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