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Joy, Faith, Hope and Florals*
by Lora Sawatsky
“In childhood days, I often wondered
where the sun went at night, having traveled through the soft, rose-tinted
morning to its golden setting in the West. Many years ago my parents
taught me all about the beauty of the world beneath the sun’s caress.
In my golden years I have not lost my childhood vision of a ‘Golden Environment.’
“ Erna Ewert
Erna Sawatzky Ewert created an oasis of beauty when tragedy could so easily have overpowered her spirit. Erna was born May 14, 1922 in the province of Ekaterinoslav, Russia, the oldest child of Heinrich (Henry) Sawatzky and Helena Petkau Sawatzky. When Erna was one year old, her parents immigrated to Canada. After a short stay in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, the Sawatzky family moved to a two-quarter section of lakeshore property on the outskirts of Grande Prairie, Alberta. In spite of hard work and poverty, Erna records in her paintings her fond memories of life with her family here. At a young age, Erna found ways to express her artistic interests. At the age of twelve she presented her father with her own painting as a birthday gift. Erna was a romantic at heart, and recalls painting roses in red and pinks on light cardboard using Reeves watercolours. Being pragmatic and innovative, she glued pieces of broken pop bottles to cardboard for a frame. At thirteen, using money she had saved, she ordered a Japanese-made china demitasse set for $1.98 from the Simpson’s catalogue as a gift for her mother; Erna featured this china on a background of delicate white lace in a 1996 watercolour painting . Life for Erna became difficult after her parents died; her father in 1936 at age 42, her mother three years later at age 45. After their mother’s death, the seven younger siblings were sent to live in various Mennonite homes. Erna, now seventeen, worked as a domestic for a short while, then took a job in the Grande Prairie hospital. During this time she attended evening classes in typing and shorthand. She purchased a Singer sewing machine and sewed all her clothes in preparation for studies at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta. She attended PBI from 1943-1945. Erna’s painting, Impressions of Family Tree Carvings (1997), in acrylic with black ink and copper paint, depicts her memories of family togetherness on the homestead near Grande Prairie before her parents’ death. She recalls the enjoyable times she and her siblings had while walking two and one half miles to and from school through the frosty woodland surrounding their homestead. “A favorite pastime on the farm was carving our names on poplar trees...[This painting] is a memoir to my beloved, friendly and God-fearing parents. They both died in their early forties leaving the artist and seven younger bewildered orphans to carve their individual futures.” Muted browns, grays, and soft greens rather than brilliant orange and yellows dominate this painting of a rustic cottage in a forest setting. The names of her parents, prominently inscribed on the trunks of trees in white and outlined in copper, depict Erna’s interest in keeping her childhood heritage alive. On a summer visit to her sister Herta in Yarrow, Erna met Abe Ewert from Vancouver who was visiting his parents. The young couple became engaged that summer and married a year later on June 16, 1945 in the basement of the unfinished Fraserview Mennonite Brethren Church in Vancouver. In October, the newly married couple moved to Yarrow. The fact that the large Yarrow Co-op store had very little selection in women and girls’ clothing had not gone unnoticed by Erna. Tired of delivering bread for McGavin’s Bakery, Abe borrowed $1000 from his father, Isaak Ewert, and the couple opened “Erna’s Dress Shop” at the corner of Dyke and Central Road. “When I sold $35.00 worth in one day out of stock worth a total of $750.00, I felt I was in glory,” Erna recalls. Owning a dress shop was a dream come true for her since she had a reputation for good taste in clothes and loved to dress well. The business grew and Abe and
Erna decided to sell and move the business to a new location on Central
Road west of Cornelius Funks’ grocery store. Joe Klassen of Vancouver
built the new store. At first, a small apartment at the back served
as the Ewerts’ home; later they moved into a pink stucco house on the same
lot. This store, featuring ladies’ and men’s wear, was called Aberna’s
Stylerite, a name suggested by Anne Andres, a Yarrow resident who was awarded
two pairs of pantyhose ordered from Eatons for her suggestion.
In 1957, Aberna’s Stylerite was transformed into a grocery store,
ABERNA’S IGA Super Market.
During these years, Erna concentrated on managing the family business together with her husband, and on raising her children while finding creative ways of participating in a community wrapped in its traditions. Erna and Abe now had two sons, Sheldon Wayne and Alan Bruce, and a young daughter, Marilynn Joy. Erna was expecting their fourth child when disaster struck. “On September 28, 1958 just when I was expecting our last child. . . a devastating fire gutted the whole interior of the market, resulting in it sitting empty and charred for four years,” Erna states. In the difficult time following the fire, the Ewerts found comfort in the birth of Brenda Lee Faith. The next daughter, Erna chuckles, would have been named Hope, meaning, ‘Hope that’s all.’ Remembering this time, Erna has called one of her paintings, Joy, Faith, Hope and Florals. Delicate Clematis petals in darker red and pink are painted using acrylic and ink on a serigraph background. A new store, Aberna’s Supermarket, opened in 1962. In 1971 the Ewerts sold their business and moved to Abbotsford. It was after this move that Erna had the courage to begin another career in art. At first she took private lessons in oil painting, then enrolled in the fine arts in Fraser Valley College (now University College of the Fraser Valley). She completed the diploma program in 1983, but continued further studies until 1990. In addition, Erna studied with many noted artists at various times and participated in numerous solo, juried group and travelling exhibitions. She has received many awards and honourable mentions for her paintings. Erna tells stories with her paintings. “More and more I want to paint things that have to do with my heritage and where I grew up – for my family so they know what it was like in the good old days,” she states. In her art she focuses on beauty rather than tragedy – her way of coming to terms with disappointments and disasters. Erna experiences an abundance of joy in God’s creation – a joy which characterizes her paintings, and spills over to the many people she meets and befriends. Her contagious laughter, her optimistic spirit, her willingness to tell her story and her compulsion to share her faith, inspire those who know her .* This tribute to Erna Ewert is based on a full-length life story that will appear in Windows to a Village (see below) Book Launch
All those interested are invited to attend book launches held in the following venues: Tuesday, October 9, 7 pm at the Chilliwack
Museum
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