Verna is 92 when we first meet her. A proud great-grandmother, she is soft-spoken and somewhat guarded before she gets to know us. She tells us that she likes to draw and prefers to do so alone. We deliver drawing materials and a foldable table to her room at the Yorkton District Care Home.
When we visit and ask Verna if she’s done any drawing she usually shrugs and answers, “Not too much.” However, there are always at least a few new drawings tucked away in her portfolio. Landscapes, farms, buildings, and animals, rendered on the backs of envelopes, calendars, and scraps of paper. At Verna’s request, we bring her photos of horses and buildings from around Yorkton to draw from. Her drawings are quaint and sincere. A standout from early 2023 depicts a path leading through the woods, the words “The long way home” are written in tidy cursive at the top of the page. Verna isn’t afraid of colour. She boldly layers pencil crayon and ink with impressive confidence. I tell her how her drawings remind me of the late Frank Cicansky, father of the well-known Saskatchewan ceramicist, Vic.
Amanda is Verna’s granddaughter. She joined the project a few months in after serendipitously realizing that we knew one another from Regina. In working with Amanda, we learn much more about Verna. Verna used to be an avid quilter and has made elaborate quilts for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Amanda plans to finish making a quilt that her grandmother started many years ago. She initially hoped that Verna could share her skills and show her how to finish the quilt. But the project didn’t pan out exactly as Amanda thought. Verna wasn’t able to show her granddaughter how to finish the quilt, so Amanda taught herself, looking up videos on Youtube, and asking friends for tips. She sifts through her grandmother’s sewing box, finding pattern pieces and detailed handwritten notes as to their uses. The sewing box shows a side of Verna that we hadn’t seen previously. It shows a meticulous craftsperson and a careful record-keeper. The project does bring granddaughter and grandmother closer together, just not in the way that Amanda had expected.
“[the project] really deepened our relationship… it allowed me to see the through lines of our lives that are so similar.”
– Amanda Babey
