The recent passing of Castlegar activist/artist Shemmaho Goodenough got me thinking about what creative individuals leave behind for us.
I thought about the beautiful drums Shemma made last year and exhibited at The Station Museum. Each drum had a gorgeous bag she had sewn for the drum to be stored in. Then I thought about Shemma’s paintings and the subjects she focused on to illustrate – a firefighter, a cluster of colourful homes perched on a hillside, a self-portrait within a forest with Tara, her dog.
I thought about the rock collection she amassed over decades which I helped her move a few times – always allowing time to pull a few "this rock ..." stories from her.
And what would become of her Martin guitar, I wondered.
I recalled a few years ago Shemma challenging herself to try doing stand-up comedy which I thought was awesome – that a gal entering her seventieth decade would be up for such a thing.
In 2022 I did a monster drawing workshop with Jim Holyoak at Kootenay Gallery and guess who the eldest participant in our class was? Ms. Shemma!
So cheers and here’s to an energetic and thoughtful creative force we were fortunate to have in our midst.
