Lawyer and artist Maggie Coffin Prowse (Image: submitted)
Grand Bay-Westfield lawyer Maggie Coffin Prowse’s painting “I see you” is one example of art submitted in HealthPro Canada’s #FacesofCanadianHealthcare artwork contest celebrating Canada’s health professionals.
“My brother Mark Coffin found the contest and he sent it to me,” said Prowse. “I had just finished a piece where I put a mask on – I don’t know what prompted me to do it, but I did and then he said, ‘You need to enter something into this contest!’”
People can vote for their favourite artwork on the contest website until May 31. The winner will be announced in June and be awarded $25,000 to be donated to a healthcare facility of their choice.
Prowse said if she wins the contest she will donate the money Bobby’s Hospice.
Maggie Coffin Prowse’s painting “I see you” (Image: Submitted)
“My mother passed away in palliative care, my father died at home, and then my friend who had brain cancer died at Bobby’s Hospice,” she said. “The care and the comfort and compassion that they showed at Bobby’s Hospice to my family, my friend and her family was incredible – unfortunately, you do not get that sort of dignity with dying in every location, they do exceptional work.”
Prowse grew up learning about art; her mother, Kathy Coffin, was a painter, art teacher and consultant for 30 years in Oromocto, Labrador City and Saint John.
“I hadn’t put in the dedication, in the sense of the hours, until COVID came along,” she explained. “I paint constantly now and it is an enormous stress reliever and it’s become a real joy – I have grown a whole new appreciation for why my mother loved to paint so much and why she wanted to share it so much.”
Her entry for the #FacesofCanadianHealthcare contest was perfectly timed with a piece inspired by Canada’s healthcare workers, which she just completed.
“I know nurses are used to being very comforting and compassionate in those final moments or in those stressful recovery moments and all they have now are their eyes because everything else on them is covered up,” said Prowse. “So, you almost have to convey compassion through your eyes and that’s how this came about, if [eyes] are all you’ve got, it really needs to be special.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the contest, and view the contest entries, they can check out the contest website and gallery.
