October 7, 8 and 9, 10 am – 5 pm daily. Today the rate of change is so fast that at times we need to step back and appreciate the skills, tools and artistry of the past before we lose these to modernity. The Perth Autumn Studio Tour highlights some of these traditional skills, from fence building and canoe making to woodworking, pottery, weaving and felting. Tour artisans also demonstrate the way these old talents have been adapted to our modern world. By producing works that reflect our past but are still functional today, the artisans on the tour keep old skills alive and create unique pieces.

Today’s potters may use electric wheels and kilns, but the skill needed to produce a fine and functional pot takes years of practice. Dunn Sohn may use an electric lathe, but much of his machinery has been restored to working condition. Brent Kirkham has taken the traditional skills needed to make canoes to an art form, while Franc van Oort uses many old print-making techniques to create images that meld with modern decor.

This year on the tour we also have several new and returning fibre artists who again use old techniques and equipment to raise function to an art form, inlcuding Bridget O’Flaherty, whose delicately stitched pictures depict the Ottawa Valley landscape using quilting methods combined with embroidery. Zoe Lianga has also developed the traditional technique of felting into an art form and a new guest, Dagmar Sagat’s functional cushions and household items are decorated with her subtle stitchery. Heather Sherratt’s handwoven clothing, made on looms that are basically the same as the pioneers used, is produced from time-honoured and modern fibres including wool, silk, linen, bamboo, and soy silk. For more information visit mailto:wwwperthstudiotour.com or call 613 267-5237.

The Sundance Artisan Show was held in Maberly on the Labour Day weekend at the scenic property along the Fall River behind the Fall River Restaurant at Highway 7 and County Road 36. It was a “must see; must go; mark your calendars for next time if you missed it” event! The show is totally free to park and attend, which leaves money in the pocket to support your Canadian artisans while stocking up on holiday gifts or simply gifting yourself with a treasure.

The show is juried, which ensures that all the exhibitors are top notch and that there is a lovely balance of work. Repeat categories were not repeats as each artist brought their own thumb print to their medium. It was evident that here was quality workmanship by seasoned artisans who have stood the test of time, many boasting decades of commitment and expertise.

Among the exhibitors was Tori Capes, who is the owner, designer, fabricator, marketer, exhibitor and money manager of Mad Cap Hats. At the show she could be found subtly allowing her hats to sell themselves as people experienced the feel, quality and final mirror tests of the hats when deciding to buy one.

What a wonderful name for a business, Mad Cap Hats! That is not just because the hats have that special quality in the designs, fabric and fabrication, but also because it takes a certain kind Madcap quality tempered with a lot of positivity to be an artist. One must wear a lot of hats to successfully create a product, market and sell it, and keep the books of the business. All that talent in one person does not come without a will to succeed and the tenacity to grow and stick to it while on the " learning curve."

When Tori was asked how long it takes to make one of her appealing summer hats she replied, "Do you mean how long it took me to reach the stage where I could make this product? Or how long now?"

In a world where we often forget how important it is to our neighbour to have their hopes, dreams and labours supported, she makes an excellent point.

Although there is a case for innate artistic ability, so much more is behind the scenes of that hat you are trying on; or that cleverly re-utilized metal art; or that perfectly weighted, “fitting in your hand just right” ceramic mug.

In Tori’s case, she is a graduate of George Brown College and has been a certified milliner for 30 years. She is also a savvy businesswoman who is not a stranger to starting up businesses. She has earned the right to boast of many business highlights in her life. She has owned two stores as well as a bed and breakfast, and once made 11,000 hats for cancer patients. She is a “jump in feet first and get it going” kind of a woman and we can all be proud that she is now a full-time resident and business owner here in South Frontenac. When you buy one of her hats, she in turn goes out and buys locally in Canada. If you missed Tori at the show, you can call her at 613-273-6666 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Photo: Frit Flava Vase by Alexi Hunter

The Sundance Artisan Show is marking its 10th year. For the past five years the show has been held on the picturesque Fall River, at a wooded site right behind the Fall River Restaurant on Highway #7 and Road 36 (Maberly Elphin Road) in the village of Maberly.

