Wisdom at the Crossroads, the Podcast.

Supportive communities, circles of women and flexibility are topics of conversation on the podcast this week…and where would we be without them? In this episode I invite you to find something of your story within mine as together we discover tranquility and presence in morning routines. We learn how less can be more as we reflect on simplicity and our connections to: place, to those around us and most importantly to ourselves. With a limited palette the view from “Town’s End” illustrates art is definitely open to interpretation.

The meditation that compliments this episode can be found on the recording only. In it the story of less as more inspires a simple meditative journey. Where we will discover moments of tranquility as we seek ease and refreshment using imagery to curate our own virtual sanctuary. Catch the meditation at 8.15 in the recording.

“Town’s End” is featured on a version of one of my locally made MANDART PILLOWS. I offer them seasonally as a pop up. Drop me a message if you might be interested so I am sure to let you know when the next one takes place. There are a dozen different pillow designs now. Available in 3 sizes with or without pillow inserts.

“TOWN’S END” , or a detail of the painting appears in my book as an illustration. My book shares the name of my Podcast. “WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS”. Described as weightier than it’s small stature. This book is available at events and pop ups or directly from me personally.

“TOWN’S END” was the starting point for this illustration project that remains on the back burner. One day I will get back to working on my children’s book project. This version of “Town’s End” is painted in acrylic on paper. Shape and scale are quite different to the original in acrylic but the sense of expansion remains.

I know my Season 1 intention has been to introduce you to some of the art work I live with and to chat a little about the stories and lessons that inspired and were inspired by them. And we will be chatting about art, todays piece is just a little bit out of order. It’s been a very LONG winter here and you know how you sometimes just need to shake things up a little? Well that’s kind of how I am feeling, so, I am allowing myself a little flexibility with my plan. In today’s episode we will be taking a virtual break from my own space to introduce to a piece called “TOWN’S END” that moved in with its forever family some time ago.

When our girls were really small I sought ways to acknowledge my creative drive I did some ceramics on the kitchen counter, hand building lanterns at nap time? I doodled with watercolor and chalk pastel and even some stained glass. All of these outlets came with sharp edges, toxic ingredients or were so appealing to inquiring small hands that any progress quickly devolved into a tactile game of squish.

I learned to compartmentalize my creative projects, to seek nontoxic avenues to address my need for experimentation and discovery Textiles solved that equation. They were tactile, quenched my thirst for colour and could be picked up for short periods of time and abandoned without interfering with the process.

I was composing large art quilts in piecemeal segments that I exhibited internationally. I worked from my basement sewing room under daylight bulbs where I machine stitched into the night. David Bowie serenaded me with his expansive catalogue while I was happily at play and my smalls slept.

I had befriended neighbors on my street at that time. Two of them were home economics grads who also had an affinity for cloth and textile applications. They kindly invited me to join their “Stitch” group. This was a group of women who had met when their children were small. They had recognized the need for mommy time that did not involve parenting, a place where women gathered in support of each other.

The stitch girls were 10-15 years ahead of me and had they had figured life out. Together their experiences combined to cover all potentials. They had accomplished, confronted, commanded, conceded, succeeded and failed. They had grown together through all that life had thrown at them, and all of it with the support of each other. … And boy did they have a lot of the answers I then sought.

Stitch continues and remains a highlight when we get together. They even inspired another circle of women I initiated on the Montessori playground. The mamas are a story for another day. Suffice it to know the gift of friendship grows and supports us through life’s chapters in all of our lives.

Though not discussed in this week’s podcast I wanted to remind readers that this painting,“FIESTA”, 24’ x 60”, Acrylic on Panel, is my donation in support of The OSEREDOK ART AUCTION and Fundraising initiative in aid of the Canada-Ukraine Fund.
**!00% of proceeds from this painting will directly help displaced Ukrainians.**
**Please contact Osederok’s Fundraising officer for more information katie@oseredok.ca or call 204 942 0218**

Fast forward several years to a gracious weekend invitation to the recently remodeled and expanded lake home of one of our stitch girls, in Woodchuck bay which is part of Canada’s picturesque Lake of the Woods.

As an aside there is also a little woodchuck bay, a zig zag island and a labyrinth of channels and bays that have obliterated many an undercarriage on speedy watercraft operated by even the savviest of boaters.

We arrived at our friend’s home to admire the new addition with awe and were excited we could all be together and be so comfortably accommodated.

