A long-awaited reunion between a dog and its owners was celebrated earlier this week, thanks to the work of a Bowen carver and artist.
Over the course of two weeks, Simon Daniel James, along with his daughter Mizuki, restored the carving of an RCMP dog which had fallen into disrepair. Its owners – equally wooden Mounties, one human and one moose – stand guard outside the Bowen Island Detachment. The duo are a popular photo stop for visitors to the island, but for a long time they’ve been missing the third member of their trio.
That was until a social media post by Colleen O’Neil about the state of the dog, and a callout to see if anyone might be able to repair it. The job wouldn’t be easy following years of wear and tear from being exposed to the elements. But one of Simon’s friends thought he might be up for the task.
“He stepped up to the challenge, and it turns out it was quite the challenge because it was pretty much sawdust. He miraculously brought it back to life,” said Bowen Island RCMP Cpl. Robert Notari at a ceremony on Monday to recognize Simon’s work. James echoed the corporal’s assessment of the piece – when he first brought it home to begin the refurbishing, the base disintegrated into powder and three of its legs fell off… plus the tail.
Sensing this would take some extra work, James reached out to his Elder, Jasper Poole, for advice on next steps. Poole, who joined Simon, his wife Naomi, and daughter Mizuki for the ceremony at the detachment, said to start by stabilizing the piece and go from there. So, after a thorough coating of paint stabilizer, it was time to get down to the painting itself.
“Whoever carved this, I was impressed,” said James once he had the dog in better condition. He was especially taken by the facial features. “It looks rather lifelike, especially those riveting eyes.”
Simon and his daughter Mizuki highlighted the facial features even further, including a drip technique which Simon is fond of, and gave the rest of the dog a new coat too. “We tried our best to capture the look of an RCMP Shepherd,” he said.
James was aided by a very eager partner during his task. “It’s always fun working with her,” he says of Mizuki, who is apprenticing with her father to be an artist. “She was fully involved in the painting, and she actually helped me glue the dog onto the base itself, because the base is new. I had to have somebody help and tell me where I was on that side of the carving, as opposed to what was happening on my side. She’d say this way or that way, and we were able to do it together,” he explains.
After 20 hours of work over the course of two weeks, James said he received a pretty big hint that the dog was ready to resume its duties. “When I finished it, I had it sitting on a table in my garage, and the neighbours would come and check their mail and they thought it was a real dog, a guard dog guarding the garage. So that tells me that we did a good job,” he says.
“I’m very happy with the way it turned out,” says James.
The local RCMP were very happy as well, with glowing words for James during the Dec. 4 ceremony. “This is an exceptional service to us and our community, bringing our dog back to life, and we appreciate it very much,” said Sea to Sky RCMP Officer in Charge, Inspector Robert Dykstra, who came to the island for the event.
James says he’s proud to see his work so well-received. “It was amazing, I didn’t expect that,” he commented on Monday’s turnout.
“I thought it was going to be my daughter and my wife, and then I asked my Elder Jasper and he said yes. I thought there’d maybe be two or three officers… I did not expect the Fire Department to show up, I did not expect the municipal members including the mayor to show up. That was very nice for us to be recognized that way,” says James.
The fresh-faced pup can now be found reunited with his partners outside of the RCMP Detachment. James says he’s received assurance that this time the carving will be kept undercover and out of the elements, in order to avoid another refurbishing project of this magnitude in the future.