With over 40 artisans in one location this show offers the unique opportunity to see many artists showing their one of a kind work in many different mediums. Pottery, wood turning, jewelry, furniture, weaving, glass and even cedar strip boats are all here for your viewing and shopping pleasure.

Among the artisans at the show this year there are nine who work in wood, plus seven of Ontario's leading glass artists, including Sarah Dionne from Stirling, Alexi and Mariel Hunter from Kingston Glass Studio, Lalaland Glass Studio from Prince Edward County, Yolanda Noble from Inverary, Diane Proulx from Ottawa, and Cindy Laneville from Winchester,

Add in fine food catered by the Fall River Restaurant and live music and you have a can't be missed celebration of the arts.

Held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Labour Day weekend, organizers have added a new "preview opening" on Friday evening, Sept. 2 from 5 to 7 pm. The main show hours are Saturday & Sunday from 10 to 5 and Monday from 10 to 2. Parking and entry are free!

So come out and enjoy the art, the food and the music. Chat with the artists, meet old friends and make new ones at the Sundance Artisan Show. For more information and to see a full list of the artists and their work go to www.sundancestudio.ca

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

The Red Door Studio on Long Bay is holding its first show over the Thanksgiving weekend. The studio is located off the Westport to Maberly road (#36), a location that straddles two successful, long standing studio tours. The Perth Autumn Studio Tour is based in nearby Brooke Valley, and the Westport Fall Colours Tour is centred in nearby Westport.

Until this year the Red Door was a location on the Fall Colours tour, but for a couple of reasons Ingrid Bron, the owner of the property where the studio is located, wanted to start an independent show that still takes advantage of the crowds that attend both tours on Thanksgiving weekend each year.

“For one thing we have always been at the edge of the Fall Colours Tour because we are far from Westport, but more than that I have been hosting some emerging and younger artists each year who are not likely to make a lot of sales, or artists who have larger pieces that are hard to sell, and paying the full studio tour fee was more than they could risk,” Ingrid Bron said.

The solution was to form the Red Door Collective, which uses a different fee structure with a lower up front payment, and try to develop a stand alone event with features that should make it an attractive show for the public to attend.

There are 18 artists who are part of the collective and three guests as well, all showing at the Red Door. They range from well-known Westport painters such as John Shea and Sharbot Lake Sign maker Donna Larocque, to newcomers such as textile artist Kim Fisher, and many others.

The art will be set up in the barn and throughout the property, which is also a hobby farm with an infamous donkey (Murray), sheep and other livestock. There will be music performed periodically throughout the weekend and locally sourced food prepared in conjunction with the Sharbot Lake Country Inn, in addition to the unique artwork on display.

The Red Door collective includes: Meghan Balogh – photographer; Diane Black - sculpture in clay and iron; Steven Boyd - stained glass; Ingrid Bron - salvage art; Jim Craig - jewelry designer; Mary Lou Devine - fabric sculptures; Shawn Donaldson, Abstract painting and mixed media; Martina Field - collagraph prints; Kim Fisher - textile creations; Lynda Johnston - Totally Hooked; Cindy Laneville - mosaic stained glass artist; Donna Laroque - signs and portraits; Douglas MacDonald - cast stone; Jana Osterman - multi-media art; Marguerite Roberts - textile art; John Shea - architectural landscapes; Jim Sprague – woodturning; Rhéni Tauchid - painting; Jennifer White - watercolour painting.

For further information go to Reddoorcollective.ca. The show runs from 10 am to 5 pm, October10-12.

Fred Fowler has worn multiple hats over the years: one as police officer, another as a plater, another as a para-legal fighting traffic tickets, and more; but the one hat that has always remained is that of artist and painter.

Fowler has been painting since he was a kid in kindergarten. His home and studio, nestled on the shores of the Mississippi River near Snow Road, is an ideal spot for an artist inspired by nature, and those who popped in for a visit on this year’s North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour on September 26 & 27, likely noticed that landscapes loom large in his repertoire.

As a native of Nipigon, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Superior, Fowler said he has always been enchanted by landscapes. Some of his works are huge, with canvases stretching from four to five feet long. They have a commanding presence while transporting the viewer to a place they may have never been before.

