Behind the Red Door at Long Bay Farm

Julie Druker | Oct 14, 2015

Visitors to the Red Door Studio Tour this past Thanksgiving weekend not only had a chance to get up close to a number of particularly friendly farm animals but also enjoyed perusing a wide variety of art and craft items made by the over 18 talented artisans showing their work there.

One artist was Mary Lou Devine of Simply Devine Paverpol of North Gower, Ontario, a fabric artist who incorporates a relatively
new product called Paverpol in her unique fabric sculptures. Paverpol is a water-based, environmentally friendly polymer medium used to saturate fabric, giving it a hard and durable finish that enables the sculptures to survive long term both in and out of doors. The medium, which has been around for 15 years, was first discovered in the Netherlands by a group of sculptors who were making over-sized floats for a Mardi Gras style event that takes place there. The artists were looking to get away
from the toxic materials normally used to finish their creations and came up with a durable water-based polymer product that is human, animal and environmentally safe.

Devine, who worked as a federal public servant in Ottawa for years and retired in 2009, took up paverpol fabric sculpture one year later and has been making work ever since. Her creations are whimsical mostly figurative forms, some table top sculptures, others free standing taller forms with titles like Gilbert of the Gower, a smiling leapfrogging elf. Devine said Gilbert was the result of challenge she suggested to a fellow Australian paverpol artist, who agreed and posed the challenge to other paverpol artists around the world.

Some of Devine's other works include tall table top figures, some of which function as necklace holders and have a surface that
resembles metal, which results from adding small stones to the medium. Paverpol is a versatile medium that can be applied to any natural fibre and for artists who especially like to clothe their creations, paverpol is a great way to go.

Devine, who started first as a painter, said that working as a paverpol sculptor allows her to paint as well as sculpt. As far as her inspiration goes, she said her ideas come from everywhere but most often her characters tend to create themselves. “I often start with an idea in my head and will find myself struggling until the character decides exactly what it wants to be.”
Devine offers classes in paverpol sculpture at her home studio in North Gower and plans to offer classes in Kingston as well.
Visit www.simplydevinepaverpol.com