Durham is saying goodbye to a great artist and teacher, Rhonda Abrams, who is moving away.
She taught dozens of students in Durham for the last thirteen-or-so years, first at The Colour Jar, and then in her own space, Durham Art School.
In her approach to teaching, Rhonda was rare. She wouldn’t do her students’ paintings for them, or give them a formula. But neither would she encourage an “anything goes” attitude. I remember hearing long pauses when Rhonda asked first-time students to draw or paint what they saw in front of them; many found this to be a daunting challenge. But in time, students were rewarded with taking the leap of observing and finding focus on their subject.
Rhonda grew up in Ottawa, and attended University of Ottawa and Banff Arts Center, and earned a MFA at York University. Although her earlier practice was formed in the postmodern environment of conceptual art, Rhonda’s art has taken firm root in the classical tradition; she brought this lens to her teaching as well.
One popular series of classes asked students to carefully recreate famous paintings, by famous artists such as Monet and Mondrian. Every aspect of the painting was researched, from the exact pigments to the proper canvas ratio.
Rhonda also drew upon her father’s history in the garment industry, leading classes on fashion illustration, using live models under the stage lights of Garafraxa Cafe.
She was a regular on the back-roads of West Grey, often seen painting outdoors with fellow artist Kait Benninger Grein. This grew into plein air painting classes, which were enjoyed by many.
Rhonda was recently named an Associate Artist for Unison Pastels, UK.
The hole she leaves as the go-to teacher in Durham will be difficult to fill, and I will miss the challenge of planning the details of interesting courses with her. But mostly, I’ll miss her dropping by the store and chatting about art history, philosophy and life in general.
She and her husband will be moving to Hamilton, Ontario.
