She comes to mind often. Her humus recipe surfaced the other day.
I wonder if she reached out to our friend, Bobby, upon his arrival. A few more photos were tucked into albums today.
Ed, Bobby and I headed out to see Pauline, our inspiring University professor, who lived perched above Kootenay Lake in Argenta. This was in 1996-97 and I was on Sabbatical. We got lots of sketching/painting done. We slept under the driftwood shelter on the beach. It was the weekend that my friend, Lynn Kierzek, died. While I slept, I wore a painting vest that Lynn crocheted. I still have that vest.
The border collie found in the photo is not Max Man or Laurie Dog…that’s Pauline’s dog. I felt right at home. I love the memory of this time away from the city, of conversations shared along the drive. We picked up a rose bush for Pauline in Cranbrook and planted it while in Argenta. We also purchased a bottle of spice that she needed, in a small grocery shop in Coleman.
May Bobby and Pauline rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon them.
Winter! Beyond November, it seemed that Calgary would not suffer winter…no snow fell and the temperatures were surprisingly moderate. But what came to crush us was the current run of sub zero temperatures, -22 with windchill sitting at -37 some days, for example. We are into our second week of this.
I don’t take my camera out to take photographs on my walks with Max because of the frigid air. Instead, I perused the images saved to my computer, things I haven’t written about and came to this collection of images from a Paul Kuhn exhibit in April of this year. Such colour wakes us up from our winter sleep! Art makes me happy.
My friend, Ed Bader, was featured in the White Project Room, with his exhibit, North Country Dreaming, but first, I enjoyed the bold colour of John Eisler’s (the cast), in the upstairs gallery.
Ed and I attended the University of Lethbridge in a very creative and high-energy period of its development from 1973 to 1977. I include documentation of Ed’s conversation in the following series of photographs because I was intrigued by his large hand gestures. I’m also including an early photograph of Ed, in conversation with our former drawing professor, Pauline McGeorge. It appears that he has remained animated!
I remember that day not being able to really connect with Ed. Openings are like that. However, stepping back, I enjoyed watching him make other connections. I felt very proud of him. It was a big day.
When winter has you shivering, bring life to your experience by perusing the galleries. On my list…Glenbow’s Beaver Hall Group exhibit and Otto Rogers at Paul Kuhn.
It’s a hot day. The lupines have been cut back, to make room for the showy lilies to make their debut very soon. However, this guy beat them to it. These poppies are like weeds and reseed at will. I recommend selecting the areas of your garden where you want colour and let them be, otherwise, you might want to pull them as they appear. Welcome colour, but so saturated in today’s sunlight, difficult to photograph. The carrots, beans, onions, radishes, tomatoes and strawberries are all coming along. Rhubarb needs to be pulled for the third time. Yummers. I’m thinking of Pauline as I write.
Artist, educator, creator of multi-layered and conceptual projects, body-builder, friend…Ed Bader is such an exceptional human being, it’s important that I dedicate at least one post to some of his accomplishments. It’s entirely possible that I’ve done this before, given that I’ve been writing on this blog since 2005, but I’m not about to research my archives. (As I went sifting through the links associated with Ed’s name, I came upon last summer’s writing about Ed Bader here.
The photo featured above is from the artist’s collection, an early shot of Ed, along with our treasured friend and university professor, Pauline McGeorge.
“Finally, Edward Bader, a member of our Fine Arts Faculty, has contributed a study of Saskatoon Mountain, perhaps the most prominent feature on the Grande Prairie landscape, where human occupation from as far back as 9,500 BP has been uncovered. In every human occupation epoch the mountain has served as a lookout, whether for giant bison or elk, bison or enemy bombers in the jet age. Saskatoon has significance as a holy site for aboriginal people in the region, and so it is with respect for the past use of the site but also joy and a sense of closure that the former base has been returned to a more natural, if not pristine setting. People and cultures come and go, but the land remains.”
Having formerly written about the Cold War and the Pinetree Line, I found it interesting that Ed has also explored the concepts of land, culture and ideas colliding in his piece, Saskatoon Mountain. Please view the piece here.
I graduated from highschool in Great Falls, Montana. I had enjoyed the experience of power-house educators…among them, Kathy Rice and Dwight Winenger.
A Most Wonderful English Teacher
Rice Family Scholarship Endowment
Kathy Rice created this endowment in 2003 to provide funds for the Foundation’s Healthcare Scholarship Program. Kathy is a founding and current member of the Benefis Health System Foundation Board of Directors and gives generously of her time and monetary resources in support of the Foundation. She is a former teacher and business owner and is dedicated to helping students who are pursuing careers as healthcare providers.
Dwight Winenger Photo credit: Willie Black
Dwight Winenger is currently the Founder of The Living Music Foundation and Webmaster of the Living Music Web Site. He is a composer and theorist, a painter, sculptor, and commercial artist. Dwight plays trombone and piano and has been known to play french horn, clarinet, percussion, and recorder. He is a writer, mostly in english, and an editor, speaking some spanish and some danish. Winenger taught music, art, english, and spanish for several years. It is an awesome thing to go and dig around in my portfolio to find a calendar that Mr. Winenger had silkscreened in 1973. It is also cool to see this piece’s relevance to his body of work, once viewing the gallery piece produced in 1972. (Hmmm…I note that this photo includes a copyright, so will have to wait for the appropriate permission)
Silkscreened Calendar by Dwight Winenger 1973
Even though I lived in the west, there was evidence of racial segregation in the school’s cafeteria. Hard to believe! Given that I was Canadian, I crossed those boundaries regularly, something that caused some heads to turn. I left Great Falls with a notion that the world was a larger place than previously thought and perhaps that was due to my age, more than anything. These were the booming years, though, for the United States and programs were well-funded, across the spectrum. My mind was opened up to politics and religious discourse. I was excited by the arts: drama, music and visual arts. I was struck by the need to always carry ‘a cause’ in my heart. Even in 1973, citizens were wearing MIA bracelets after the horrendous years of the Vietnam war.
I moved to Canada in 1973, but stayed west (Lethbridge, Alberta) when my family moved east (North Bay, Ontario). Given my place on the edge of the Oldman River and meeting people like Larry Weaver, Charlie Crane and Pauline McGeorge, my life continued to open up to new discoveries, ideas and purpose. I think that 1973 was a year of tremendous significance for me, by the choices I made as a young adult and for the huge influences on my life. I continue to be grateful to the fine teachers who generated a desire in me, to make every day count.
University Residence…my space above the river. 1973
I received news yesterday that my friend of many years, Pauline McGeorge, passed away on July 2nd in Kaslo, B.C. She has had tremendous influence on me as an artist, but primarily, as a person. We have shared letters and art invitations over many years as I first met Pauline in 1973 when I began my work in the art department at the University of Lethbridge. The news of her passing actually influences me to pursue my art…to contribute to the world…and to see that by teaching art, I can also carry a similar positive influence with my students. Pauline will continue to be present to me in my studio and I will never forget her. I will do everything in my power to attend the celebration of her life out in Argenta in August.