As a youngster Fowler studied drafting in high school and won many awards, which likely landed him a spot at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He also attended the New School of Art in Toronto and said that his training has allowed him to appreciate and paint in a number of different styles. Fowler is a multi-media artist and paints mostly in oils and acrylics but has also painted in watercolours in the past.

He is also a printmaker and in this medium he explores more intimate subject matter. In his monotype print titled “Frantic Pursuit”, two dogs are caught mid-stride chasing a ball. The work is mysterious and possesses a mythical quality. Fowler admits though that because of where he is from and where he now resides, landscapes have become his primary focus. He and his wife Sarah, who is also a painter, make regular trips to the north shore of Lake Superior. They take numerous photographs there and use them as the basis for their paintings.

Equally inspired by his local surrounds, Fowler also paints what is close by. One work titled “On the Beaver Pond” was inspired from a scene he found on Brooke Road just south of Highway 7. It shows a winter beaver pond and a stand of cedars on drowned land, and the work is painted from a very low angle with the cedars showing up in dark silhouettes against the snow and the expanse of the late afternoon sky shimmering above in pinks, greys and purples. Fowler recalled being “attracted to the strong shadows that the sunlight was casting through the trees.” With camera in hand he laid down in the snow to capture the low angle he needed to get the shadows he wanted to depict. Other works, like one titled “Mazinaw Reflections”, shows Bon Echo's majestic Mazinaw Rock. Fowler is donating the work to the Friends of Bon Echo upon their request, and it will be raffled off next year at their annual exhibition and sale.

Another large piece titled “Calabogie Bridge” is a work that demonstrates Fowler’s love of winter scenery. “This is one of my favorite locations and my goal here was to capture the various planes in the landscape including water, ice, rocks, horizon line and the sky and to try to draw the viewer’s eye into the scene”. Fowler says that winter scenes are what inspire him most.

For those who did not make it to Fred’s studio you can see his work on display at the Fall River Restaurant in Maberly, on line at www.fredfowler.ca or you can also make an appointment by calling 613- 699-3686. If you happen to be traveling the back roads near Snow Road you can also drop in by chance. His studio is located at 4005 Elphin-Maberly Road.

While it may be warm today, we’re heading towards October and you may be interested in taking an autumn journey through the back roads of North Frontenac to discover a few hidden treasures.

Not only will the scenery be fantastic but also the weekend of Saturday & Sunday, September 26 and 27 from 10am until 4pm every day, local artists will be opening their studios to exhibit their handmade wares in the gardens and studios in which they were made.

There are a variety of mediums represented this year in 12 locations across an expanse of roadway weaving in and around a multitude of lakes and vistas. There will be oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, jewelry, woodcarvings of all shapes and sizes and even award winning embellished and carved gourds by Plevna artist Marlene Leeson.

There will be stained glass, paintings and painted floor cloths at Red Dragon studios near Malcolm Lake. Down the road a little while you will find concrete furniture on display and for sale at Tuscany Concrete on the shores of Little Mink Lake.

On the way to Buckshot Lake there will be hollowed log forest frames, quilts, dish cloths and other sewn treasures at one studio and acrylic paintings and hand carved lawn ornaments at another.

In Ompah you will find the meticulously detailed paintings of Linda Rush.

Silent Valley Alpaca between Snow Road Station and Ompah will be interesting over the weekend as the studio tour coincides with National Alpaca Farm Day across Canada and the US.

Robert and Hanne Quigley will be hosting a look at Alpaca farming and processing the fleece. There will be a raw fleece dying demonstrations. Someone else will be carding the fleece into roving for spinning. A weaver will be on hand to show her work process on the loom.

Visitors will have the opportunity to check out the barn and see the new baby alpacas as well as their friends and family. Baby alpacas are roughly 16 lb. when born and grow up to weigh as much as 190 lb. for a male and 160 lb. for a female. There are 35 alpacas in all at Silent Valley. You’ll also get a chance to see the finished product at the old granary that’s been converted into the farm store, which will be selling dyed yarn as well as items of knitwear.

Johnston Lake Organic Food and Good Stuff Bakery will prove to be a tasty place to stop along the route.

“This area is littered with artists and artisans back here,” said Marlene Leeson, “We’re trying to pique people’s interests. I’m trying to beautify Plevna”.

