In his home in Harrison Hot Springs, artist Max Newhouse is getting ready to honour the 20th anniversary of Nunavut joining Canada with a gift for every classroom in the territory: a deck of cards.

sa国际传媒淚 wanted to make sure each classroom in Nunavut, which isnsa国际传媒檛 hard, gets a deck of cards,sa国际传媒� Newhouse said. sa国际传媒淪o they can learn about the country and how it grew.sa国际传媒�

He has the deck spread out across a work bench in his studio, and itsa国际传媒檚 not what yousa国际传媒檇 expect. On one side, a provincial or territorial flag, along the regionsa国际传媒檚 capital and the date it joined Canada. On the other, seasonal variants of the Canadian flag.

Those same images of Canadasa国际传媒檚 flag were hung around his studio: the traditional flag was summer, a falling maple leaf within two borders of red was for autumn, a blank white canvas within the red borders was for winter and a sprouting leaf was for spring.

He had been painting the Canadian flag in this form since 1974 sa国际传媒� mostly in quadrants, but eight months ago he tried it as a set of four playing cards.

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sa国际传媒淚 just thought, theresa国际传媒檚 something to it,sa国际传媒� he said about the painting. sa国际传媒淪o I just kept thinking sa国际传媒� is there any way I can develop a game that has only four numbers or four symbols?sa国际传媒�

It took months, but he did.

The object of the game is simple sa国际传媒� match the four flag seasons to get four of a kind of a full year sa国际传媒� and in many ways is reminiscent of an ancient Chinese game sa国际传媒淭he Game of Leaves.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚t makes me feel like Isa国际传媒檓 connected to ancient history,sa国际传媒� he said.

But, as Newhouse is keen to point out, the game is surprisingly complex and varied when played.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a very complex, yet extremely simple,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚t should have been around thousands of years ago.sa国际传媒�

Hesa国际传媒檚 tested the card game at Harrison Hot Springs Elementary, and the keen eyes of critical students have helped him perfect the game.

sa国际传媒淚t was the kids that figured outsa国际传媒� what to do for the back of the cards, Newhouse said. sa国际传媒淭hey said why donsa国际传媒檛 you do the provinces and territories.sa国际传媒�

With that change, Nunavut became its heart.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e actually the top card,sa国际传媒� he said, gently looking at the cards on his bench. sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e number 13, that makes them the king.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e like a big crown on top of our country,sa国际传媒� he added. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a nice symbol.sa国际传媒�

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Originally, Newhouse had planned to send a deck of cards to each classroom in Nunavut for the April 1 anniversary of the territorysa国际传媒檚 entrance to Canada. But, with changes still needing to be made to the game, he wasnsa国际传媒檛 able to make the deadline.

sa国际传媒淚 going to miss that mark, but not entirely,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淚ntellectually, the game being correct, I cansa国际传媒檛 rush it. But Isa国际传媒檓 going to absolutely get it there before the school year starts next year,sa国际传媒� he added.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 still in their anniversary. It just isnsa国际传媒檛 April 1.sa国际传媒�

grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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