Madeleine Shields is a talented artist and private art teacher. She is the founder and former director of the Single Parent Resource Centre in Victoria. Madeleine became a student of Jack's, studying and later instructing mandala painting.(Interview by Angela Andersen, February, 2001, Victoria B.C.)

How did you come to know Jack Wise?
It was one of the last years of the 70s when I went to the Victoria College of Art. Jack was teaching there at the time, and, I must say, he was a wonderful teacher. The work that I did with him really stayed with me. I decided to leave the social work that I had been doing. I went to talk to Jack about it and art came up as being what was calling me. What was particularly interesting was Jack's reference to the mandala. He spoke to me about it - he called it a "diagram from the inner country". I asked him if he would teach me. He believed that people should do this work when they were around 50, when there was a certain evolution in our personalities, when we mature in a certain way. I was 48 [laughter], so he made a little concession, and agreed to teach me. When I went to work with him on the mandala, I had no preconception at all of what it was that we were going to be doing. But, of course, he spoke a great deal as we were going along. Jack was so articulate, and I loved asking him questions so, as I went along I learned more about what I was doing, so it was a very exciting first experience with him.

Ship of Fools Jack Wise

He was very well educated. He had a wonderful mind, he really did. He was an extraordinary human being. I really miss him. Talking about him makes me realize how much I miss him. He was special. He had a great sense of humour. I really learned a lot from Jack and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him. He was so interesting and he had a wonderful vocabulary. He would often say words that I had never heard before, which would, of course, drive me into the dictionary. I don't know whether everybody felt about him as I did. I do recall once having him come to meet two of my students. I remember one of the women didn't take to him at all. The one was thrilled and he engaged with her and praised her work, but the other gal, she just didn't get him- there wasn't any kind of a connection. I guess it's always personal.

With Jack, he was wonderfully careful about what he said. He would not be critical, if he could help it. In my first mandala, I had gotten caught painting the narrative ring, which is where the images come up. I started to rely on my intention, meaning that I was intending and wanting certain things to happen and I started painting out of that space. And as soon as Jack saw it, he made a comment, but it wasn't hurtful. I remember that very vividly, because it would have been easy to hurt me. He was telling me that what I had done wasn't very close to the place that he was acquainting me with. I ended up not only totally removing that and whatever other panels I had done that were out of that place but they got replaced by something that was totally different, and it was a really important lesson for me, but I remember never feeling offended. Sometimes it was funny. Sometimes it was a bit sarcastic, but it was never hurtful.

Page 1 of 2

next >>