Sandi Leatherman: “We have gathered at the Kalein Centre with about 25 people. We have come together to say thank you to Denis Kleine, a sculptor in our community, who has donated a beautiful piece, Mother and Child, on this beautiful day, the day before Mother’s Day.
“People have brought a perennial that will be included in the Kalein garden. The garden is a central part of Kalein’s vision and art is also a central part of that vision. We have come together with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries and our stories about our mothers and our grandmothers and the greater mother. The place is full of art by Rachel Yoder and Cam Matheson and now Denis Kleine.”
Roslyn Grady conducted the blessing of the sculpture. All photos by Bill Metcalfe
Denis Kleine: I have always loved the mother and child, the nurturing of a mother’s love and how powerful it is and how delicate too. I have done a few pieces like this over the years. The original of this one was bronze but I wanted to transform it into a sandstone piece.
“I got to know Sandi and Brooke Leatherman a little bit and understood what they were doing here, and it seemed so appropriate and this piece needed to find a home that was a healing place and a nurturing place, so I just called them and said, “Would you accept this?”
