Knight Street, Oil on Paper; © Jennifer Pohl

In this spirit of today’s Illustration Friday I’ve decided to post as promptly as possible. I love to walk, so cars passing me often seem pretty speedy.

Friends may laugh at the thought of me and the concept of speed. I tend to work many pieces over months –and sometimes years– reworking, layering, and letting the work breathe so I can go back with new eyes and keep the colours fresh. But this tiny piece (the first of my night scenes, and my first to appear in a commercial gallery) was done in a single sitting the day it was to be installed, and the minute it was finished I called a cab to deliver it just in time for the opening. Sometimes it’s very hard to stop painting. I take solace in the fact that celebrated painters like Ross Bleckner have been known to ship wet paintings, and Turner was said to retouch and varnish his paintings while hanging in the gallery. More recent examples from the night scenes series can be seen in my new online gallery.

Conor, Egg Tempera & Ink on Paper; © Jennifer Pohl

My footnote post (which was something of an unintentional mixed media piece) may have worked here, but instead I thought I’d show a page from my new Moleskine.

Many Canadians, and most Newfoundlanders, are already familar with the plight of the Portnoy Family. Having been in Canada for ten years, well-known and liked in the communities in which they have lived (and even started a business), they have sought citizenship several times and have been denied. This, despite the fact that they are political dissidents in Moldava and Israel, facing severe issues if and when they are forced to return. Today the four young children and their pregnant mother Angela Portnoy continue to seek sanctuary in the basement of a local church, but their father Alexi was taken from them in December 2005 after briefly leaving the building and being arrested during a routine traffic check. Despite the fervent pleas of the people of Marystown and Newfoundland, he was deported to Israel during the Christmas season.

Official requests to allow Angela safe passage to receive medical treatment have been repeatedly denied, creating great concern for the family and all involved, including medical professionals.

As a pregnant mother, this strikes all too close to home. If, like me, your heart was broken this past Christmas by the Portnoy’s story, please take a moment to visit this website to learn more, and consider signing the online petition. Public support will strengthen a new application, and copies are being sent to various politicians with the power to intervene.

My husband Douglas Johnston has just turned a life-long hobby into another great blog, a multimedia one called A Study in Sherlock. If you have even a passing interest in mystery, history, literature, or perhaps the best known fictional character of all time, I think I can promise you that this will be a fascinating journey.

[…] It’s my intention that there will be something new every weekday, and occasionally on weekends. That includes original pieces (many of which are written for newcomers to the Canon), photographs, teasers for the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrations, news stories, book reviews, audio snippets, “workshop” projects (such as do-it-yourself reference cards or CDs), radio plays, and featured sites. Most of these entries are selected to offer something for neophytes, but –hopefully– also provide ample occasion for discourse amongst the more experienced.