The 49th Open International Juried Exhibition of the Society of Canadian Artists opens on September 5th with the opening reception taking place on Thursday, September 7th from 7:00–9:00 p.m. I was very happy to hear that His Name is Bill was accepted into the show. The exhibition takes place at the Papermill Gallery, Todmorden Mills Museum, Toronto and the jurors include:

• Richard Noyce, Int’l Arts Professional, Artist, Curator, Writer, London UK

• Bogdan Luca, Drawing & Painting Instructor, OCAD University, Toronto, Ontario

• Linda Kemp CSPWC (Life), OSA, SCA, Ontario, Canada

His Name is Bill, 26 x 26 in, oil on canvas

Inspired by a song by Blue Highway...

"They called him Skeet, his name was Bill Corporal William Howard Campbell, they never knew and never will He did his time with the 101 They took a simple country boy and taught him how to use a gun After four long years in service, two tours in Vietnam The country that he served so well doesn't seem to give a damn That he's a homeless man He has a son, lives in L.A. He hasn't spoke to him in twenty years, he just don't know what to say He had a loving wife, she was his right hand Till the nightmares and the memories became more that she could stand Now he has everything he owns in a worn-out shopping cart He's never begged for anything, he just doesn't have the heart He's just a homeless man Now in this land of plenty where so many have it all, He sleeps in an alley half a block from city hall They found him there one cold November night Though he'd won so many battles, this time he'd lost the fight No one seemed to care that he was gone They laid him in a pauper's grave with a tiny little stone As a young man and his mother sat alone and cried, Holding the Silver Star medallion someone found there by his side He was a homeless man He was just a homeless man"

Reference photo of model by Matthew Woitunski, Wikimedia Commons