The first time was at a two-day workshop at Neilson Park Creative Centre.
When Curry’s Art Store had their art school some years ago, I attended two five day workshops in which Lila shared her energetic spirit of painting with us. I will never forget her constant mantra “five to seven shapes, five to seven shapes…”, heard as we forged our way through various painting exercises in black and white shapes and values, and then moved into colour, getting larger and larger each time.
At a five-day painting retreat and workshop at Bridgewater, near Actinolite, we could paint all day and all night. My fondest memories from that workshop were of Lila showing us some Tai Chi moves on the porch and of her inviting us to her cabin to listen to one of the operas from “The Ring” series on radio.
The most important thing I learned from Lila was when she told all of her students that we could do this on our own, and that we no longer needed her direction. We just needed the strength to take that next step.
That is when I started to make breakthroughs on what I really wanted to express.
Lila paints through emotion. I paint to express energy, soul and mood, intuitively connecting with the energies of bodies of water, and also, in some series, with the various moods of people in relationships.
– Gwen Tooth
ART GALLERY OF MISSISSAUGA 