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Ritha Mason BA, BFA, MEd - Community Visual artist (May 2003)
Graduated with a Major in printmaking. Studied in Canada, England, Norway, Japan and China. Attended courses in paper making in Japan; traditional Japanese woodblock printing in Nagano and Tokyo, Japan; and traditional Chinese woodblock printing in Suzhou, China.
Mason has participated in numerous local group and solo exhibitions; and in international exhibitions in Canada, USA, China, Japan, Russia, Brazil and the UK.
She believes that it is essential that everyone share the responsibility of preserving our natural environment. As a result most of her recent works are defined as "etings" (pronounced eating) which include the 3 R's (reducing, reusing and recycling) and people participating.
The noun "eting" was coined in February 1988 and defined as an "objet d'art" created from items which have been rejected or discarded. In addition it is essential that the creation of an "eting" include exuberant and supportive friends who participate by offering encouragement, serve as a sounding board for ideas and/or provide inspirational materials which the artist may recycle, reuse or discard.
Discards from the five Times Colonist's gigantic book sales provided gems for etings. Mason visited offices, hospitals, schools and private homes to promote re-reading before recycling. New uses were also created for them such as craft objects, treasure boxes, sketch books and combinations of these. Many teachers in Greater Victoria and China welcomed these donations to their scant art supply cupboards. In 1998 she presented these ideas at the National Art Education Association Conference in Chicago. Her luggage included 200 free condensed National Reader.s Digest which people were encouraged to redistribute all around America.
In addition, her "eting" art has spoken to other issues such as the logging in Claoquot Sound and Robson Bight; human rights (Tiannanmen Square), Brazil discussions and Canadian Unity.
For the last few years she has looked inward and is researching and exploring her personal encounters with digital technology as well as those shared by other seniors. This is the subject of her final project for a Master of Arts in Education. (UVic). As a result 3 annual art exhibits involved seniors sharing their art, knowledge and the process with others.