'We can't just stop seeing the beauty': Portapique artist finds comfort, solace in natural surroundings
Surrounded by a lifetime of art she's created herself, Joy Laking has found another outlet for her creativity - a poem she penned at the beginning of the month.
"Our Portpique" is an ode to the place she's called home for nearly a half a century.
Posted on her Facebook page, the work explores the history and natural wonder of the area, beginning with the words
"Every day,
Twice a day,
The moon pulls the salt water
From the Minas Basin,
Up the Portaupique [sic] River
Until it spills over the salt marsh...."
Later, a warning, and an acknowledgement of the terrible events that unfolded in Portapique, N.S., April 18 and 19 of 2020.
"Nature is not kind
But neither is it punitive.
Only people have the choice to live in harmony,
Or not."
The prolific and well-known artist admits the harmony in Portapique was irreparably shattered two years ago, when a gunman went on a rampage that would ultimately leave 22 people and an unborn child dead.
"I knew the people," Laking told CTV News Monday.
"They were neighbours and three of them were friends. And I spent my whole life - my adult life - the last 48 years - painting the beauty of Portapique. And then, all of a sudden, this would happen here? It's just unbelievable."
Answers about what happened are slowly emerging from a public inquiry, but for the people of Portapique, healing remains a work in progress.
"I'm still really traumatized," Laking says. "It's been a really, really hard two years."
Ever inspired by her surroundings at home, Joy says the endless cycles of nature have brought her some comfort in the last couple of years, although for a time, she couldn't bring herself to pick-up a brush.
"Initially, I couldn't paint because I couldn't see beauty anywhere," she says.
Then, Laking decided the events of those two days would no longer dictate her life.
"I think we have to embrace both the bad and the good, and we can't just bury one, and we can't just stop seeing the beauty," she says - a theme reflected in her poem.
Now, with signs everywhere of a new season beginning in earnest, Laking remains hopeful others will begin to find healing and comfort.
"I mean, history is cyclical. But it seems to me that it's humans that really have the power to work together or to pull it all apart," says Laking.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon on the eve of Oct. 7 anniversary
A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque in Gaza killed at least 19 people.
Rare cloud formations ripple the sky over Ottawa
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
The cooking method you need to learn to get excited about vegetables this fall, expert says
'Eat more vegetables,' doctors and dietitians say over and over. But for many people, it’s hard to do, because they aren’t excited about veggies or just don’t like them.
Hurricane Milton is growing stronger as it blows toward Florida's Tampa Bay region
People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Hurricane Milton is intensifying rapidly and will likely be a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.
New Far North hospital moves closer to being built after $1.8B design, build contract awarded
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
Inmate dies following assault at Toronto jail, another prisoner charged
A 54-year-old inmate at the Toronto South Detention Centre has been charged in connection with a deadly jail beating late last week that claimed the life of a 69-year-old prisoner.
Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone, dead at 63
Christopher Ciccone, a multihyphenate artist, dancer, designer and younger brother of Madonna, has died. He was 63.
'Environmental racism': First Nations leaders claim cancer-causing contamination was covered up
The people of Fort Chipewyan believe the federal government knew its water was contaminated and hid the issue for years. Now the chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is leading the call for immediate action.
Frequent drinking of fizzy beverages and fruit juice linked to an increased risk of stroke: research
New data raises questions about the drinks people consume and the potential risks associated with them, according to researchers at Galway University in Ireland, in partnership with Hamilton’s McMaster University.