of a group of thirteen healers of various strains and disciplines. She told us quite candidly that she had no intention of changing anybody's mind or opinion about any of the extraordinary claims that her subjects make. Jacquie confided that she wishes to capture for posterity some of the more esoteric methods in the book, lest they vanish forever to the detriment of future generations.


I saw her eyes light up with an inner fire when she read from her book and later discussed some of the details in an open Q & A. To my surprise and delight, several of the stoic participants came forward with their own stories that emanated out of the lively discussion that followed. There were even a few people who volunteered to demonstrate their own special skills with the 'dowsing rods' that suddenly appeared - as if on cue- from one of the organizers.

A willing volunteer tries her hand at an impromptu 'Water Dowsing' with improvised coat-hanger wires bent into long  L-shaped units. Every successful attempt was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Wes Funk looks intrigued by what he is hearing, while basking in the typically surreal atmosphere of a cultural 'happening' in the rural setting.

Moments after yet another demonstration of the 'Water Dowsing' phenomenon, this participant appears to be a little perplexed at her own unerring technique.

There seemed to be some kind of magic in the air as person after person stood to proclaim their affinity with this or that healing practice. I think there was something about the fine quality of Jacquie's presentation skills that coaxed out the adventurous spirit of the group.  Truly remarkable for the often (deeply) reserved community that we see in 'everyday life' around town.

During the course of our visit, Wes said that he wanted to interview a blogger for a segment on his Shaw Cable TV show "Lit Happens". 

He was also interested in the connection between thriving as an artist and social media.

Turns out that there was an opening on this morning's schedule. I needed to get into the city for art supplies anyway, so we inked in a guest spot for yours truly.

Wes was such a gracious host. He asked some very good, smart questions about the life and times of an artist in the 21st century living in rural Saskatchewan. He made the whole experience a relaxing, engaging time. I think he has a genuine gift for putting his guests at ease and drawing out the best in them. Dang it all, I did not bring my camera...but it was lots of fun and I think it will turn out great.

Seeing as how the interview was about blogging, I thought I'd better stop what I was doing and plunk away for a few minutes to whip up a ...blog.

Holy mackerel, the days are melting away into an early spring...unless that tell-tale scent of thawing dog doo lies. It would be so easy just to let the time pass me by without taking the time to chatter on about it, especially if I was under the gloomy assumption that I was writing to no-one.

The thing is, strangely and organically enough, I did the math and this blog has had on average about 60 readers every day since its inception a few months ago. 

I won't brag that I've almost hit the 5000 mark, it is no great feat when some blogs get a zillion visitors per annum.

Whatever. It's not about quantity, it's about quality.

Take for example a note that showed up in my inbox this morning.

Subject: your way with words.....

Michael, I thought you were an art critic....your way with words is stellar....I was in awe of what you said about my work, and the fact that it came from a fellow artist really means a lot. What you do is striking! do you do public art? Murals? I'm chairperson for Art and Public Places for the City of West Palm Beach. Deb Bigeleisen.

Now, I ask you, what do I do with that ?!

You see where I'm going with this?

In the meantime, life goes on in my studio. I just finished my latest mural commission called "Imaginary Landscape" that will be permanently installed at the new 'Manitou (Seniors') Lodge' attached to the Watrous Union Hospital. And now of course I am on to other painting projects.

Just before I take off, may as well show you some shots of that mural. I will be writing in more depth in an upcoming post about the ramifications of this artwork.

Posing with the preliminary sketch (on the ledge) along with the intermediate panels in front. The full-sized panels can be seen behind.

The intermediate panels sitting in front of the full-size panels.

The three finished full-sized panels form a triptych.

As you can probably tell, I could go on and on in this space for quite a while yet. But it is no way to get actual work done.

I get a bit territorial about that non-negotiable time in the studio so I am off!