The weekend was a welcome retreat and a feast of friendship, camaraderie and support mostly undertaken with laughter in the air and wine glasses in our hands.

I am a swimmer with a morning weekday habit at the YMCA that I have kept up for most of the 30 years I have been a resident then citizen in Canada. Getting up early is second nature to me so in the early morning after our overnight gathering I crept outside and made my way down to the dock to take in lake life at water level.

The morning was still and clear before the families of boats towing skiers were on the move and the community that rose each day to play was not quite ready for coffee.

The view across the lake was wide and majestic, still and inviting. It was tranquil with the remnant sunrise still in the air and the gentle echo of remote ripples lapping quietly against the understructure of the decking. The birds had been awake for hours and were as chatty as our girlfriends had been. the previous night. The moment was a peaceful pause before the day really began and others in our group joined me with coffee.

Some dipped their toes into the lake from the end of the dock and a few others joined me to swim in the dark cool and refreshing channel. I took some photographs of the view from the dock that morning, of cottages hobbled along the opposite bank in generational groupings. There were Lake Neighbors known and in view yet still set off in the distance.

The view across to Zig Zag Island. Little Woodchuck Bay goes around the corner to the right

Back at the studio some time later I prepared a square 30” x 30” canvas to accept my painterly thoughts. I began with quinocridone red light that I am sorry but I may have just killed with my pronunciation. I call it q red for short because I really don’t know how to pronounce it and I am not going to pretend that I do. I do love its clear blushing rose vibe. It’s a favorite of mine and with it I sketched in a suggestion of a space divided by a horizon line upon which I added the most basic of lake life infrastructure referencing that which came into view that morning from the end of my friend’s tranquil dock.

The red pink marks made with a square flat bristled brush developed to suggest the community on the opposite shore backlit in thin early morning sunlight. Initially I added in the ladder rails from which reluctant swimmers made their way into the watery depths and all of us used to climb back onto the dock from the water.

Their addition felt too literal to me at the time and altered the suggestion I was hoping to achieve of that lovely morning in that ruggedly beautiful lake country.

The composition felt more restricted with their addition so with a liberal dose of rich cobalt blue among other blues and greens on my palette, I painted over the man made additions in favour of the suggestion of a natural landscape, raw and unstructured, an image more in tune with that particular moment in time

I was reminded in the process that sometimes less can be more and in the case of this painting it was definitely simplicity that I sought. My friend could recognize her tranquil oasis while a viewer unfamiliar to lake country terrain could still find their own connection to this painterly suggestion of place.

I want you to know that I don’t actively seek homes for my art beyond an invitation to studio open houses events or exhibits. I don’t want friends to feel an obligation to buy pieces inspired by their distinct and familiar landscapes. And I definitely don’t want to be forfeited an invitation to lake living for fear of it.

It did so happen that my friend was drawn to this piece in my studio prior to realizing it had been inspired by that peaceful memory at the end of her families dock. She appreciated the simple reference to place and did invite that painting to find a permanent home on a stairway at her lovely lakeside home. It lives where every visitor can’t help but pass it. I may have mentioned in previous stories how a large painting can expand a small space to enhance the experience of both.

Mounted as it is in a descending stairway this painting, “TOWN’S END”, has the effect of a window. It is also a conversation piece. The 30“square image draws visitors down the stairs to the lake to enjoy their own experience of beautiful lake of the woods at “Town’s end”.

Town’s End is a play on my friends last name but also a nod to lake country in general as a respite from urban living that is refreshment for anyone lucky enough to be invited to stop in.

“TOWN’S END”, Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x30”, 2013

My thanks extend to you today for tuning in to this episode. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine by listening in to the podcast, or catching up through this blog.

It’s all FREE content that I very happy to share with you. If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or writing a review. You can listen to the full episode anywhere you get your podcasts.

This week’s meditation begins at 8:15 in the recording.

I will add the new link below when the episode is live but in case you stop by ahead of that you can feel free to google “Wisdom at the Crossroads Podcast” with Amanda Onchulenko, Season 1 Episode 8: “TOWN’S END”

Leave your questions or comments on the website or find me on instagram @mandartcanada. I would love to hear from you

Until next time, stay well,

all best

Amanda

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Apple Trailer - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-at-the-crossroads-trailer/id1609992256?i=1000551067035