Leeson has already put Plevna on the map, when one of her pieces won 3rd place in an international gourd art competition. She uses everything from clay, textile mediums to wire and acrylics.

You can find more information in the brochures that are distributed at businesses in the area as well as at each stop on the tour. There’s also a helpful website northfrontenacbackroadsstudiotour.com

This year’s Sundance Artisan show in Maberly offered up an impressive lineup of the creations of local and not so local artists and artisans. Organized for the first time this year by the new owners of the Fall River Restaurant, Therese Steenberghe and Jeroen Kerrebijn, with the help of canoe maker Brent Kirkham, and photographer Paul Shuster, the show attracted close to 4000 guests over the three-day holiday weekend.

Among the impressive art work was the figurative art of Mary Lynn Baker of Addison, Ontario. Baker is a long ago graduate of the Ontario College of Art and design and she has been making her unique brand of high-flying fantasy figures both in the form of aerial papier-mâché sculptures and paintings for decades now. Much of her work seems familiar, which is likely due to the fact that she has been showcased on a number of TV shows, commercials and in various publications world wide. Her aerial sculptures are vibrant and buoyant, both literally and figuratively speaking; they often elicit a laugh or at the least a smile from those who see them. Because they hang in mid-air, just fastened with thin, invisible pieces of fishing line, they are constantly in movement, which makes them even more eye catching and a delight to behold in person.

These cheerful aerial subjects include winged pigs, flying everyday super humans, as well as lawyers dressed in their courtly attire, one in particular with one hand clutching a brief case and the other stretching forward in a simulated superman pose as he seems to cut through the ether almost effortlessly.

“I like to make anything that strikes me as fun,” Baker said when I visited her booth at the show, “and as far as I know, I am the only person who makes suspended kinetic sculptures because they are what people most seem to enjoy.”

For these figures, she uses her own long ago perfected recipe of papier-mâché, a specialized formula comprised of only flour and water, which she bakes in an oven. This gives the pieces their smooth surfaces which she later paints using household paint colours.

Sculpting is not everything for Baker; she has also been painting for decades and many of her canvases depict similar subject matter to the sculptures; cheerful and colourfully dressed couples and also larger groupings of people, most often women, dressed in brightly colored and patterned outfits and seemingly caught in an instant of joyous merriment. “I love to watch ordinary people when they are dancing at, let's say a wedding or some other event where they are having a really good time and seem to just really be getting out of themselves. These are people who may not be at the height of fashion and maybe aren't the best dancers but still, they are enjoying the moment and for me there is something very charming and interesting in that”. She is a muralist as well and has painted 16 large murals commissioned by the towns and schools of Brockville, Athens and Shelburne, Ontario.

While most of her work is not titled, her flying “super grandpa” is just one in a series that have included titles like “super guy”, and “super woman”. One free standing table-top sculpture depicts a woman in matching harlequin, horn-rimmed glasses and hat, sporting a spotted leopard patterned suit, and is loosely based on Andrea Martin's famed SCTV character, Edith Prickley.

Baker’s most recent paintings, which she paints in acrylics, have moved into the realm of personal memories and are more realistic in nature than her older, solely figurative works. Here she is painting cheerful scenes based on specific memories from her life. One shows a costume party on an ice rink that she remembers from long ago in Ottawa.

Baker was just one of 38 artists at the Sundance show, which, while under new management, still continues to offer some of the best work by artists and artisans from Eastern Ontario.

Jewelery makers Steve and Janet MacIntyre of Napanee participated for their third year at the Inroads Studio Tour as guests at the home and studio of local woodworker Ken Waller of Sharbot Lake. The couple make a wide range of fused glass jewelry using a laser engraved dichroic glass technique to create gorgeous patterns and images. Part of the attraction of the annual Inroads Studio Tour is getting a chance to see the work of not so local artisans who participate as special guests on the tour. Jill Ferguson was another guest on the tour who showed at Judith Versavel's Gallery by the Bay in Arden and she showcased an eclectic collection of her original acrylic paintings, which are inspired by nature, travel and the Ontario countryside.

