In Memory - Doris Namaste Kanz

by Dee Carson, Executive Director Emerita

One of the heartbreaking impacts of Covid-19 is the loss of the life-enriching connection between artists. As challenges remain and cancellations continue, Northwest Art Alliance is committed to helping where it can to keep that connection alive. It is in that role and with profound sadness that we say goodbye to Doris Kanz, whom most of us knew as Namaste.  

In the fall of 2018, Spectrum notified the community about a challenge Namaste was facing. In 2014, she had been diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. She underwent successful treatment and found herself in remission. In late summer of 2018, however, on her way to the Boise show, Namaste experienced shortness of breath and promptly went to the ER. It was then she learned that the cancer was back, had metastasized and she was now in Stage 4. She canceled the balance of her show schedule for the year and set her sights on the battle ahead.

Namaste was warm and approachable, with an infectious positivity. It was with that indomitable spirit that she met the challenge. She was born in Germany, grew up in Sweden and lived in Europe and Jamaica before making her way to Washington state in the mid-90s with her daughter Nayomi, then 6 years old. In Washington, she met her partner of 22 years, Dan. She loved the ocean, camping in Olympic National Park and enjoying the beauty of the natural world around her. Her creative gifts were equally diverse. She began her artistic career in the areas of photography and fashion design. After a return to Germany from Jamaica, she crafted ceramics as well as beautifully complex candles in a traditional German style and built a successful business with the Christmas fairs in Europe as her principal market. Here in Washington, she was encouraged by Dan's mom to try quilting, where she earned recognition for her artistry. After that, she tried her hand at silk painting, where she once again succeeded. It was with felting, however, that she found her passion. As a third generation felter, we suspect it was simply in her genes. She has produced beautifully original works of wearable art to the delight of patrons in the Northwest and Southwest ever since.  Namaste was a person who sought to be a positive force in every interaction and it showed. She was an artist folks looked forward to finding at that next show. Her booth was always busy, not just because of the beauty of the work, but because of the generosity of her spirit. I experienced that generosity first hand when I was diagnosed with a Stage 4 lymphoma last year. Despite the challenge she faced personally, Namaste reached out promptly after hearing the news and was an uplifting voice and invaluable support throughout my treatment and into my recovery.  

Spectrum Editor, Delores Peck, told me that her last memory of Namaste involved ... wait for it... green beans! "As we were leaving the Fresh Paint Festival last year," she says, "Namaste and Dan offered me a bag of fresh green beans they had picked from their garden. Namaste told me that they had a wonderful garden and she very much enjoyed the time she spent there. The green beans were delicious, of course. Since then, every green bean I eat reminds me of - and is compared to - those delectable beans. She would be delighted to know that's something she is remembered for, but that was Namaste - always ready to see the humor in everything, ready for a hug, a smile, a laugh." Dan tells us that Namaste had a passion for doing the landscaping, flowers and shrubs on their property.  She was driven to make things more beautiful and artful and to give them a peaceful flow. Those gardens and the birds and wildlife they attracted were a great comfort in her final days.  

Doris Namaste Kanz was a soft, radiant light in the world. She left us all too early at age 61. She is survived by her beloved partner, Dan Page, and her cherished daughter, Nayomi, who is expecting the birth of her first child in December. The Northwest Art Alliance family celebrates a creative life we were fortunate to share and mourns her loss. Namaste was a lover of animals and particularly sensitive to those homeless or abused. If you would like to remember her, please consider a gift to Center Valley Animal Rescue in Quilcene. You can learn more about their mission here.

Namaste, Doris. You are cherished and will be remembered.