Artist Peter Etril Snyder is Retiring

UPDATE: this article is dated since it was written originally in 2009 didn’t anticipate Peter’s passing. Peter Etril Snyder, 73, died on Monday August 28, 2017 at Grand River Health Centre, King St W, Kitchener where he was born January 28, 1944.

The content of the following was written to reflect information that was current to the time, and has changed with his passing and the passage of time. It still conveys my appreciation for Peter’s art and for Peter himself.

When I lived in Ontario, Christine and I collected Peter Etril Snyder prints. We could afford the prints and we enjoyed the Old Order Mennonite farming scenes. They still hang in our home as framed prints and collector plates. Now 65 year old Snyder has announced his imminent retirement. While he can never stop painting, he is closing his gallery and will no longer offer reproductions of his paintings. His website will continue to offer the sale of his originals. He will also do commissioned pieces.

His website and recent interviews disclose that some health issues, his age and general lack of energy have made him conclude that this is the right time to relax. I am sorry for his health concerns but I understand that he is being wise. He wants to travel with his wife Marilyn and to enjoy these next years without endangering himself.

Snyder’s career spans forty years and he has enjoyed good success. His paintings are avidly collected by people, corporations and organizations worldwide, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization. One of his paintings, ‘The Homesteaders’, was officially presented to HRH Prince Phillip during a visit to Alberta in 1985. During his career he has also been recognized with an Honourary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from Wilfred Laurier University and is a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International.

His is an interesting and singular story. He was born in 1944 to Mennonite parents. His father moved the family from the traditional farming community into town He held his first exhibition in 1963 at the Mall Gallery in Ottawa. Following his graduation from the Ontario College of Art in 1966 he toured Europe and returned there repeatedly through the years as well as trips to Central and South America and United States. In 1967 he exhibited in Buffalo, NY. 1969. Familiar with the old world values, in 1969 Snyder began to capture the charm and simplicity of Mennonite life on canvas. These subjects found a keen market in the Waterloo region and beyond. He held a one-man show of these Mennonite paintings in Kitchener in 1970. He was fortunate when in 1971 the Industrial Acceptance Corporation (now HSBC Bank Canada) purchased a large number of his paintings. During 1972-1974 he held numerous one man shows throughout Ontario.

1975 was the pivotal year that he opened his own gallery in Waterloo. To open and remain operative for 40 years is a rare accomplishment for active artists. Imagine painting, running and supervising a gallery and essentially working six days each week for most of these past four decades. His gallery will be open until December 31, 2009.

“My niece, Cynthia has taken over my library of images. My hope is that my work and it’s further application does not die with me.”   Peter Etril Snyder

Since Peter Etril Snyder’s passing:
Website: https://snydergallery.com
Cynthia Weber: CYNTHIA WEBSER DESIGN is an extraordinary interior design site. Cynthia is an accredited interior decorator and a member of the Decorators & Designers Association of Canada DDA
Here Cynthia expresses her collaboration with her Uncle Peter and his art.
My interest in developing my design website and managing my own SM branding intrigued him and in 2016 when his website became out of date and needed redesigning he asked me to step in. He wanted people to have a place to come learn about his career, look at his paintings and read what he had written about each piece. I think that goal was achieved very nicely indeed! You can click through to explore the Gallery Website.

September 7th - A Day for Birthdays

Please go to
Ron Unruh Retirement Memoirs for this Posting

OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN, 20x24 in, oil on canvas, Abandoned