Signs are up for the 2015 Inroads Studio Tour, a familiar event for over 20 years here in Central Frontenac Township. This year, there are nine open studios and a dozen fine artisans displaying their work; hours are from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Sept. 5-7 of Labour Day Weekend. Now is the time of year when friends and visitors to my shop are likely to say something like: “You must be really busy getting ready for the Inroads Tour.” These comments got me thinking about what it is we do to prepare for Inroads – and realizing how long the process really takes.

Tour preparation began in January or February when former participants decided whether they wanted to do the tour again this year. With snow still on the ground, the interested parties got together, in person or via e-mail, and volunteered for various roles (chair, treasurer, secretary, sign manager, etc.) Previous tour members and possible new participants were contacted, commitments were made and cheques mailed to the treasurer so that the brochure co-ordinator could assemble the information and brochures could be printed to be given out during the summer.

For all tour members, preparation throughout the summer involves distributing brochures and generally promoting the tour whenever the opportunity arises. Closer to the event, we put up small signs and dust off the larger signs that we have stored, making sure we have enough and that they are in good repair. I think we all look around our studios and do whatever re-arranging and cleaning seems necessary.

For those of us on the tour who have a shop that is open throughout the summer, much of the pre-tour activity is what we would be doing anyway – filling current orders, replacing stock that has sold through the summer, and trying to keep ahead of the general mess generated in an active artist’s studio. Joanne Pickett (Arden Pottery) says that her usual long days just get longer. At this time of year, Joanne can often be found in her studio at 2 am, throwing pots or waiting for firings to be finished – fortunately, she finds these night vigils peaceful and rather pleasant.

Judith Versavel, who runs Gallery on the Bay in Arden, summarized her preparations for Labour Day thus: “Sprucing up the garden, mowing the lawn, washing gallery windows - again, rearranging items for maximum show, helping my guest artist and trying to figure out what to wear! Oh yeah … and trying to get new paintings and jewellery finished at the last minute!!!”

Here at the Arden Batik shop, I have completed some new pictures, and plan to get them matted and/or framed before the tour. However, I am also going to start some batiks that I know I will not finish, so there will be a selection of interesting pieces in process for tour visitors to see – and for me to demonstrate with during the weekend.

Nancy, at Hilderbrook Studio, tells me that she has some new necklaces, and is “madly busy” making more. Jo Crivellaro has been working on a new product -- collaged mirrors with hunting and fishing themes. She has yet to do the weed cutting and tidying up around her owner-built house in the woods, but will certainly be busy until the tour date. Laurel Minutillo, (Laurel Leaf Studio) has also been busy creating new work; she will be showing painted ceramic jewellery as well as new roller printed metal earrings and forged pendants for necklaces. The worst part about getting ready for the show, she says, is that you never think you are ready enough. Alas, how true!

Nick Hally, our sign man, puts up the large highway signs, and makes sure that all studios are supplied with the signage they need. He and Annette, at Maple Hollow Studio, write that they “ensure that we have enough of our various stock on hand for the full weekend, make sure our signage is all up and visible the night before the first day, cut the grass, weed the garden and make sure our whole place wherever customers will be going is neat, tidy and welcoming, and provide adequate seating and iced bottled water for tired feet and legs.”

Doreen Morey doesn’t show at her home studio, but at her cottage location, so her preparation includes setting up a tent for display and arranging a temporary work space on the cottage deck. She sews in preparation for the tour, and continues sewing throughout the weekend.

For those who are guests at another artisan’s studio, the process involves less house cleaning and more carrying of boxes. Jill Ferguson, guest at Gallery on the Bay, writes: “Worst part is packing and carting all the stuff and the best part is looking forward to meeting new people and seeing regular visitors. I have my must do cards and coasters ready to go and all made with prints of original artwork. I still hope to prepare some mini-prints so I guess that's on my wish list. I have several new landscapes of Ontario country scenes ... roads, fields, waterfalls, trees.”

Janet and Steve MacIntyre are guests at Ken Waller’s studio, and enjoy both the tour and a good visit with the Wallers. This year, Steve and Janet have been trying an unusual jewelry making technique called broom casting. Yes, it involves brooms – they hope you will come and see their new work and find out how it is made.

In fact, all of us look forward to our tour visitors, and hope that the preparations we have made will mean a pleasant tour for all who come and share, for a day, our work, our studios, and a bit of our lives.