|
Ron
Kenworthy was born and raised on a farm along
the banks of the Serviceberry Creek near Rockford .
He taught for 31 years in several rural Alberta
communities and retired in Drumheller in 2003. His
mother was a landscape artist and nurtured a love of
nature and the prairie heritage in her children. As
Ron lacked the even rudimentary artistic skills of
drawing and painting, he turned to the camera to
capture the beauty of Alberta landscape, old
buildings and nature. Ron’s father was a farmer by
vocation, but a carpenter at heart and taught Ron
skills he uses today to create his frames out of
recycled wood and other bits and pieces of
nostalgia. Ron has attended a U of C evening credit
course, but is mostly self-taught. He has had
photos selected for several calendars and by Visual
Arts Alberta for the past two years.
Artist's Statement: I attain a feeling of
peace and freedom in my trips along the back roads
of our area as I search for that next shot. Once a
subject is discovered, I spend an hour or so getting
the feel of the place and looking for angles that
will best highlight the image I visualize for the
print. My subjects are most often derelict evidence
of our pioneer past and the hard labour of our
ancestors. Each building or homestead speaks to us
of the families that lived and laughed, despaired
and cried, and built this great province for our
generation and those to come. I take photos for
very selfish reasons of pure enjoyment, but I feel a
duty to share so that others can catch a glimpse of
the beauty out there for the asking. |
