Ascent

.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to spend about 5 days with a great friend and artist, Diane Kramer.

We met at a workshop taught by Jeane Myers in Southampton, Ontario. All the members of that class hit it off spectacularly, and when director Sharon Barfoot joined in, well, it was artmaking heaven. Diane and I have corresponded ever since.

Diane is a multi-talented artist: start going through any of her galleries and you will soon realize this, if you haven’t already. But get yourself a coffee, a sandwich and a dessert. This is going to take some time, some very well spent time.

One of the things that is fascinating about Diane is watching her move from her usual gracious, friendly, warm self into she-wolf mode. In that aspect, she is absolutely alert and fearless in the way she combines materials. She focuses her fierce concentration on the work before her and extraordinary amalgamations begin to pour from her hands.

I had saved two pieces of cardboard packing material, and in a studio session together, we both went to town on our own half. I will not show you Diane’s piece–it is a work in progress, and is hers to display. But this is mine, which I have called Ascent because of the small green goddess winding through a narrow passage on the left hand side. You know what the left hand means: a rejection of societal convention and the status quo. It also represents a search for spiritual freedom.

In my case, it also means the exhilarating experience of working in my studio with an artist I feel spiritually connected to, and whose art is definitely not status quo.

Ascent

Our pieces are so different, but will always be, in my mind, inextricably linked.

#fierce #ascent #Southampton #aspect #concentration #DianeKramer #linked #societalconvention #lefthand #CWWOL20111114 #JeaneMyers #statusquo #SheWolf #amalgamations #SharonBarfoot #spiritualfreedom