Pioneering Alaska sculptor Fran Reed passed away on September 11. Dawnell Smith's thoughtful, touching article on Reed, in today's Anchorage Daily News, has many poignant observations, and some sketches on Reed's wit, friendships, and amazing craft, that "tied things together."
Reed's friends say she approached everything with lavish zeal, embracing the whole of life, even cancer, with an artful generosity.
Over the weeks, Susan Joy Share developed a deeper insight into her friend's character and spirit. "She has been open, honest, welcoming, and has let us know where and when she needed our help. She gives us a wonderful gift by letting us be with her, each in our own way."
Indeed, Reed established connections as an artist both by bridging cultures and eras, and by reflecting in her work on how life is sewn together with sometimes delicate, sometimes meaty stitches and knots.
image courtesy of the Rasmuson Foundation