Artist Ian Saxby, who moved to Canada from Australia eight years ago, has been overwhelmed by the kindness of Canadians in the face of tragedy.
Artists and enthusiasts from across the country have rallied together to help Saxby and his wife Catherine rebuild their lives after a fire destroyed their Moncton-area home last month.
“It has given me a new faith in humanity just because of all of the kindness we have had from the people of New Brunswick,” said Saxby.
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A violent grease fire ignited in the kitchen. Catherine says that she and her husband were lucky to make it out alive.
“I had like 30 seconds where I stood there thinking, ‘If I stay here, I am going to die,'” Catherine said.
She described the fire as the most terrifying experience of her life as she woke up to “a ball of orange” and black smoke chocking her airway.
“We both just managed to get outside before the whole kitchen just started going up,” said Ian, as he recalled the horror of fleeing the flames.
The fire consumed everything they owned, including thousands of dollars worth of Ian’s paintings. What’s worse, he says, is nothing in the home was insured.
“I lost about 10 years worth of artwork representing thousands of hours of work and some of my best and favorite paintings” Ian said.
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Even more devastating, says Catherine, is that Ian’s hands and arms were severely burned in the blaze.
“When I went around front, I saw Ian and he looked like he was out of a horror movie. His skin was hanging in strips.”
Ian spent weeks in the hospital undergoing painful skin grafts and still struggles to grip a pencil to even sketch.
Buff Slaney from the Starving Artist Gallery in Moncton says a GoFundMe page had been launched to help raise money to help the couple rebuild their lives.
“We have had a lot of local artists want to donate materials or some of their owns works to auction off with proceeds going directly to Ian and Cat,” Slaney said.
She is also hoping to find homes for the handful of Saxby’s paintings she has left in her gallery, which she will sell commission free.
An adult on the autism spectrum, Saxby is well known for what he calls “obsessive detail” in his work. He says losing thousands of dollars worth of paintings that took him countless hours to paint was like losing a piece of himself. But the support from artists and people across the country has been humbling.
Saxby was discharged from the hospital in mid-August, and they are now living in a donated cabin until they can get back on their feet.
Catherine, an aspiring writer, has already started to pen their story of overwhelming kindness in the face of tragedy.
“I really want people to know how good your fellow human beings are you know I want to write that.”
Ian is unsure when he will be well enough to get back to his easel or when they can rebuild their home. But he is determined to pick up a brush again.
“I am not sure what to expect when I get painting again. I expect that my work will be more turbulent for a while.”
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