Past struggles provide inspiration for artist

Ever since he was a young child of three or four, Phil Lafreniere has had an interest in art. Now in his fifties, he uses his artistic talents to create paintings and carvings that allow him to express his creativity and his connections to his culture and his family. But the images he creates in paint and wood also reflect the life he's lived during those intervening years-a life that was often hard and filled with challenges and hardships he's worked hard to overcome.

Lafreniere was born and raised in British Columbia but now lives in Regina. He recalled his early childhood when, still too young to attend school, he followed his older siblings to the one-room schoolhouse they attended. The teacher never made an issue of his presence and set him up in the back of the room with paper to draw on.

"Girls used to try to be motherly and stuff ... it was attention that I got there ... I remember that really vividly. It was probably the healthiest period of my life. This was one of the times I valued most in my life," he said.

Lafreniere has led a life that has taken him many places, some of them not of his own choosing. He spent about 25 years of his life within the penal system, starting out in reform school and eventually doing time in penitentiaries across the country.

It was while in prison that Lafreniere was approached by a librarian who would go from cell to cell providing books to the inmates. He told Lafreniere he should be doing something better with his time. Lafreniere was given some biographies to read-one on Casanova and one on John F. Kennedy. The more he read the more his interest grew as he wondered why people did the things they did. He read more biographies about a diverse collection of people, from Gandhi to Hitler.
"I found it interesting, reading someone else's life," he said. "I was curious and fascinated and spent years and periods in my life just learning about human behaviour."

Lafreniere eventually became an advocate for change within the corrections system. Other prisoners relied on his straightforward approach and his capacity to speak for change, to push for alternative methods and to get things moving.

"It's hard to believe that when I first went to the pen, I was practically illiterate. I could hardly read," he said. While in jail, he studied sociology and is a now just a few credits shy of earning his degree.

"I don't need a piece of paper to tell me what I know," he said. "That means nothing to me. I already know what I have and what I'm capable of."

Lafreniere draws on his experiences when creating his art. Each piece he creates tells its own story and represents a distinct period of his life.

He's currently working on a large-scale project that he undertook as a way to honour his mother, who is in her 90s-a hand carved coffin made of yellow cedar and painted black and red.
"Art is my way of showing what I feel and I thought this would be a way to show my appreciation," he said.

Lafreniere has carved the images of frogs on the sides of the coffin to represent himself and his 19 siblings. The top of the coffin features an eagle and a mother frog surrounded by 20 eggs.
Although he is a talented artist, Lafreniere thinks of his art as a hobby. He has a job working for a wood-finishing company known for their uniquely designed cabinets, made to order from the finest wood. He values his position with the company "because someone believed in me and gave me a chance," he said. "Now, I am trusted with the keys to the shop and I make an honest living."
Now that he has found his way to this point in his life, Lafreniere would like to help others find their way as well.

"Everyday I see what goes on. I live in a community where you see it all ... drugs, children left unattended, exploited women and violence ... I lived on the streets. I was a heroine and coke addict for 35 years. I was very, very violent. When I wanted something I just went and took it. I didn't really think or care," he said.

He sees the way some of these people are living, and he's frustrated by it, wishing someone could provide them with guidance, because he's lived that life. He knows about it intimately.

"People need to change their way of thinking, to change their lifestyle and to get educated," he said. "We need to work with the kids, to educate them and to show them a better way than what we had ... someone still needs to give guidance and direction."