A Wilderness Journey

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, Japan Foundation Fellow 1991-92, and the author of
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home and As Though Life Mattered:
Leo Kennedy’s Story.

Vibrant colors, flowing forms, and a deep empathy with nature mark the
landscape paintings of Linda Spaner Dayan Frimer. Her text is brief,
poetic, and spiritual. The book is largely composed of full-page color
reproductions of paintings that express serenity and joy.

Frimer, a descendant of a pioneering family who fled the pogroms of
Eastern Europe, was born in the interior of British Columbia. Valerie
Pusey, owner of Northern Passage Gallery in B.C., writes in a postscript
that Frimer’s painting is “a unique blend of magic realism which
fuses dense British Columbia wilderness with symbols of her Jewish
heritage. Her medium of watercolor with its free-flowing energy,
virtuosity and luminosity links itself to the vital forces of nature and
culture.” Indeed, the depth and intensity of Frimer’s colors are
unusual for watercolor. Paintings like Blue Valley, Singing Tree, and
Sunflower Summit are bold yet peaceful.

Frimer graduated in painting and printmaking from the Emily Carr
College of Art and Design in Vancouver. She works with Jewish and
interfaith organizations in creating commemorative works, and was a
participant in The Coat of Many Colours, an international exhibition
depicting the history of Jewish people in Canada.