Visit the Library anytime to see our Art Show of the Month- Eeshah Kathryn Rowedder: Shadow and Light. The show will be on display throughout the month.
SHADOW and LIGHT
Every picture has its shadows, and it has some source of light.
Blindness, blindness, and sight. Joni Mitchell
To both our conscious and subconscious minds, every image tells a story that communicates volumes through the interplay of shadow and light.
In viewing an image, we cannot help but be affected by it. We are not always aware of the depth, extent, and impact a visual image has on us, only realizing this much later – if at all.
The power of curated visual imagery and the creative process of visualization has been seminal in my artistic and teaching practice.
What was once a mystery is now an accepted process for generating success. Neuro science has proved that visualization creates the same neural pathways in the brain as real (lived) experience.
This supports us all to imagine our lives exactly as we wish them to be – the ultimate creative act.
It takes courage to look into the shadows and meet what is there. This is the hero’s journey – to embrace and accept the shadow and thus to accept and love one’s whole and entire self.
I have found forgiveness to be a crucial key in my own journey towards self-love and self-acceptance. To forgive is not to forget, but to remember to give love again despite what has occurred.
Often, the hardest to forgive is ourselves.
This has been my quest: to practice and experience the great freedom and joy of forgiveness; and to fully accept and love myself, so I may be able to fully accept and love others.
I offer these images here as sources of light and visualization for your own journey of self-acceptance and forgiveness.
Blessed be your journey.
offered with love,
eeshah
Kathryn Elaine Rowedder (Kate), known as Eeshah now to family and friends, is a life-long artist and learner, teacher, mentor, and muse.
Growing up on Staten Island, Eeshah benefited from an excellent K-12 public school art education, during which time she received much recognition for her work, winning many city-wide awards.
Initially studying Fine Arts at Syracuse University, Eeshah went on to receive her BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design, followed by a M.S.Ed. in Administration and Supervision with a Visual Arts Focus from Bank Street College of Education. She then joined the faculty at Parsons School of Design as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Secondary Art Education, and at Bank Street as an Advisor in the Arts Leadership Graduate Program.
Eeshah began her teaching career at John Dewy High School in Brooklyn, NY, also teaching in various high school programs at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the School of Visual Arts, and Parsons School of Design. In 1995, Eeshah began teaching in the Art Department at Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, retiring in 2014.
For the past 25 years, Eeshah has lived in Piermont, NY, with beloved husband, Peter, and sweet pups, Bodhi and Shola.
During her early years as a practicing artist, Eeshah was an active member of the Staten Island Federation of Artists and Craftsmen, maintaining a studio at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Her “abstract surrealist” works of that period were featured in many juried group exhibitions throughout NYC. She has done commissioned work for the Staten Island University Hospital, NY, and the Café at Grand Central, NYC. Her more recent Giclée Prints are held in many private collections in the US and in many English-speaking areas of the world.
Her artistic practice is grounded in drawing & painting and the relationship between eye, hand, and surface. Stylistically, she has moved freely within and around both realism and abstraction, often including strong graphic elements in her work. Her imagery is created using a wide range of (mixed) media, including water color, acrylic, linoleum & mono printing, collage & found objects, mask-making, and body casting.
Eeshah continues to study and explore the impact of visual imagery on brain states, function, and emotion. She creates visual pieces intended to uplift the spirit, inspire confidence and self-awareness, and to support the actualization of one’s dearest dreams.
Exploring the relationship between spiritual practice and visual imagery has led Eeshah on many travels to Egypt, Peru, Mexico, Hawaii, Australia, England, and the Grand Canyon.
I am so delighted to have finally arrived to this point in time!
Thank you!