As someone with many different passions and interests, picking my project for Propel was understandably challenging for me. My teacher, Mr. Hansen helped me realize I could do more than one project during my semester, a buffet if you will—some of this, some of that. Before my semester in Propel, I had started drawing with oil pastels, and before long I became quite fond of it. As you might be able to guess, one of my projects this semester was oil pastel drawings. My second project was the beautification of the school courtyard. This second project came from my lifelong love for nature, plants, and my newly found interest in permaculture.

 I was enrolled in the second semester of Propel, starting in February. February's snowy, frigid days kept me inside to focus on my pastel work. I started by playing around with the different building blocks of drawing, such as perspective. I loved how my perspective drawing turned out, however, I wanted to do something different, something out of the box. That’s when I got the idea to do my drawings over old photographs that had been discarded and forgotten. The Drawings I did over the photographs were flowers. More specifically, lilies. There is something significant about the lilies in my drawings. Lilies are a widespread flower commonly used in floral arrangements for funerals, which to me pays homage to the people in the photographs. My drawings over the photographs make it so much more special than my drawings might be on their own, as there is a story to them. Something about a photograph capturing someone's precious memories being given a new life, now on display, as opposed to being left behind is so special to me. The art I have made with the photographs and my pastels fill me with many emotions. I hope they will fill you with emotions as well. Whether those emotions are sadness to these people left behind or gratitude that these photographs are now on display being given a new life. I am incredibly proud of the art that I created this semester, and I am super excited to see what kind of art I will do in the future.

I started to work on my second project as the weather began to warm, and the sun started to shine. I started by giving the area I was going to be working with a good look. I measured the amount of space I had to work with and how the sun was going to shine into the courtyard. I knew I wanted to give life to the dull and empty space that I had to work with. I started by making the garden space bigger, and the gravel space smaller. I also used reclaimed bricks to make a border between the soil and the gravel. The brick border has some curves and wiggles which helps to add such a playful element to the space. The reclaimed bricks were also great as they were given a new life, along with adding so much character to the space. I also added a sitting area in the garden, furnished with a wooden bench, hand-built by me. And of course, I did so much planting. Many of the plants that now fill the courtyard garden beds were graciously given by local Winnipeg gardeners. I made sure I planted perennials and self-seeding annuals to ensure that we would have beautiful blooms fill the courtyard with life and colour for years and years to come. Although making the courtyard look gorgeous, there is much more than that. I have created a space for the current and future Nelson Mac students and staff to use and enjoy, for many years to come!