You Are My Sunshine

ARTIST
Sherry Duncan

SENIOR OR ELDER
Norman Cree

ARTFORM
Craft

ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Mr. Cree and I had a lovely conversation over FaceTime. I feel so honoured to have been invited to have this conversation with him. Mr. Cree was born on the Clearwater River in a log home. He was one of 16 children. I tried to imagine what it might have been like living in Fort McMurray all those years ago. Mr. Cree is an experienced hunter and trapper. I understand that his trapline covered 70 miles. He shared with me that he had 3 very faithful dogs emphasizing that they were “good, fast dogs.” He talked about his beautiful daughters, Sally, Norma, Paulette and Nancy. I asked Mr. Cree what his favourite song was and he mentioned “You are my Sunshine.” I sang the first verse and encouraged him to sing along. I sang it again and to my absolute joy and delight when he sang with me. Music has a timeless quality. I knew that I wanted to paint a guitar for Mr. Cree. I asked my local friends and a young 17 year-old lad had this guitar that he no longer played. He donated it to me for this project. Acrylic paints, pens, modge-podge and spray varnish were used to create the story on the guitar.
– Sherry Duncan