October 23, 1946 - August 12, 2009
Wende was born and raised in West
Vancouver where she explored the lanes, woods, creeks, mountains and
ocean beaches. Lighthouse Park and Hollyburn Mountain were favourite
destinations. She attended Pauline Johnson Elementary School, Inglewood
Junior High and West Vancouver High. She then spent two years at UBC,
followed by a short time teaching in Surrey and returned to UBC to
graduate with a degree in Anthropology. She developed her studio
practices through studies at the Emily Carr School of Art.
After studying yoga and completing an apprenticeship with Maureen
Carruthers, which included travels to Pune, India to study with BKS
Iyengar, Wende became a much-admired teacher in Vancouver. One of the
small group of the earliest Iyengar Yoga teachers, Wende guided hundreds
of students with her characteristic humour, strength, and wisdom for
thirty years.
As a young woman, Wende went to Los Angeles and became a founding
member of Woman House. Feminist in their actions and methods, Wende was
among women who created a place where they found their voice in and
through art, and created a west coast women's art movement. The impact
of this experience can be seen in all of Wende's artwork. An
accomplished and versatile artist working in ceramics, sculpture,
painting, drawing and photography, Wende was very involved in the arts
in Vancouver. Her last works were portraits that, shown in series,
speak of diverse groups of people and the individuals within them.
An active member of the Saturna Island community, in 2009 Wende
completed the construction of a beautiful cabin. It was filled with
light, elegant in its simplicity, environmentally sensitive, and
comfortable.
Wende's life was enriched through travel. Amongst her many
adventures she lived with two First Nations families, one in Kitimaat
Village and one in Haines Junction, Yukon in her early twenties. She
particularly loved Marj Jackson, a respected elder in the Champagne
Aishiak First Nation. Wende and her friend Marianne very bravely walked
sixty-three miles on the White Pass railroad tracks from Carcross to
Skagway before there was a road. High trestle bridges, numerous trains
at unknown times and bears were not deterrents to this grand adventure.
Her body was as strong as her mind; in her fifties Wende walked as a
pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and through the rugged
landscapes of the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland where she enjoyed the
storytelling traditions of the people she met.
Words hardly capture Wende's wondrous sense of curiosity, and
passion. She was always open to adventure. Wende loved her garden, her
home, time alone and with friends, exploring and learning. All of this
is visible in her art.