Chapter 176
Ahh, dear friends, I hope the month of April is treating us all delightfully as you read this. What turbulence and trauma abound. I have travelled from European shores to the excommunicated Blighty and back to the glory of our Canadian Mountains. We are Canadian and always will be. So proud to be of this country, I am blessed to call this home, despite other meddlings and global unrest. The ripples – tsunami – rolling out across the globe is becoming quite violent. Of all the people with whom I have spent time – many many new faces and unexpected connections – they unreservedly oppose the actions being perpetrated to the south of us.
Meanwhile… back at the ranch… sharing good news, focusing energies on small things close to home, aspects of life that can be affected by my own actions. I am buoyed up by the supportive words of the most amazing Fine Artist with whom I have been fortunate enough to study for the past three months. He didn’t want me to leave, expressing a wish that I had a greater grasp of the Spanish language enabling us to converse directly about the nuances of the work, the application of oils, perspective, tones, composition, technique. It has been a wild riot of fun and colour for me. I produced (ha!) a group of seven works, with some dramatic changes and progressions from my first tentative foray into the world of oils. I now slap paint around with a palette knife with great abandon. I have been instructed to pursue this on my return to Canada so a space in my house will be redirected to the creative work of oil painting and a dedicated period several times a week. Perhaps I will attempt to work in Canada when I know Mum is at class in Spain, that will be fun.
My penultimate piece is probably my favourite. It’s far too big to bring home, but I can reproduce a photo of it here. This landscape is an amalgamation of images seen here, the gloriously pungent purple clouds over the mountains, the luminous sky as the sun sets far in the west of the globe. I struggled – not least with Félix painting glorious red and ochres all across it – while that looked fabulous, others exclaiming “ooohhh, that’s so beautiful, you must keep that”… it was not right, not Alberta colours. I scraped them all off and repainted in totally different hues. Scraping away the work of an absolute master is such heresy. It’s hard to do. I steel myself and practice, practice, practice. I have a lifetime ahead of me.
Meanwhile, our very dear friends and Bragg Creek ‘institutions’, Michael and Murray (ManyLegs Pet Grooming & Supplies) are leaving us. How sad I am that they will finally end the days of fabulous fur frenzy and frozen food furnishment to the area. I so enjoyed their friendship and my days working in the store with and without them – whether care-taking during their infrequent absences, driving back and forth with cars overladen by endless bags of bones and frozen fodder, supporting and being supported through the challenging years of Covid. Having given so much of their time and energy to this community, they have so earned a peaceful retirement in Nova Scotia. I sincerely hope that I will be able to make a new stop on my future travels. I wish so much fun, happiness and rest to them both!
Change being constant, is still not a thing that many welcome easily. However, I’ve been a magnet for change these past fifteen years and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. Keeping heart and soul open and alive, keeping the mind elastic and the body as close to flexible as possible all help navigate the challenging vicissitudes of life. Be open.
Kat Dancer
bodymudra@gmail.com,
+1 415 525 2630 (ph/whatsapp)
