Rosemary Leach WHAT Painter WHERE Home studio, 1237 Bellamy Mills Rd., Clayton, 256-7719, www.rosemaryleach.com Keffer Gallery, 128 Queen St., Almonte, 256-2676 Carlen Gallery, 1171 Bank St., Ottawa, 730-5555 SHOWS Café Comus, 73 Mill St., Almonte, 256-6006, Nov. 9-Dec. 6 WHY "The one thing I know is that I love painting." See samples of Rosemary's work	Previous Artist Trading Cards

Rosemary Leach - Extraordinary Perspective
By Sally Hansen

Rosemary Leach celebrates the everyday, ordinary objects in our lives with a bold palette and a wonky perspective. Her animated paintings focus on the things in our lives and homes that become a part of us and in so doing become invisible to us. Her whimsical compositions exaggerate perspective, finding pleasure in life's crooked lines.

"I really enjoy painting the symbols of our lives - the things that move through our hands that we don't see as ceremonial or significant, like lighting the wood fire, or cutting the corner off the bag of milk." Her house is full of vibrant, glowing canvases that invite us to notice and enjoy the colourful sights of daily living.

Putting Things in Perspective
This young mother of two (a five year-old son and a four year-old daughter) is contemplating the meaning of life as she paints its accoutrements. As she watches her own mother begin the process of simplifying her life by sorting through the things she has accumulated, Rosemary has realized that we don't really own anything. The everyday objects of our lives own us. It is the old beat-up colander that brings back vivid memories; not the fancy silverware that languishes in the drawer.

"I don't really understand why," she confides, "but I'm in a clearing-out mode myself. I'm literally throwing things out, and in my paintings, I'm zooming in on single objects." I note that her recent paintings seem to draw my attention to what is not there. A shirt hanging on a hanger poses a question with its hook that is not hung on anything. The unoccupied rocker on the porch faces an empty stretch of water and vacant horizon. Her recent paintings reflect her more contemplative mood.

A Question of Perspective
"I always painted," she tells me. "My mother was so supportive. When my older brother moved out of the house, they created a studio for me in his bedroom." But she yielded reluctantly to her parents' concerns that it was very precarious to aim for a profession in the arts.

"I tried really hard not be an artist. I got my teaching credentials at Queen's University and taught high school for three years. I hated it. I was 23 years old trying to teach 19-year-old boys in Owen Sound - I was completely in the wrong space."

Rosemary got things back into perspective by studying illustration and pottery at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. 'It's like Disneyland for adults!" she exults. "Everything you could want is there - pottery, glass, textiles, all the tools, free models every evening!"

"The one thing I know is that I love painting. If I don't make beautiful things I'm not happy. At one time I didn't think creating things for people to hang on their walls was meaningful. I had this stereotype of artists being people who sat around not getting very much done. Choosing to be an artist felt like a kind of logistical suicide. And if I WAS going to be an artist it was going to be very business-like and predictable. I denied that it was going to be any kind of inward journey, because that terrified me - I didn't want that loss of control."

"But when I see how much other people's music and art enriches my life, then I can give myself permission to participate in a stream of creativity. I feed on authenticity - in conversations, in music, in performance, in nature."

Perspicacious Perspective
Today Rosemary Leach is teaching again; she is an instructor at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre, and in January she also will be teaching painting and creativity in Almonte. "Now that I know what I'm doing and why, I love teaching. And teaching art is so much more fun - people want you to be a little crazy - it's very liberating."

Rosemary applies the same playful attitude to her courses that is reflected in her light-hearted approach to her colourful compositions of daily living. She invents exercises for her students to foster creativity based on her own experiences. She is still seeking the right balance between being a mother and being an artist, and has realized that guilt and regret can be paralysing.

Recently she gave herself a ten-day creativity sabbatical in the Yukon, and benefited greatly from the creative energy of a group of artists who were experimenting and playing, and not focused on product. "Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to try new things and make mistakes, and not care so much about what you produce."

That said, what she produces is indeed a gift worthy of your attention.

Rosemary Leach at Café Comus
On Sunday, November 9th, Café Comus in Almonte will present a show of new paintings by Rosemary Leach. You would be most welcome at the vernissage from 2-5PM on the 9th, and the show runs until December 6th. Café Comus is located at 73 Mill St. in Almonte, and the phone number is 256-6006. Go to www.rosemaryleach.com and our artist trading card gallery page for a tantalizing taste of Rosemary's new perspective on everyday life.

On an ongoing basis, her pieces are frequently available at Keffer Gallery in Almonte, and you can call her at 256-7719 or contact her at rosemary@rosemaryleach.com to make an appointment to view her works.