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its: Jourspay,_tsnuc1s1elpo-4---, I I i“? -- - - ---F.T"CT ___ WW... I __-" . '_--------, ---_" ,7 -- -- _ LOCAL NEWS _ _ HM [ [ ffi d b . . l id ncy Canadian ever selected. In her has brought with it modernism and . Wi.' Pi' " T letter to Slak she explained, abstract painting. Colour, shape L' k ’.j " s, l "Somewhere in our history we and texture defined the work, not "it-: 9- a: "N l " passed a divide where politics the story-telling ofearlier masters. f '1- l began to be more highly valued The God-fearing ideology of 9. than culture." She went on to state Rembrant and Vermeer was gone. a. _ I; that “culture is almost identical to After the 1950s people moved q _'C. i; T people or nations, as in French away from tradition, and pillars of . _ : c. '“ _ ;-1.- p, l culture. Culture also refers to art, society disappeared along with 5 _ a g? . K, " es, music, literature, educational many ofthe old rituals. With those A I 1 . , L a llitl " I television, in short, everything that losses,the identity of the group was - _ Fr . '. ' - ' _ _ - lt i: l is uplifting and edifying as opposed lost. People began to see . - _ ‘ _ Gal . _ - " [ to commerce ._. In a politicized age, themselves more as individuals. ‘ ., w, " ' _ few people look at art for its ability While she was in residence . I W. ‘ - __ . . ‘ to create contemplative space in Wilhelmina read an article l IEr1 ' - , the midst of our restless lives. But explaining that there was a ' r . ' '- l l art invites us to another nostalgia for the past now that the . ' I .. .. 3 experience. Thus allowing us to borders have been removed , as) lil . - achieve anew wholeness ofspirit." throughout much of Europe. , » " w" - , 1 A voyage of rediscovery People are feeling insecure, Their * st" , j She left on Sept. 2, taking up identity is gone. ' > k » - l residence in a guest studio. Much That feeling of nostalgia was ' . " ‘ ll, of her first month was spent exemplified in a chance meeting ' i soaking up the culture of the she had with an 80-year-old man -. ' - P l country she had left 51 years ago. who was cutting reeds along the ' ' .- l t l She pursued her love of 17th side ofa road. The man placed the ====2===F=="""" -ee __ --C--, . i- i _ J i century painters, who continue to reeds in his pond to let air escape l PHOTO BY TED Amsosn move her. Rembrandt's "Jewish when the pond froze, He bcinoaned Wilhelmina Kennedy has returned to Canada after a three-month residency Bride" has "such beauty, the fact that there were fewer at the prestigious Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague. gentleness, colour." A Vermeer places to get them anymore. . portrait of a girl standing in front Wilhelmina accepts that her living over the gallery he people in them. There are bars on ofa window exudes atotal stillness. despair over"what is losr has proposed a 2005 show to open in the buildings and a tremendous Urbanization and the machine age Seeped into her consciousness and Den Haag. It would include six sadness. She can't go in. into her work. paintings shepompleted while she When asked to reflect on her She was reminded again of her was there this fall, and others she trip, there is no question that it was 2 - THE COLBORNE CHRONlC past during a visit to a church. has yet to complete. She's amazed memorable, an opportunity to She was moved by the fervour of at his support. reinforce and to grow, a time to see the parishioners. They were there The three-month trip to Holland herself by ceilecting off others, a to serve God, not for a social get- has been a period of tremendous time to meet with people rich and --------" together and a short talk. The growth for the Canadian artist. poor both in material and in spirit. experience was a direct tie with Being alone, and without "When I came home I felt so rich - . the roots she has kept through responsibilities, she had to face knowing I can go on and make her life. herself and ask why she was doing something worthwhile." l S Her childhood home this. She was able to put a mirror Now that she is back home, While she was in Holland in front of herself and realize that Wilhelmina is moving on. She has Wjlhelmina returned to Visit her what she is doing is possible. her next piece well under way as By Bob Owen childhood home OVCr the It has reinforced the strong body she follows her daily regimen of cchronic/e@//nkd.nef Mauritshuis Gallery. In 1952 it of faith that supports her. And three hours of work, She is housed a stable, but beautiful perhaps it has clarified her sense of incorporating gold paper with her Wilhelmina Kennedy has been collection and was run by her selfwithinherworld. acrylics, a new experiment in showing her work professionally father and one other person. It now As she recently stated, "I have adding a third dimension to her q for more than 20 years, and has a Staffpf 40 and hosts mega always been guided by a higher work. painting much longer than that. shows. MllhODS have been spent to power and have never been alone, She continues to live a lifestyle _ Her published retrospective lists modernize the small home to It's always there like an image ofa that matches her beliefs. She's a . four series of works. Even as protect the valuable works. But it bird with wings. I am safe under classical woman and acknowledges reproductions, they are a IS much more Crowded now and the wings." that lifestyle reflects beliefs. She provocative, engaging, and has lost some of its air mess. Her art is part of that belief and lives simply, surrounded by a few imposing sample ofan extensive When Canadian Cultural her sense of loss - a articles of personal value, and body of work, highly Attache /)1a,rcf,l,,L_yylyy_1 heard, manifestation of it. The edifices uncluttered beauty in a home that representative of the beliefs of Wilhelmina S childhood story ot are not alive any more with reflects her grace. their creator. - She was one of the founding __-_- - 'â€" members, and for the first five years of its operation, the curator of the Colborne Art Gallery. Last fall she had her professionalism reaffirmed in a three-month residency in Holland. The trip has led to a proposed exhibition in Holland in 2005 as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the end of the Second WorldWar. Last year the Cramahe painter sent a letter of intent to Slak, the largest organization to arrange /"".1c- _ residencies for artists in Holland. , D ' One place is held for foreign ( residents. Wilhelmina was the first t,,