“Love knows no reason, no boundaries, no distance. It has a sole intention of bringing people together to a time called forever - Unknown”
― H. H. Fowler, Love Knows No Bounds
That quote will carry much more weight once you take in the solo exhibit by Penticton & District Community Arts Council artist in residence Deb Tougas entitled: Love letters.
The exhibition was slated to run Feb. 6 to March 28 at the Gallery at Leir House, but was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting Saturday at 1 pm, the exhibition will be available to view online.
The story behind the exhibit drips of inspiration, is moving, and yes, involves a serious amount of true love!
“Last summer, I found my grandparents’ love letters at my mother’s house,” explained Tougas Friday morning. “I was going through a closet and pulled out this little purse, and I said, ‘Mom, what are all these?’ To her it was all, ‘Oh yeah, I don’t know. It’s my parents' old letters’. ‘Do you think I could have a look at them?’ ‘Oh yeah, have ‘em’.”
Tougas took the letters home, and read through them with her sister.
“It almost felt like a betrayal of their privacy, because they’re really very... well some of them were probably more than I needed to know about my grandparents,” said Tougas with a hint of embarrassment. “They were just in their 20s when they started to write these letters.”
It all started when Elmer Pollon met Se Donia Saint Germain at a dance in Winnipeg. It was a Ladies Choice dance, and Donia asked Elmer to dance. They fell in love, and when he moved to Vernon for training with the Canadian Armed Forces, the letter writing began.
“He asked her if he could write to her. They just kind of had that courtship through writing. He was very romantic, and she was very to-the-point,” said Tougas. “In one of her letters, she wrote, “Yes I’ll write to you and yes, I’ll wait for you. But I expect two letters a week and that’s non negotiable’.
“All of his letters were like, my darling, and how much he loved her and how beautiful she was.”
With inspiration overwhelming her, Tougas took to canvas, and began work on what would turn into her Love letters exhibit.
“What I did was take my favourite sentences and sayings and words and put them into the paintings. So, as I was reading the letters, I was jotting down sayings,” said Tougas. “I actually didn’t really think I was going to do a series of them, I mean, who’s going to buy my grandparents paintings.”
The inspiration exceeded Deb’s expectations. The exhibit began in March with 42 paintings. The work took about four months.
“I was a crazy person working here till all hours of the night. You start one, and then you almost can’t wait to start the next one. I’ll think of something, and I have to start another painting to get that idea out of my head,” said Tougas. “When I get my head really into a series, I actually go to bed thinking about it - the problems of composition and colour that I need to sort out.
"When we go to bed, we think about our problems. I would actually end up dreaming about it, and I'd solve it. When I wake up, I feel like I didn’t sleep at all, but I think I figured that out.”
Tougas says her favouite is one which adorns a wall in her studio at Leir House, and consists of three images of her grandmother, and a poignant verse.
“I love you… Isn’t it funny when you love someone you want the world to know,” offered Tougas. “She wrote that in one of her last letters. I just loved it because it was so honest.
“And who would have thought 80 years later their granddaughter would share that with the world. And I hope they love that. The things that are really, really private are not in my paintings.”
Years later, Deb’s grandmother got Alzheimer’s and passed away.
Elmer wrote the following poem…
Love letters by Deb Tougas is now online at www.pentictonartscouncil.com.
All of the paintings are displayed. Most are available for purchase.
It may be Deb’s story of her grandparents' love for one another, but it’s an inspiring story, and a set of paintings everyone can enjoy.
