Portraits of Honour

Portraits of Honour

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the head office of Kin Canada in Cambridge to see the Portraits of Honour. The mural is dedicated to the Canadian soldiers, sailors and aircrew who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The latest count is 155 portraits and let us hope that Dave Sopha does not have to add anymore.

Dave Sopha talking about the "kids" in his mural

When our bus load of Kinsmen and Kinette's arrived at headquarters we were greeted at the door by this very friendly gentle man. It was after hours so no day staff were present. I didn't at first but soon realized that this man was the artist of the mural Dave Sopha. It was perfectly normal for him to be in the building after hours as Dave has spent every day, all day, as in 16 hours a day working on his mural since he started it in December of 2008. The mural along with Dave will shortly be taking a cross country tour of Canada.

The goal of the tour is to raise millions of dollars that will support  programs and charities that support the men and women who proudly serve in the Canadian Forces and their families. Dave is incredibly driven and feels obligated to the soldiers and families.

Donations of the many hats worn by the Canadian Forces

When I entered the room the mural is overwhelming at 50 feet across 10 feet tall and all you can spell is oil paint. I started looking at the portraits and the detail is just incredible. As Dave said you can be anywhere in the room and every eye on the mural is looking at you. It is true, I moved around and they were still all looking at me. Dave started to talk about himself and the mural and it was soon evident just how driven and dedicated this man is.

Photographs of the soldiers, sailors and aircrew that
Dave paints the portraits from

He told us about several individuals on the wall, referring to them on a first name basis telling their story. He spoke of many relationships he has acquired over the past couple years. It was evident the emotions he feels for these "kids" as he calls them as he had several of us onlookers wiping a tear from our eyes as he spoke. There is much memorabilia in the room as you can see from some of the photos. You can visit the Portraits of Honour website for more information about the mural, photos, and tour dates and locations.