ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Beth Macy
SOURCE: BETH MACY
Colorful works look at the juggling stage in a woman's life
Nina donated her Nordic Trak to Goodwill, canceled her club membership, threw out her body-skimming sheaths, took the telephone off the hook, and sat in the gold sunlight with her cat and a bluebird.
Leslie Shaver is breathing distance from the age of 50. She is divorced, the mother of three, a part-time artist, and a full-time teacher of English and ethics at North Cross School.
She is, like many middle-aged women today, not so different from the fictional characters who people the clay-board series of drawings she refers to as ``Women In Transition'':
Charlene had been juggling things most of her life, so she decided to take her act on the road.
In Shaver's whimsical pen-and-pencil rendering, Charlene is quite literally juggling: a cup and saucer on one knee, an umbrella and teapot on her nose, a parrot in one hand and a stack of plates in the other. In the foreground, a supportive audience of cats, birds and assorted fairy-like creatures watches Charlene perform this balancing feat.
``I thought it was important she be getting some appreciation for her juggling,'' Shaver says.
The creatures, much like Shaver herself, are the juggling woman's greatest fans. They are there for you like a best friend on the phone, who reaffirms:
``No, you're not nuts.''
``Come on, it really isn't as bad as you think it is.''
And, ``Yes, you really can improve your life.''
Worn out from the smug incompetence of her boss, Verna contemplated quitting her job and joining the circus. This time she would walk a tightrope, but earn money and applause.
Shaver's women do all the things we dream of doing, but can't. They do it with panache - usually on a stage, frequently naked (or wearing ruby slippers) and generally while thumbing their collective nose at society's mores and musts.
Those who relate to Shaver's pieces find them full of real-life seriousness and hysterically funny, too. ``We try everything - aromatherapy to improve our spiritual life,'' she says. ``Regular low-impact aerobics isn't enough, now we've gotta do step aerobics.
``We grasp like fools, but we're in there trying. I find a lot of humor in that.''
As her Medieval phase neared its end, Maureen underwent another identity crisis. She'd already tried channeling, step aerobics and gourmet cooking. She was about to snap.
About two years ago, Shaver herself was about to snap. It had been the teacher's-day-from-hell at school. She'd recently won a sabbatical scholarship to study divinity and philosophy at St. Andrews University in Scotland - but wasn't sure how she'd finagle her sons' lives, her house and her finances to accommodate it.
``It was a very bad day,'' she recalled.
So, she doodled. Three naked ladies appeared on the page - one with flowing hair, one in a nun's habit, the other in a top hat. Already a published poet and essayist [``my specialty was bleakness''], she was struck by the following line that came to her:
It was a sunny, warm afternoon, and Elizabeth decided to try and pull her selves together.
``I laughed out loud,'' she recalls. ``It was the first time I'd genuinely gotten a kick out of my art, and it surprised me. It made me happy.''
Her women friends were so nuts about the work, Shaver was encouraged to peddle the pieces at Alleghany-Highlands Arts and Crafts Center in Clifton Forge, at a gallery in South Carolina, and at New Mountain Mercantile stores in Roanoke and Floyd. She's sold nearly 450 so far (prices range from $25 to $60).
Careful not to present herself as a high-brow artist, Shaver considers herself a storyteller. ``I'm interested in women's stories. Especially with women of my generation, I think we've been called upon to change an enormous amount, to fill so many different roles and expectations.
``We're not quite free to pursue our own careers and wants, we're expected to be immaculate housekeepers and perfect Southern belles. And then life hits us in the face, and we just have to run with it.''
It occurred to Lola that life might best be lived as theater.
Shaver's picture-stories spotlight women who somehow manage to rise above the fray. People who have inspired her include:
A woman she knows who takes care of an aging parent while trying to get her kid through high school, keep herself presentable (read: 103 pounds) and make delicious, nutritious meals. ``For the first time in her life, she's got a job she loves and suddenly her husband announces he's been transferred to Seattle.''
Another friend has to put her mother in a nursing home. The next week, her recently divorced son arrives home - with grandchild - to spend some quality time. The following day, her husband comes home and announces he's quit his job.
``I'm not so impressed with bombastic heroics anymore,'' Shaver says. ``It's the quiet, everyday heroics I'm interested in.''
A mother she knows just found out she has cancer, but can't afford to quit her job. ``I think it's incredible what women are called upon to deal with. I know men do this, too, but I'm more familiar with how women do it.''
Jane grew tired of her plain name so she changed it to Natasha. She decided to raise scarlet, emerald and royal blue parrots and knit Angora socks. Henry her husband flew the coop years ago, and she liked the parrots better anyway.
Women who successfully hurdle the middle years, Shaver's noticed, tend to be those who are passionate - ``about something, about a hobby, about life, whatever,'' she says. ``They have an openness, a willingness to change, to see things differently, to see other possibilities.
``They have - and I think this is the key - imagination.''
Theodora hadn't a clue, so she threw a wild tea party and forgot to worry.
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. "Nina donated her Nordic Trak to Goodwill...."by CNBLeslie Shaver's women do all the things we dream of doing, but
can't. 2. NHAT MEYER/Staff. North Cross School teacher Leslie Shaver
holds one of her "Women in Transition" drawings: ``I'm interested in
women's stories. Especially with women of my generation, I think
we've been called upon to change an enormous amount, to fill so many
different roles and expectations. color.