Dive Deeper

Kathy’s Venter’s Art

On a book club retreat in the Gulf Islands this summer, a bunch of us were touring around one day: at a farmers market, a winery, etc… At the end of the day, there was one more thing someone felt compelled to check off the list: stop in at an art gallery.

“Oh there’s a gallery on the other side of the town – it has a pretty strange exhibit, but…if you want to (have to…) stop, I guess we can pop in for a minute. But it’s pretty bizarre….” said the member that was touring us around.

We were tired, but basically stopped to satisfy this last “requirement”. Many of us got out of the car just to tag along and see this strange exhibit….of course, only for a few minutes….then we would be on our way…list fulfilled.

Well…

We walked into the gallery. There was a life size, young naked woman in clay, “standing” by the door! The artist, Kathy Venter, was in her gallery. She came to greet us… “Tell us about your work”, we asked. And she started. To tell us about the young women she had sculpted from clay. How she made them 15% bigger so when they were fired and dried they would then be “life size”. How they were young, on the brink of becoming women, friends of her daughters. Embarking on their new lives. How she made them, how she transported them. How they came to life from her brilliant mind, and heart and soul.

We were enchanted and transformed. Surprised by what we discovered about her, about her art. Surprised at how much we appreciated the pieces, and how amazing they were.

Dive deeper, ask questions, sit for a while, listen and discover….be open.