This painting dated 1964 has a story. As a young man in March 1965 I traded this painting for a 57 VW Beetle to transport me to college. Then thirty-one years later in 1996 the owner returned the painting to me believing that it should be a heritage piece for my family. In fact, he wrote on the back of the painting his intention that my oldest child should become the recipient of this painting. I apologize now publicly to my oldest child for not having delivered it to her. At the time that it was returned to me, I was visiting from my home four provinces away - a 4.5 hour flight. It could have been packaged and sent or carried with me. I chose instead to leave it as a gift to a relative who desired one of my paintings. That was in 1996. Then to my surprise in 2007 the painting once again became mine but once more I chose not to ship it home but rather tucked it behind my father's living room couch, still on the other side of the country. When we cleaned the apartment following my parents' deaths, I examined the painting for workmanship and condition of canvas and paint and made the decision that I would not keep it. I was sure my family did not have a place for this painting, nor did I. With noone to whom to give it, I left it in a public place with a sign that it was free for the taking. My contact information was on the back if someone wanted to let me know they had it. I have heard nothing so have to conclude that possibly the painting became part of some landfill site. That's OK. The painting served me well and it gave pleasure to a few for a long time. The VW Beetle reliably moved me around, and in 1967 the Year of Canada's Centennial, I painted her a celebrative Blue with red wheels, and white hubs and running boards. At last in 1968 I sold the car for $150 to a man who wanted to drive from St. Catharines Ontario to British Columbia and asked me whether it would make it that far. I said, "good luck!"

God's Chisel - The Skit Guys

Tommy Woodard and Eddie James are The Skit Guys. They have been best friends since high school. Think of them as the wise guys in class who had everyone laughing and managed to make a career out of it. They've been teaching God's word using comedy, drama and whatever category talking action figures fit into for over twenty years.

They write and perform skits with solidly instructive value, albeit with a spiritual punch line. They respond to invitations to come in person. They also publish the manuscript so these can be performed by other actors in other settings. They recently released two new books through Zondervan called, Instant Skits and Skits That Teach. They have also produced other plays, skits, and videos covering a wide variety of topics that are available to download through their website.

I am directing you to one skit entitled God’s Chisel so that you can watch (laugh and learn) what these guys are capable of communicating but also perhaps, so you can pick up a worthwhile life lesson. It’s a nine minute video but good! The point here will be something like this. God is at work in our lives. In the lives of his followers particularly, God is chiseling out the unnecessary and unattractive stuff. It can be painful to go through God’s discipline.

This video will subtly touch themes such as Holiness, Obeying God, Spiritual maturity, Discipline, Comparison, Becoming like Christ.

There is lots to download, borrow and buy from the tabs you find among the Skits Scripts / Vidoes / DVD’s / Books / Join the E-List at their website, www.skitguys.com

Comfort Food

The thatch has disappeared from the top of my head and now the shakes are disappearing from the top of my roof. As I write this, my house roof is being reshingled. Now that’s a set back. I will drop a chunk of change. How am I supposed to respond to that? But wait. This week, I did something I have never done before. I tried out for a TV commercial. My daughter in law Gina does this regularly and this week she told us that her agent was asking for an entire family to audition. This commercial would be for a product to minimize Alzheimer symptoms. Take One. As they videod us in the studio, my son Jeff and Gina and grandson played pretend soccer and wrestled playfully as Christine and I looked on with obvious delight. Take Two. Gina walked with me at an imaginary beach and I was asked to feign the effects of the neurological disease. Another take projected my condition six months after starting this medication and my mind is back in charge. Christine then followed this up with her own version of a stricken senior. If I or we get the part it means a few thousand dollars. And already my head is full of big ideas of how it can be spent. I am singing the Beatles song, ‘Act Naturally.’

They're gonna put me in the movies
They're gonna make a big star out of me
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
And all i gotta do is act naturally

But what if I don’t get that part? Will I be crushed? How will I handle that? We all respond to changes, pressures, setbacks, reversals, conflicts and adversity differently. Some never stop complaining, singing the blues, finding faults with whatever. Some see the bright side. Some lose their appetites and others go on a feeding frenzy. Some simply find comfort in eating certain food items. Call it comfort food. Could be pizza, or pop corn, or blizzards, or Kraft dinner. What do you like to eat when you are feeling low? Is there a particular food that picks you up or calms your spirit, or is enough of a diversion that it feels like comfort? It might be chicken soup, or spicy pasta, or hot porridge, or homemade apple pie with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Psalm 25 is comfort food for the soul. It's an alphabet soup for the soul. The reason I call the psalm an alphabet for trouble is because David has written an acrostic poem with each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s called an alphabetic acrostic. There are seven such psalms (25, 34, 37,111,112,119, and 145). We can’t see this in our English translations of course but knowing this gives me a valid reason for calling this my alphabet soup.

