Kari Lehr & Karen Tamminga-Paton: BELOVED
to
The Gallery at Casa 230 8 Street, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 5H2
Kari Lehr & Karen Tamminga-Paton, "Beloved," 2018
And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.
- Late Fragment by Raymond Carver
Displacement and disconnect are familiar themes in our world. We may be disconnected from the land; from close community, from our own family histories. We’ve moved, and moved again. We’ve travelled to places and settled where there is no ancestry, no roots. Some of us have done this by choice, while others have had no choice at all. Even so, there are moments of meaningful connection that remind us of our humanity and create common ground to tell our stories. Within these connections, whether fleeting or on a grand scale, we find a source for regenerative hope. Raymond Carver’s poem, Late Fragment, is the inspiration underlying our work. Picking up the threads of this implied conversation, we offer to you our visual exploration of its significance and impact within our personal dialogues on being, ‘beloved.’
Kari Lehr lives and paints in the beautiful Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada. A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design, she spent 20 years illustrating for various agencies, studios and corporations around North America. Today she pursues her own vision, working primarily in acrylic, often incorporating mixed media."I am endlessly fascinated by the textures and layers which are found not only in the landscape but which comprise our relationships with each other and the mental and physical environment in which we live. In this frenetic society we live in, I cherish the quiet solitude I often feel in my community which allows room for peaceful contemplation. Through my work, I seek to impart a sense of that stillness which allows us to feel connection to each other and the natural world."
Karen Tamminga-Paton is an artist and educator living in the Crowsnest Pass. Karen graduated from the University of Waterloo with a major in environmental studies and a minor in Fine Arts, later pursuing an Education degree at Queen's University. Painting took a serious turn after taking summer courses at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver. Numerous solo and group shows later, Karen has a growing art practice. She also enjoys kick-starting the creative process in others and doing workshops particularly geared toward the reluctant artist. Besides painting, Karen divides her time between being mom, teaching high school fine arts, and running the trails behind her house with Bailey, the Wonder-dog.