ManitobaA Manitoba woman whose longtime home outside Flin Flon burned down in a wildfire this past spring is channelling her grief into art.Pottery and sculptures that changed colour, fused together among objects on displayRosanna Hempel · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Janet Modler, who lived on Birch Lake outside Flin Flon for decades, lost her property to wildfire this year. (Travis Golby/CBC)A woman whose longtime home outside Flin Flon burned down in a wildfire this past spring is channelling her grief into art.Among the debris and rubble, Janet Modler found some old belongings that comforted and surprised her.A selection of her salvaged things, including pottery and sculptures that changed colour in the heat or fused together, are on display this month at NorVA, the Northern Visual Arts Centre in Flin Flon, Man., about 630 km northwest of Winnipeg .Modler bought her Birch Lake property — near Denare Beach, Sask, and around 10 km southwest of the city on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border — in 1974.Over the next 50 years, her family built out the log cabin there into a gathering space and filled it with art and novelties.Janet Modler says she bought the property on Birch Lake in Saskatchewan with a friend in 1974. (Submitted by Janet Modler)In early June, the wildfire that devastated nearby Denare Beach, Sask., ravaged her house and land too.“We felt pretty devastated,” Modler, 74, said earlier this month. “Especially, you know, my daughter and our granddaughter, they were really, really upset.””At the same time, we were just feeling really lucky.”Only a few things survived, such as the dock, the fire pit and parts of her poppy-filled garden — until they looked a little closer.On her first visit back after the wildfire, she and her husband and daughter wandered around the property with awe and sadness, she said.The idea of an art gallery exhibit emerged after they unearthed more and more artifacts that had transformed so beautifully, said Modler, who’s a member at NorVA.Janet Modler’s exhibit at NorVA in Flin Flon, Man. (Travis Golby/CBC)Inside, the objects are showcased to a backdrop of pictures of where they were discovered in the rubble.“The things that survived were absolutely amazing,” Modler said.Some changed colour from green to white, including a soapstone wolf carving by Irvin Head, a Métis sculptor from the nearby community of Cranberry Portage.The object picture here is made up of glass bottles that melted together with brass buttons, a candle holder and a now-broken ceramic pot. (Travis Golby/CBC)Others had melted together, such as a blue and white mass made up of glass bottles, a candle holder and a now-broken ceramic pot, sprinkled with brass buttons from her husband’s grandfather’s old RCMP coat, she said. They’d all been sitting close to one another in the family’s gazebo.Other pieces had a message that met the moment and spoke to her personally, such as a now-broken ceramic heart that had been put back together for the show.“We found it like that. It was just broken in half,” Modler said, gesturing to the reassembled heart.“It kind of said how a lot of people were feeling.”A now-broken ceramic heart cracked down the middle during a wildfire is on display at NorVA in Flin Flon, Man., this month. (Travis Golby/CBC)Nearby, she pointed out a scorched mug a friend gifted her that had the words “Ignore negativity” written on it.“We found it in the rubble, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s another nice little message.’”The exhibit has helped her grieve and transform those feelings into something positive, and she said she hopes it helps others do the same.“The things that we found are really symbolic,” Modler said.“Part of it I think is resilience. Part of it is, you know, change.”Janet Modler’s exhibit has a now-broken mug that a friend gave her, which holds a meaningful message for her after a wildfire destroyed her home. (Travis Golby/CBC)She said although it will be difficult to start over at her age, she’s choosing to count her blessings.She’s been living in Flin Flon since the end of the near-month-long evacuation and recently purchased a house in the city, with plans to continue gardening at the Birch Lake property next year.“I think that there’s hope,” Modler said. “This will pass, and we’ll be OK.”ABOUT THE AUTHORRosanna Hempel is a journalist with CBC Manitoba. She previously worked at Global Winnipeg, where she covered the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Manitoba, along with health, homelessness and housing. Rosanna obtained her bachelor’s of science in New Brunswick, where she grew up, and studied journalism in Manitoba. She speaks French and German. You can send story ideas and tips to rosanna.hempel@cbc.ca.Follow Rosanna Hempel on X
Flin Flon art exhibit of belongings transformed by wildfire highlights change, resilience