Addendum: I didn't get the commercial. They called my wife back. She is obviously a more convincing person with blank moments. Clearly I am jesting about the gravity of this let down. But we have them - true heartaches and comfort food truly helps.

"To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;... guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior,and my hope is in you all day long. May integrity and uprightness protect me,because my hope is in you." Psalm 25:1,5,21

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

In 2007 Richard Dawkins joined an anti-God squad of writers with his best selling book The God Delusion. This has led to the most sustained discussion of religion in society for decades, including a flurry of counter-attacks against Dawkins and his fellow prophets. Among the other writers slamming God and religion were Sam Harris with The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. Christopher Hitchens' with God Is Not Great which had a long run high on the New York Times best-seller list. Daniel Dennett wrote Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon and Victor J. Stenger penned God: The Failed Hypothesis. Highly successful sales led to the these writers being dubbed the "new atheists."

But religion hasn't always been exempt from scrutiny in other generations. Friedrich Nietzsche complained that he had found "…it necessary to wash my hands after I have come into contact with religious people," and Émile Zola declared the perfection of civilization will be at hand when "the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest!" Voltaire described Christianity as "the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Tennessee Williams saw in the God of Western mythology a "senile delinquent." David Hume called prevailing religious principles "sick men's dreams."

This ancient Psalm 19 informs us that God can survive the attacks against him because it is his glory that is in evidence as the sun shines on believers and defamers alike. Eons ago at the time of creation, praise to God began by what God made.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." Psalm 19:1-3

Click the images to enlarge them. Their definition is great for your desktop background.

September First

September First

September 1st is the start of a new liturgical year for the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Church (Byzantine). It is also Saint Giles Day in the Church of England, Knowledge Day in Russia, Teachers’ Day in Singapore, Independence Day for Uzbekistan and the First Day of Spring in Australia and New Zealand.

Here in Canada many of us becoming grumpy that it feels like summer is over and winter is on its way. School starts soon and teachers like my son and daughter in law report to their schools for some preliminary meeting today.

Comedian and actress Lily Tomlin celebrates her 70th birthday today and ‘Dr. Phil’ McGraw is 59.

Today the crew of the space shuttle Discovery awoke to begin unloading tons of equipment to the International Space Station and two of the astronauts will embark on this mission’s first spacewalk.

Our economy is beginning to recover we are told today.

September One has had some memorable moments in history. Alberta and Saskatchewan became the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada when they joined confederation in 1905. The last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. In 1982 our country adopted its Charter of Rights and Freedoms as part of our Constitution. The Titanic was located at the ocean floor in 1985. One of our greatest heroes, Terry Fox, had run a marathon each day for 135 days when he was forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope. Running on one leg and an artificial limb, he and run/hopped over 5,000 kms since April 12th of that year. Cancer returned to his body, affecting his lungs and having been returned to Vancouver, he died one year later. His Foundation is here.

Today the 2010 Volvo c70 convertible has been previewed. You can find a review here.

And you can find a lot about September 1 at Wikipedia.

Have a great first day of September.

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 17 I thought in my heart,God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,17

Their Passports were stamped - We are Gone So Soon

I did myself a favour this week. I observed two funerals. For one I was in attendance and for the other I was among millions of television viewers. Each of the men was known for spoken and written words, for an enduring smile, for a lifetime of service to others. Each of them was a beloved grandfather. Each of them had experienced loss and heartache in life. Each exhibited a contagious joy and optimism. Yet, they could not have been more different one from the other.

