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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-10-13, Page 2351appy. 50th Anniversary Ralph & Gladys Caldwell 1943 -1993 In honour of our parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary, the family of RALPH & GLADYS CALDWELL invites you to an OPEN HOUSE on October 17, 1993 at the Blyth United Church from 2:00 -4:00 p.m. Let your presence be your gilt 50th Wedding Anniversary 41vA%. .AMt The family of Lawson and Muriel Ward wish to invite family, friends and neigh- bours to their parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary Open House on Saturday Oct. 16th, 1993 from 2 - 5 p.m. at the Listowel Kin Station. Your presence will be a treasured gift. Forthcoming Marriage 416t. COULTES - CAREY Robert and Irene Carey and Glenn and Dorothy Coultes are happy to announce the forthcoming marriage of Kimberley Anne Carey and Paul Robert Coultes. The wedding will take place on Saturday, October 23 In St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Lansdowne at 3:30 p.m. with a reception to follow in the Lansdowne Community Centre. All You Can Eat Beef Supper Thursday, October 21, 1993 5 - 7 p.m. Blyth Memorial Hall Adults: $8.50 Children: $4.00 Preschoolers: Free Sponsored by: Trinity Anglican Church THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1993. PAGE 23. Wingfield's 'letter' comes to Blyth, Thursday Over the years the critics have loved Dan Needles' Wingfield Tril- ogy and now theatre-goers in Blyth Art review By Murray Barrett Visitors to Bayfield's newly renovated Town Hall on Oct. 1, 2, and 3 may have thought they had wandered into a 'Best In Show' collection of art works from major Toronto or New York galleries. What was on display was an exhibition by members of the Huron Society of Artists - not just painters but potters and weavers and stained glass workers and mixed media artists and a blacksmith. In order to see an assemblage of work of this quality you will have to spend foot-bruising days in the aisles of shows like the "One Of A Kind", slogging through acres of bandsawn pulltoys and jam jars fitted with oh-so-cute gingham collars. In the end you will not fmd better potters than Robert Tetu or Sylva Leser nor will you find a better glass designer than Philip Sommer. You certainly will not find a better blacksmith than James Wallace. He is regularly commissioned to produce work for architects and designers that will grace some of the finest homes and commercial projects in Canada. It is easy to see why. The bedstead that he had on display in this show was wonderfully restrained - a spare design in a medium too often given to demonstration of how many arabesques, grape clusters and fleur-de-lis patterns can_be worked into a piece. As Picasso could capture the essence of a portrait subject with a single line, Wallace is able, with exquisite economy of means, to define and contain the space of this bed's head and foot boards. And while we are on the subject of the attraction of restraint, (not readily evident in this review - but these artists are so good that I can't restrain myself), Pauli Sommer has produced a table lamp which is a little, muted, green and mat black gem which is one of the best examples of 'less is more' that I have ever seen. It sold at the show; I sure hope that she will do another. I wonder if it is fully understood what a talented and important group of artists live and work here? Jim Howlett, for instance, is currently working on stained glass commissions for a house in Minnesota, a hospital in Ontario and for a municipal building. His innovations in sandblasted, bottom- lit glass panels are awesome. His portrayal of whale is so convincing that you want to dive in and swim with it. This physical reaction extends to Kim Howlett's work. Though it is a 'no-no' I confess that I did manage to surreptitiously fondle one of her woven pieces. It was worth the risk; it was nice to touch. If painting and sculpture are your interest, you will have to endure many days of bankrupting parking fees and insufferably snotty will have the opportunity to enjoy the first in the series as Letter from Wingfield Farm comes to Memorial Yorkville gallery owners to unearth work of the calibre of the paintings in this show. Mystery is the wonder of Jo Manning's paintings and a shirt is the symbol of this mystery. This shirt is omnipresent, sometimes amorphous, sometimes barely discernable - but always there. Always there to challenge us, to invite us to join Jo in her puzzlements - or perhaps to participate with her in her creative process. You see, I don't know what the shirt means but I do know that being allowed to try to figure it out is a lot more interesting than a straight landscape. It helps, of course, that Jo can paint. She can paint like an angel - with the confidence and authority and control of her medium that we have a right to expect from someone exhibiting in public. We have a right to expect to judge the worth of a painting not by how photographic it is. Jo left that behind her years ago at the Ontario College of Art. Now she uses her skill to present to us wonderfully rendered philosophical conun- drums. She gives us misty grasses and dimly perceived fence posts and thickets and brambles which snare our attention. And always there is THE SHIRT. I wish I could figure out its meaning. Why don't you try? Mystery is also characteristic of the best work of Puck Merkics. Her straight forward landscapes would hold their own in any collection of realist works, but one painting titled Rock Jewells is special for the same reason that a Jo Manning is special; it requires that we become a participant in the artist's work. Rock Jewels is filled with triangular shapes that are not immediately recognizable as anything in particular, or better yet, recognizable as anything the viewer Hall this Thursday. Performed by Rod Beattie, Wing- field plays have been acclaimed for wants to make of them. It is terrific but I would like it better if it had a name as enigmatic as the painting itself. And do you find the words 'sinuously angular' a contradiction in terms? If so I invite you to see the sculptures of Leda McAlister. Tell me if you don't agree with that description of her work. Ron and Bev Walker, William Creighton, Gwen Smithers Kiar, Anne Eekhoff Hamilton and Tristan Eekhoff are all first rate painters covering schools and styles ranging from wildlife to mixed media. I wish I could write about them all but space does not permit. • They are all worth seeing. Aren't you sorry you missed this show? Grieve not. It was a sampler/ preview of the work of the artists who will open their studios to the public on the weekend of Oct. 16 and 17. Don't waste your time and money going to Toronto or New York - first rate works of art are being produced right here in Huron County. Torontonians come here to see them. The artists' studios are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Brochures with a map are available by phoning the Huron Society of Artists at (519) 345- 2184. — Murray Barrett is a 'sometimes' artist living in Lucknow. HELPING THE WORLD WRITE NOW # CODE For Information, call 1-800-661-CODE 25th Wedding Anniversary Steve, Joe, Peggy & Monica invite you to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their parents, Jack & Marianna Ryan on October 15th at the Royal Canadian Legion in Brussels. Dance 9 p.m. -1 a.m. "Your greatest gift would be your presence" both their script ("A model of tight economical writing... has retained the fragile balance between affec- tion for idyllic country life and low-key skepticism about the hard- ship it entails."- The Toronto Star) and the acting ("Beattie's colourful cast has farm life buzzing." - The Globe and Mail) Having divided his childhood between the city and the family farm at Rosemont, perhaps explains Mr. Needles' talent for writing well about both. After completing uni- versity he went to work as editor of the local newspaper in Shelburne, penning letters under the name of Walt Wingfield, which won him an award for best column in 1976 from the Ontario Weekly Newspa- per Association. In 1985 came Letter from Wing- field Farm, followed in 1987 by Fri. - Thur. Oct. 15 - 21 Fri. & Sat. 7 & 9 pm Sun. - Thurs. 8 m Wingfield's Progress then in 1990 by Wingfield's Folly. Mr. Needles also scripted Perils of Persephone, which premiered in Blyth in 1989. Mr. Beattie has been a member of the Stratford Festival for nine seasons. His extensive credits include radio, television, film and live performances across the coun- try. For the past five years he has brought the Wingfield trilogy to life in sold-out house, from Victo- ria to Fredericton. Mr. Beattie won the 1991-92 Dora Mayor Moore award for his portrayal of Walt Wingfield. E ntertainment Studio tour a must see oak% A Comedy Inspired by the True Story of e the First Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team. LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-266-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO