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Photo courtesy Britbox.com

Photo courtesy cecmadeit.com

Our City Tonight

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 2:28 PDT, Fri March 14, 2025

Spotlight on a talented artist & superb dramedy

THE VIEW – Douglas is Cancelled

From Britain, comes this new, timely, dramedy called Douglas is Cancelled. Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) is Douglas Bellowes, a long-time, popular and respected television news anchor who finds himself on the receiving end of a social media tsunami when he’s accused of making a sexist joke at a wedding. Middle-aged, and not savvy in the world of social media, Bellowes’ life—and his reputation—start to unravel at a lightening pace as he tries to naively dismiss the scandal—while also trying to remember what he actually said at the wedding. Over these 4 powerful and entertaining episodes, Bellowes experiences what many in the public eye have thanks to social (and traditional) media: self-righteousness judgment, lazy liberalism, virtue signaling, and, of course, cancel culture, which certainly provides for plenty of comedy. But there is also a dark, tragic element in Douglas is Cancelled which is still too common in this day and age: sexual harassment and assault. The cast is full with talented and familiar faces: Alex Kingston as Bellowes’ wife and Ben Miles as the TV producer. But it is Karen Gillan, as Bellowes’ younger TV co-host, who delivers the biggest impact. Her performance is funny, dramatic, and worthy of an award! Douglas is Cancelled is now streaming on BritBox Canada. britbox.com

THE ARTIST – Cecilia Heit

Cecilia Heit, the up and coming artist, first came to our attention when we saw her painting entitled, The Canucks LP. “It was a collaborative effort born during a visit to a record store with my father,” Heit tells us when we visited her studio, “and he suggested a unique concept incorporating the Canucks logo onto a record and transforming the record player’s needle arm into a hockey stick.” The end result: a finished piece that is so distinctive that even the print shop staff adopted the name The Canucks LP, when providing updates via email and voicemail (and take note, Canuck fans, the painting is for sale). Originally from Edmonton, Heit is a self-taught artist whose passion for art ignited at the age of 13 when she began experimenting with makeup and nail polish. “From there, it continued as friends sought my creative skills to make them something,” she says, “ which gave me the unique opportunity to pursue my passion while bringing others’ visions to life.” Judging by the various pieces she showed us, Heit is confident in experimenting with various styles and mediums, and although her finished work prominently features oil and acrylic paintings, she is also skillful in sculpting and watercolour. That diversity shows in two other works we viewed: Grandpa’s Cabin, her first oil painting, depicting a Shuswaps cabin that has deep connections to her family history; and Planting a Seed, a large, customized, plant pot.“ After seeing my work at a mutual friend’s house, a client arranged for a tree and pot to be delivered to my studio,” Heit tells us, “and from a range of options including the client’s favorite music festival, travel, watches, and a nod to his work ethic, I chose the most visually compelling elements to create this personalized piece.” More at cecmadeit.com