Griffin Jaeger, Western Journalism Studio
Feb 4, 2022
London, Ont. — It’s not every day you find yourself enticed to stare through the window of someone else’s home.
That’s until you take a walk down Craig Street in London, Ont.’s Wortley Village and stumble upon a small sheet of paper decorated with drawings of eyeballs, a goat, two shot glasses and a sewing needle.
To some, this is a random collection of images. But to Tim and Dianne Fewster, it’s a reason to smile.
“It’s that simple,” said Dianne Fewster, who has assisted her husband in placing art pieces and puzzles in their window since the start of the pandemic.
Together, the images in the window form a Ribas Puzzle – a group of pictures that depict a phrase.
This puzzle reads: ‘I got my shots and so did I’.
This is the most recent in a series of puzzles that the couple have been pasting in their front window for passers-by throughout the pandemic.
Tim Fewster originally made the puzzles for his business classes before he retired from his 37-year teaching career.
The window displays act as a tribute to his former students and a way to give back to his community after living in the village since 1956, he said.
“I had people standing outside staring… which was kind of disturbing until I realized what they were doing,” said Tim.
“We’ve all been so confined. It’s nice to be able to reach out and contact people…not in a physical way, but just to talk after of all the restrictions that we’ve had,” he said.
The window displays began when one of Dianne’s clients introduced her to Zentangle, a form of intricate doodling.
Every few weeks, Dianne would create a piece and display it in her window.
One of the first pieces she made showcases a woman with a virus and the words: ‘Be Kind’
“I started putting them in the window. And then people just started watching them, and people started taking pictures of them. I was like, ‘Okay, well, this is weird,’” said Dianne.
While it may have been weird for her, Dianne said she now understands how much she and her husband’s work means to the community.
“People want to see beauty and happiness. People want to see something,” she said.
What started as a fun activity for the couple soon became a reason for residents of Wortley to take a walk and smile.
When asked whether the puzzles and art would continue, Dianne took a pause and giggled.
“I just started one two days ago,” she said. “ And it’ll be in the window!”
