Patrick Hunter
"Movin On"

For my painting I chose to depict one of Red Lakes colourful residents, Erwin Shonmair walking his bike up the last big hill on his way home to Madsen. He was well into his 70’s and was able to still bike the 10km each way to town a few times week until his passing in early 2009.

The colours towards the bottom of the hill are more    natural(ie green trees and black road) and as your eye follows the up the road they become more vibrant, and not so realistic. The message that I wanted to convey was that he was leaving the rest of us and off on another great ride and another great adventure.

My painting is a tribute to someone who made the north his home instead of deciding to live in Austria. It’s painted in the Woodland style which originated in the north by artists such as Norval Morrisseau. During my travels I have not seen a sunset as beautiful and vibrant as they are in Red Lake, so vibrancy comes across in my paintings which is inspired by the sunsets I miss sooo much.

My family was especially close with Mr. Shonmair. For the longest time growing up it was “Mr. Shoemaker” because we couldn’t pronounce his last name if our lives depended on it. As much as I heard all of his stories at the dinners he would have with my family, I was always interested and asked questions that I had forgot to ask before. To me, he was a major part of Madsen, and his passing has left a huge void in the lives of everyone who’s lived there. He will be missed and this was a way of making sure that he will be remembered for not being afraid to be who he was and showing us a way of life that we can all learn from.