Hummingbird sculpture the perfect gift for top doctor
B.C.’s health officer sees sculpture as a reminder of ‘the beauty in the world’
Gifting art work to one of the best known British Columbians wasn’t easy for a Vancouver Island artist.
The journey of the sculpture of a stainless steel hummingbird from his studio in Royston to Dr. Bonnie Henry’s office involved serendipity and persistence, even though the gesture had a government official questioning his motives.
On March 25, Ian Lowe had just begun work on a new sculpture of an Anna’s hummingbird that he calls Resilience. He took a midday break to have lunch and to watch the provincial health officer deliver her daily COVID-19 update.
“Next thing I know, Dr. Henry is on the screen and she’s wearing a hummingbird shirt,” said Lowe, who said he notices these things because he has an eye for visual detail. “It just hit me right then and there that I had to give her the statue.
“I just continually appreciated the job she was doing. She actually showed care and compassion and you just don’t get that from people in politics or others these days. I just seemed to connect with her. Her calm and caring discussion, it just made you pay attention.”
Lowe, who had relocated to the Comox Valley from Abbotsford, completed the sculpture — which was hand cut, welded and polished — in about two weeks. He sent an email to Dr. Henry but didn’t get a reply. He next tried his MP, Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River), and again no reply.
“Everybody was busy,” the 47-year-old Lowe said.
“So (his efforts) just sort of fizzled out.”
In January Lowe had quit his job managing a small metal fabrication shop, ending a lifelong career in steel fabrication and welding to become a full-time artist.
His stainless steel sculptures of wildlife, inspired by his First Nations heritage, are on display at The Butchart Gardens and in local breweries and he was getting some interest in his work.
“And then COVID came along,” he said.
“I wasn’t doing all that well in March.”
About one month later, he posted an old mountain bike on Craigslist and when a buyer arrived, they chatted — “I would have knocked $50 off the price just to keep her talking because I hadn’t talked to anyone for weeks at that time,” he said with a laugh.
“She asked me what I did and I asked her what she did and she told me she worked for Rachel Blaney and I said, ‘you’re just the person I need to talk to.’”
Blaney’s office connected him to his MLA, Ronna-Rae Leonard, and he eventually got a call from someone in government.
“They wanted to know did I like Bonnie Henry? And I told them, I love Bonnie Henry! And they said, OK, we’re just checking,” Lowe said.
He finally was able to courier the sculpture to Dr. Henry, “who’s got such celebrity status now,” and he was pleased to receive an email thanking him “so very much” for the “stunningly beautiful” hummingbird.
“I have the sculpture in my office and look at it in wonder every day,” she wrote. “It is a bright spot in my day and reminds me of the beauty in the world.”
It was signed “Bonnie.”