Through Her Eyes
In South-Central Manitoba, Canada, hosts the place that started it all for Judy Linhart - Lake Winnipeg. 60 miles away from north of Winnipeg, Judy describes the water as “wonderful. It could be perfectly still or with huge waves,” spanning as far as the eye can see. Encapsulated by gigantic evergreens and short rocky shores, the lake is the perfect combination of a forest and beach all rolled into one. This is where Judy basked every summer.
Judy enrolled at the University of Manitoba earning a degree in interior design from the School of Architecture and Interior Design. Her interest in interior design sparked from her sheer creativity, yet she says that also in part so she “didn't have to take mathematics.”
Every day Judy piled into a car with four other students and together, the five of them drove 30 minutes away to the university. Here Judy would take a range of classes focused on the arts, as she began a new chapter. In college, Judy’s coursework enhanced her design skills and challenged her creativity, and her passion for design grew into a deep love for her craft.
When Judy returned to the lake the summer of her junior year of college, a familiar face from her past summers caught her eye, Sam Linhart. Despite never crossing paths at the University of Manitoba, Sam and Judy spent that summer at the lake falling in love. The following year, they were married and finished their senior year together. Despite Judy’s desire to explore her creative passions, her life began to head into a different direction, “I figured I might be able to take my creativity and make something of it. What ended up happening was [I had] a baby a year and 10 days after I got married. So it took a while till I could get back to anything resembling work.”
Judy worked part time as an interior designer for homes and small offices. After 24 years of marriage Judy, Sam, and their kids moved to the United States which put a halt on her career. “I couldn't get a job legally, I thought ‘I've gotta do something just more than just going out for lunch,’ you know? So I picked up a book. At the time they published a very thick book with all the different courses at the university and what they were about.”
Judy decided to go back to school and push her artistic abilities, while also pursuing a path out of the ordinary. As she flipped through the catalog filled with hundreds of paths she could take, woodworking stood out. “I went and talked to the professor, a guy named Tom Eckert, who I’m still in touch with… I knew how to design, but to actually make things fun and challenging.”
Judy spent hours each week cutting, measuring, and inhaling wood. She was hooked. Judy managed to find a way to perfectly combine her interior and artistic background with her appreciation for the natural elements found in nature through woodworking.
Judy has managed to create a range of works, from three drawer dressers to small tables. She has never sold her pieces for commission - a true testament to her passion and love for the craft itself. Instead, she gives pieces to her family to enjoy, and even donated some to fundraising organizations. Her pieces are physical embodiments of her passion for the craft. Despite decades spent woodworking, her love for creating art never dulled, “I'm still going out in the shop and inhaling dust.”
Similar to her unwavering love for woodworking, Judy wants her family to “carry on and do what you enjoy doing as long as you can do it. If you're satisfied with what you've got and what you've done, don't switch it around because of other people.”
It is evident that Judy’s instinct to surround herself with the beauty of nature is reflected in her memories. She took her love for nature with her as she explored the world from Hong Kong to South Africa, and various other countries.
Even in different continents, Judy’s connection to nature has remained a constant theme. In the last moments of our interview she commented on the scene in front of her in a calm, warm tone, “I'm sitting here and I'm looking outside the window at this gorgeous garden that's in full bloom… looking at a tree that's hanging purple flowers and I'm thinking of the beauty of this place where we live in Arizona.”
