{"id":34498,"date":"2020-03-27T03:55:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T10:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=34498"},"modified":"2020-03-26T10:12:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T17:12:03","slug":"natures-riot-of-colour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/03\/27\/natures-riot-of-colour\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature\u2019s riot of colour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDesert Spring\u201d by Jessica Ruth Freedman.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A harsh critique early in her career didn\u2019t stop Victoria-based Jessica Ruth Freedman from doing what she loves \u2013 painting \u2013 and becoming a successful artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in Montreal, and then my brother and I were whisked away to Kibbutz Ein Dor in the Galilee,\u201d Freedman told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cAfter a few years there, we returned to reside in Calgary. I attended what was then called the Calgary Hebrew School-Talmud Torah. I was filled with the love for Jewish lifecycle events, food, and being part of a community. Apart from a fabulous school experience, one episode of failing an art assignment in kindergarten stands out. We were told to pick a rock and paint it like a ladybug. Creatively, I painted it black on red, rather than red on black, so that the white dots would stand out better. I sadly was singled out as an art failure in front of the whole class!<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Jessica Ruth Freedman was to participate next month in the Art Vancouver fair, which has been postponed. (photo from Jessica Ruth Freedman)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFast forward a few years, a career as a contemporary dancer, yoga teacher and accountant, [then] I returned to my love of painting,\u201d said Freedman, who has a bachelor of arts, with a major in dance and a minor in fine arts, from Simon Fraser University. \u201cAt this time, I had moved to Victoria to chase the warmer weather and, after a few holidays in nearby Hawaii, I was hooked on representing the juxtaposition of botanicals versus the urban in my artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freedman is one of the artists participating in Art Vancouver, which has been postponed from its scheduled dates, April 16-19, because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese days, the traditional way of selling art through a gallery is changing,\u201d she said. \u201cMany galleries are shutting their doors due to increasing rents and a growing online marketplace. Art fairs give individual artists an opportunity to connect directly with new collectors. I also love the communal spirit of the artists working and showing together. There is a lot of sharing of process and information that goes on at these types of events. Since I live on the West Coast, Art Vancouver is the best art fair to participate in, and Vancouverites are a knowledgeable art bunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she likes to create fresh work for each art fair. \u201cI consider carefully the city, people, environment and sizes of artwork,\u201d she said. \u201cAt this Art Vancouver, I will be debuting some non-traditional materials in my paintings, all while keeping the abstract botanical theme. My aim is to always create work that uplifts and inspires, and I attempt to do this through colour, theme and design.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freedman works in acrylic, ink and mixed media. She has exhibited internationally and her work is in private and public collections around the world. On her website, she notes, \u201cMy journey through life can only be described as an artistic DIY.\u201d She says she \u201cwas always the child who wanted to be left alone to explore and discover\u201d and yet that it is her \u201cpath in life to share my art to celebrate connection, serenity and humour and to share this journey together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany artists will agree that one needs to look inward to find the source of creation,\u201d Freedman explained of her need for both solitude and community. \u201cEven realist painters rely on an internal compass based on technique and free expression. As a Jewish person, I honour the spirit of creation within me, and I also pay tribute to the concept of tikkun olam<\/em>, the repair of the world. I feel fortunate to explore the creative side of myself for a living, but I also feel it\u2019s necessary to do good work in the world. This might mean volunteering for Jewish events, donating my paintings to charity auctions, or just being a positive person with a solution-focused outlook.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Jewish community members who come to see her work at Art Vancouver, the dates for which will be released in the near future, Freedman said, \u201cSurprisingly, a fair amount of Hebrew \u2013 my first language \u2013 appears in my paintings. If readers come visit my booth, I\u2019ll look forward to pointing it out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she paints the natural world, Freedman noted a certain irony \u2013 she is not very good at caring for actual plants. \u201cI am lucky that I can send my husband out to purchase plants \u2013 I paint them and he cares for them,\u201d she said. \u201cI am mostly fascinated by the riot of colour, of chaos, that Hashem has let loose in the natural world. The process of growth and decay, while natural, is obviously hard on us humans but is a natural part of life. I am also very interested in urban design that incorporates the natural world in ways that increase sustainability, beauty, communication and wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on Freedman, visit jessicaruthfreedman.com<\/a>. For more on Art Vancouver, go to artvancouver.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDesert Spring\u201d by Jessica Ruth Freedman. A harsh critique early in her career didn\u2019t stop Victoria-based Jessica Ruth Freedman from doing what she loves \u2013 painting \u2013 and becoming a successful artist. \u201cI was born in Montreal, and then my brother and I were whisked away to Kibbutz Ein Dor in the Galilee,\u201d Freedman told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[7047,9786,2722,6691],"class_list":["post-34498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art-vancouver","tag-jessica-ruth-freedman","tag-nature","tag-painting"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}