Home

My hometown happens to be Fleur de Lys, NL. I took this photo on the shore below my brother’s house back in 2015 when I was there for a visit. As I looked out over the harbour, I felt the spirit of “Home! A place of family; a place of people who welcome you with open arms; a place of special memories and traditions that carry you forward in life; a place of wisdom and understanding, a  place of songs and tall tales, stories and yarns; a place of comfort and love…and maybe homemade bread slathered in butter and molasses, or a big old hot Sunday dinner with rich brown gravy and a pile of saltbeef and peas pudding! On this Come Home Year 2022, I am pleased to finally make “Home” available for others who feel that pull to be home.

Historic Fleur de Lys has a long and rich history! Actually it is prehistoric! Over the past 5000 years it has been home to a number of cultures! It is home to the oldest known industrial mine in the province! The Soapstone quarry was likely in use first by Groswater Palaeoeskimo before the Dorset Palaeoeskimo! Radio-carbon dating and stratigraphic evidence indicate the continuous use of the soapstone beginning about 1600 bp (before present time) to 1200 bp – so from AD 400 -AD 800. Also evidence of Maritime Archaic culture at the Shelly garden base camp so perhaps the initial use of the quarry may pre-date the Dorset by approx. 2000 years – over 4000 years ago! It was a base for the French migratory fishery as well and Shelley’s Island was in the middle of it all as it was the site of one of the French ‘Rooms”.  This painting “Home” original is 36×48.