Linda Knox - A Tribute

Suddenly a chill was felt in the air and the sunshine evaporated on Labour Day weekend—a not so subtle reminder that the days of summer are numbered and dwindling.

It was an odd week in many ways, reminding me of how vulnerable and transient we are in the scheme of life and how we need to value the ties of friendship in an increasingly fearful and complex world. Gratitude is a word that came to mind a lot this week. I found out that a fellow artist and mentor who I had lost touch with in the last few years passed away in early February.

The same week I found out about Linda, my Dreamscape series was mentioned in a Customer of the Week blog on my hosting service http://blog.bluefur.com/2011/09/04/bluefur-customer-of-the-week-sharon-erlichman/ which was gratifying and somehow strangely appropriate. I tried to find a link to her website or any one of her images but strangely could not find very much on the web which I found disappointing. I finally found a picture of Linda with some of her paintings.

Linda Knox was the catalyst who encouraged my tentative steps back into art and I will be forever grateful for her guidance. The Dreamscape series of paintings began with her and I have continued to trust in the intuitive process as I paint and pursue other mediums. Inspiration or emotion that comes to a piece of artwork does not come from technical expertise alone and the viewer instinctively knows that when they are viewing art—whether it be a painting, a sculpture or a photograph. I would suggest that is what differentiates a Van Gogh from a Bateman. Linda had both in spades –her work was intuitive, abstract and experimental and came from her heart and soul.