HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-07-01, Page 56PAGE A24. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1,1992.
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8 t East Wawanosh Township 125th Anniversary Commemorative Edition
—/Published by North Huron Cinzen
Rural artist uses nature for inspiration
Jo Manning, an East Wawanosh artist uses the natural wonder that
surrounds her as an inspiration for her work
BY CHRIS ROULSTON
Sometimes the habit of seeing things can
make us blind to them. Such is the case with
the beauty of the region we live in: to many
of us, it is commonplace and we have
stopped noticing it. But an East Wawanosh
artist, Jo Manning, uses the natural wonder
that surrounds us as an inspiration for her
work.
Jo and her husband Al Beecroft live in a
new house on Lot 34, Cone. 3 of East
Wawanosh. The studio is full of Jo's work.
Oil paintings hang from the walls or lean
against furniture. One of her current
"scribbles" as she calls it is standing on the
easel.
The subjects of Jo's art usually involve
scenes taken from local woodlots and fields.
A stand of trees, a fence post, a pile of
branches all give Jo the rural imagery she
loves to capture on canvas.
Jo was bom on the west coast of Canada,
and she grew up in Amherstburg, Ontario. Jo
draws a parallel between her childhood and
that of another famous East Wawanosh
artist, George Reid: her father was a doctor
and did not encourage Jo in her creative
endeavors. Growing up, she didn't see any
paintings. >
As a girl, she used to write and sketch. Jo
recalls being out in the middle of a field in
the dead of winter sketching trees once. She
remembers a darkroom she and her brother
had in a closet where she would develop her
own photographs.
When she was about 17, Jo went to the
Ontario Art College in Toronto. Jo declares
she was "blown away" by that experience.
Congratulations to East Wawanosh
on your 125th Anniversary
Serving the area for over twenty-seven years
GcHL Glen Gibson
Owner
Dixon
PldlllS MASSEY-FERGUSON ZTR* Riding Mowers
G & E
SALES & SERVICE
LUCKNOW
She continued living in Toronto for 40 years.
Jo is best known for her prints, which she
started making in the early 1960's. One of
her prints, picturing a field of blowing grass,
was used for the Blyth Festival poster in
1978. The print was originally used to
illustrate a Jane Beecroft (Al's sister) poem .
Eventually Jo had to stop making prints
because she developed allergies.
The mid-1970's was the first time Jo
started coming to East Wawanosh to spend
the odd weekend in an effort to gel away
from the city for a while. In 1987 she and
continued on page A25
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COO^^TLILATIO^
EAST
Providing a wide range of
Farm, Lawn & Garden Equipment Since 1936
Three
Generations
of Service
McGAVIN
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WALTON 527-0245/887-6365 SERVICE with A SMILE
CongratuCations I
‘East ^Wawanosh on your 1251ft
When shopping for gifts - and antiques - bears, pot pourri,
candles, soaps, throws, stain glass, scatter rugs, linens,
hand crocheted collars, old fashion candy sticks, wildfowl
carvings (no G.S.T. charged)
be sure to stop at:
Belgrave
SUTTON'S
COUNTRY
CORNER
357-2534
VINBRO FARMS
«
A HISTORICAL VIGNETTE
As dairy farmers with a strong tie to a dairy co
operative - GAY LEA FOODS, it is our pleasure to
pay tribute to THE BEAVER CHEESE FACTORY.
This cheese factory was located on our home farm;
lot 31, concession IL It began production around
1877 and ran until the end of the century. The
cheese produced was marketed as "EAST
WAWANOSH CHEESE" it was noted as a good
cheese and distributed in a wide area.
We wish to congratulate the many volunteers
who are contributing to the success of the East
Wawanosh 125th anniversary celebrations.
Welcome Friends: Old, New
and Ones we haven 7 met yet.
NEIL, JOAN & MARGARET
VINCENT
519-357-2336
R.R. #3 WINGHAM, ONTARIO
NOG 2W0