Each funeral was two hours in length. Each was personal, touching and an appropriate tribute to each man’s memory. One funeral was unadorned, evangelical in content and well attended by two hundred people. The deceased was 93 years of age at death. The other ceremony was sacramental, Roman Catholic, attended by thousands and telecast globally. The departed person was 77 years of age when he died.

It was good for me to observe both of these memorial services because of the stimulus they have been to my determination as a man, a father and grandfather at the age of sixty-six, soon to be sixty-seven. The first funeral was that of Ted Handy, a ninety-three year old former church pastor who endeared himself to countless people by his thoughtfulness, personal contacts, and shepherdly care of people throughout his life. The second memorial service was that of Ted Kennedy, senior senator from Massachusetts who died at the age of 77. Familiar with some of the less attractive moments of Ted Kennedy’s younger life I was encouraged to hear from his sons and close friends that redemption and profoundly positive impact marked his mature years. People close to him, loved him. People who worked with him respected him. As for Ted Handy, his mark on others was indelible and consistent. He was courteous and kind and loving and unselfish and inspirational.

Since these funerals I have thought much about how I want to be remembered and I am concerned that I have done so much that cannot be recovered or rewritten. Perhaps in my mature years I can pave a soft path of love to the hearts of all with whom I have contact and specially those I love the most. I have some work ahead of me before my passport is stamped.

Job 12:12-13 "Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his."

Natasha's and Jamie's Wedding Today

I am officiating an outdoor wedding this morning in Fort Langley. I am looking forward to this fun event at 11:00 AM. Christine and I met Cheryl Krescy in a magazine article that featured her Paris vacation apartment in the Montmartre section of the city. Cheryl is the owner of the Little White House in Fort Langley. She and her husband Gene and two of their friends partnered to purchase, renovate and rent this Parisian holiday spot called The Countess. (Go to this site and scroll down the right hand list of one bedroom.)

If you know anything about the Little White House, you know that all retail linens and clothing and all things ‘girlie’ are either black or white. It is entirely gorgeous but for an artist like me in love with colour, it becomes a bit, well ‘tedious’ in a pretty way, I had better add. I have to see Cheryl again today. Oh but today we are being liberated to broaden our colour chart. We were asked to wear colours of cream. That’s true! Colours of Cream. So it’s black, it’s white, it’s cream, sounds like a Michael Jackson song. I bought a tie specially for this occasion. It’s a lovely sunlit morning and it will be a perfect day for this wedding.

Today Gene's and Cheryl's daughter Natasha will marry Jamie Isaak and I have the honour of tying that proverbial knot. But of course as I have told the two of them and as I always say, the most important feature of this entire day is the vows they exchange with each other. Each is saying you can count on my faithfulness and love for a lifetime.

Fountain in Place de L'Eglise

In the small town of Lourmarin in the Luberon Hills of Provence, Christine and I were introduced to the concept of time in the life of the French. Our gite (apartment) named La Petite Maison was accessed on the high point of the village after a modest walk up very narrow cobble stone lanes or one lane roads. The gite was within a tiny square (Place de l'Eglise)which contained other dwellings, an art gallerie and an historic Catholic church. Near the steps of the small church was a fountain where the sound of the water spout was comfortable and constant. Here is a painting I did while sitting on my porch. This square was frequented by daily tourists passing by. Pretending to be locals we watched them from the porch on the second level. The church tower bell sounded every hour, one gong for each hour, and one gong on the half hour. Everyone wears wristwatches now of course yet town time was still marked by the church bell.

Someone purchased this painting today and I will have it framed and then it moves from my studio to its new home. I painted the fountain en plein air, and enjoyed the reflections, the soft bubbles rising to the surface, the contrasting green vines on the bleached wall, the sunlit stucco walls of the house in the background and the wonderful contrasting light blue shutters of the window and door. Shutters are always closed for the night and invariably these were pulled shut around supper hour even with three hours of sunlight remaining. We foreigners tended to close shuttters just before bedtime.

The someone referenced above is a husband and wife who today, August 29th, 2009 celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Congratulations my dear friends.