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A Winnipeg artist, illustrator, and author has released her memoir titled The Alligator Under My Bed, which includes stories of her boss and longtime friend, Christian singer Steve Bell.
"[The book] started as a memoir I was writing," says Faye Hall. "Two and a half years ago, I started a memoir for my children's benefit only. Wilma Derksen was doing an online course, and I joined up. Halfway through the course, my husband became ill."
Already widowed, Hall's second husband was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and passed away a month later.
"It was devastating, of course. He was my new start in life. Finishing the memoir helped keep me busy in the grieving process. I was able to finish the memoir, and I thought, What's the next step? The natural step is to go into the art story of how I became an artist and how it developed through my life."
The Alligator Under My Bed has over 100 of Hall's paintings included.
"The main theme of the story is letting God take control of your life and lead you through life. If I hadn't allowed God to lead me, I wouldn't have gone through the steps that led me to work with Steve Bell."
Long History and Friendship with Steve Bell
While Hall was trained in advertising art, a series of events led her to a job as Bell's administrative assistant. She's been working with the local Christian artist since 2006.
"He's so supportive in everything I do. At first, he said, 'Go ahead, Faye, paint my work.' He was in Bethlehem one time and he took a picture of some doors. He sent that to me and said, 'You've got to paint this.' I did and it's one of the favourite paintings in my home right now. His songs have been inspirational."
Bell sang at Hall's second wedding and then at her husband's funeral as well, proving their friendship runs deeper than just work.
"A huge highlight was when he [Bell] connected with Malcolm Guite in England. They've become friends over the years and contributed to each other's work. One day, Malcolm came to Winnipeg, working with Steve on a concert. Malcolm approached me about doing a book with him. He had this beautiful sonnet called Seven Whole Days. I ended up doing one painting per line for the sonnet so it was over 30 paintings. We had a showing at the Mennonite Heritage Gallery and Steve sang once more."
Bell also wrote the foreword in Hall's newest book, The Alligator Under My Bed.