Artist Connie Wawruk-Hemmet, 2018

16 x 20, Acrylics on stretched canvas

When the darkness in the swamp

Is broken by small flashes of light

And colours unseen before appear

New life performs within the night.

A magical noise rises from the dark

When hidden beauties are laid bare

And a strange music may be heard

As songs of swamp beings fill the air

Among the plants nowhere else seen

Croaks and hisses, chitters and tweets

Break the stillness of the primordial ooze

Within the music the swamp’s heart beats.

This poem tells the story of “Swamp Music”, a painting inspired by the idea that even in a dark and seemingly-unfriendly environment, beauty can be found. The urban scene has often been described as a “jungle” but for many it can be more like a swamp, where homelessness and hunger and illness are inescapable facts of life. Fortunately, however, there are organisations such as the Lighthouse Mission to bring some light to the darkness. The work that is done by the staff and volunteers goes often unrecognized, however, and it is to them that I dedicate this painting.

Artist, Connie Wawruck-Hemmett is primarily self-taught and works in many media to bring her visions of the world and its magic to life, and who credits local artistic legend Ted Korol for first setting her on the road to expanding her artistic abilities during high school. Her plans at that time involved a future in costume design, but instead she ended up working in the new field of data processing.

Since that time--while becoming a mother, travelling the world with her offshore oilfield-working husband, acquiring two degrees in History from the University of Winnipeg (BA 1987, MA 1989), and working towards a PhD at Dalhousie University—she has always been involved in one type of art or another. Even Connie’s graduate-school work had to do with art, as she specialized in “reading” the visual representation of women in graphic drawings to be found in a 1930s Soviet youth newspaper. Unfortunately, the discovery of two brain tumors in 1994, a very invasive surgery, and a lengthy period of recuperation brought her studies to an end, but she continued “making art,” often using it as a form of therapy after being diagnosed with PTSD. 

It is only during the past ten years, however, that Connie has devoted more and more of her time and energy to her artistic pursuits, from fine needlework and clothing design, to jewelry design, ceramic art and painting with various mediums on a variety of substrates. Building on her academic teaching abilities, she now teaches classes in different art styles and techniques and is a certified ceramics instructor. Her work has appeared in a number of multi-artist shows, as well as in three solo exhibitions, and can often be seen at Winnipeg’s Cre8ery Gallery, Wayne Arthur Gallery, and the Edge Gallery; it is also held in both private and public collections in Canada and the United States. In 2020 Connie also returned to a past love to enhance her art, and each piece now is accompanied by one of her poems.