Yellowknife (Aug 25/06) - It was a simple piece, painted out of frustration and disappointment. Now, it is on its way to becoming something much more.

The painting is called "The Soulworker", a warm expressionist portrait of a nurse holding a flower, the centrepiece of Toronto artist Micheline Montgomery's show at Birchwood Gallery, "Focus on the Path."

Birchwood Gallery owner Tony Watier and artist Micheline Montgomery share a laugh during the opening of "Faces on the Path," an exhibition of the Toronto painter's work at Birchwood Gallery. Montgomery, a former nurse, hopes to open a "centre of reflection," for caregivers from around the world, centred in Yellowknife. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

"It's the only piece I've created out of frustration," she said during the opening. "I'd never painted a nurse before."

That frustration was with her role as a nurse - a career she maintained until recently.

She was upset with the lack of time she could spend with patients, to care for them "heart and soul."

Soon, she said, the painting took on a life of its own, "like a stone in the water," spreading ripples across the country.

One was the creation of "art cards," small postcard-sized prints that have been distributed in the thousands.

Another is the creation of a non-profit foundation to produce and distribute prints of the piece.

The funds will go towards the creation of a "Centre for Reflection" in Yellowknife, a place where caregivers can "come and rest their souls."

"There's so much burnout," she said. "Working in a big city hospital there's nothing better they would like than to go to Yellowknife for peace."

"What better place than here?"

Montgomery's partner in the project is Birchwood Gallery owner Tony Watier, whose gallery is producing the prints. He said the project is still in its early stages.

"It's going to be quite a lengthy project, to evolve what (the centre) will do, he said. The foundation, however, will be a "living and breathing entity" within days.

He agrees that Yellowknife is an ideal location for a centre of reflection, a plan that he thinks is entirely possible.

"If the prints go very well, the foundation will realize several million dollars worth of funding," he said.

Montgomery said she struggled as a "closet full-time artist" for years, wondering if it was selfish to give up nursing for art.

She said earning a PhD in art helped change her mind.

"We need art to live." she said. "If I do my art from my heart, maybe people will respond. That's my way of helping."

As she wandered through the pieces at the gallery, she stopped at one, a woman's face, resting on a bed of flowers.

"I like gentleness and tenderness," she said, in contrast to the mindset that produced The Soul Worker. "When you have gentleness and tenderness in your heart, even when you lay on flowers they won't get bruised."