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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1981-04-30, Page 19ti Leda McAlister, a Goderich Township artist, shows one of the lithographs she has on display at the Goderich Public Library. Entitled "Litho Plus", the exhibit will run until April 21. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Goderich To wnsh artist is low key about lithographs made near 'ayfield home BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Leda McAlister, a Goderich Township artist, is very low key about her work. Nevertheless, she has emerged from her solar -heated "Gallery on the Bluff" (one mile north of the bridge in Bayfield) with an exhibition which was recently on display at the Goderich Public Library. Entitled "Litho Plus" the exhibition comprised 20 or so lithographs illustrating - sea gulls, grasses, old bullmngs ants conveyances. These are not straight lithographs and the "Plus" is expressed in the additional hand finishing which in- cludes pastels, water" colors and collage. The variety of effects achieved by the ,addition of one or the other of these media provides the viewer with an opportunity to appreciate the individuality accentuated in these interpretations. The prints of the lithographs were made .at. .the ._Goderich._. Print Shop. Mrs. McAlister has been interested in art since she was a young girl. She started her career in commercial art by studying fashion design at the Toronto School of Design. Since then she has studied under various artists -Tom Hodgson (of the Group of Eleven), Hugh MacDonald, G. Otto and Arnold Hodgkins -to name a few. For a long time, Mrs. McAlister worked mainly in oils but she soon came to enjoy workiing in water colors, sketching and even sculpting. Lithographs are a fairly new venture for her. Mrs. McAlister has done some com- missioned work, including murals for several Extendicare nursing homes and a mural for the Whitchurch Stouffville Museum. While living in Stouffville, she also operated a studio gallery. Mrs. McAlister has done some television art work as well. She has produced drawings .for .the- :CBC g duct ot�,_ Timis Land and a series of drawings for a cable television production entitled, Writers' Showcase She has also been featured on two television shows; once talking about her own work and once talking about the work of other artists. Her paintingshave been displayed in the IBM International Artists' Exhibition too. Mrs. McAlister and her husband, Alexander, a writer, moved from Toronto to the Bayfield area six years ago and began building a passive solar home. Both are extremely interested in conservation and energy saving methods. At present they are building a sun pit to heat Mrs. McAlister's studio -gallery. This studio - gallery iso open to the public. People are invited to browse and purchase works that they like. "We don't think of it as a business although we have moved up to the point where we now have a provincial sales tax licence," says Mr. McAlister. "We're not interested in a lot of red tape. -We like to stay low key." After moving to the Bayfield area, Mr. and Mrs. McAlister joined the book club at the Goderich Public Library. This club holds informal discussions about various books on the second Thursday of each month at noon. "We bring our own sandwiches and the library supplies coffee. There are about 30 of us and I understand they are starting up clubs in Clinton and Bayfield now too," says Mrs. McAlister who can't praise the Goderich club enough. It was through the book club that she found out the library would be interested in displaying her art work. Goderich Art Club members hold an exhibition there an- nually and guest artists are invited to display their work anytime they express a desire to do so. Mrs. McAllster's art work will be featured during regular library hours until April -21. I rt iyi 1ertias questIwis about "her work, she invites them to call her at her studio -gallery home (482-9181) . twill 6th year -No. 17 Thursday, April 30, 1981 Second section Gail Lear's world made better by sharing of music By Shelley McPhee Like the intricate melodies she plays, music fills and satisfies a number of complex needs and desires for Gail Lear. For personal joy and accomplishment, as a service to her community and her church, to better herself, her family and other aspiring pianists in the community, this Londesboro woman has made music and the ivory keys a part of her life from early childhood. Even though her music was only studied as time permitted and raising a family .came rstAail has -.successfully completed years of training- under rainingunder the able experience and direction of Winona McDougall of Blyth. Recently Gail finished writing her last in a series of six Associated Teachers exams in piano with the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music in London. Her mark, the highest in the class, was sent to the esteemed Royal Conservatory of Music where she again topped the class with herr 93 per cent average. Her excellence in music has not only given her personal satisfaction, but has now gained her the valued Cora Akens award from the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association. Presented for the highest grade obtained in the teachers written exam, Gail will receive her award at the association convention in Hamilton on July 4. Receiving the award was an unexpected surprise for Gail, and while she is a perfectionist at heart, she had not planned to win any awards for her studies only strived to, `Be as good a teacher as I could be." Those years of dedication and determination have paid of and now Gail certainly states, "Music has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. A naturally gifted musician, according to her instructor Mrs. McDougall, Gail was well advanced in her piano studies at an early age, gaining her Grade 8 certificate when she was only 12 years old. In those days, Gail and other students walked down from school to Dora Shob- brook's farm near Londesboro each Monday morning to study from Prof. A.E. Cooke. It was never clearly established whether their teacher was actually a professor, but he was dedicated to his students, walking down D9 from Westfield, some five miles away and only charging 60 cents a lesson. Gail continued playing, and in 1948 began her longtime association as organist and choir director with the Londesboro United Church, a position which she dedicated herself to for 25 years, retiring in 1973. While Gail kept up her music through the church and accompanied her husband Harry, who sang at banquets and weddings in the area, her studies were put on the back shelf while she raised her children and dealt with family illnesses. However, it was at.a.1962 Lions -4 iub dinner, where Harry was -singing, that Gail was persuaded to resume her piano studies. Winona McDougall was at that same dinner and when she heard Gail play, she knew that this could be the answer to some of their problems. "I had so many pupils I couldn't take them all," Mrs. McDougall recall- ed, "I knew Gail could help with the teaching." Despite family obligations, Gail managed to study under the direction of Mrs. McDougall and in 1969, she finally complicated her Grade 10 in piano. Illness in the family again forced Gail to give up her lessons, but three years ago, she was back in Blyth to begin work on her Associated Teachers certificate, the highest teaching credit available, next to an university MA degree in music. Associated Teacher studies, which take some three years to complete, are equivalent to first and second year university music programs and Gail can now say she's reached her goal, as one of the best teachers possi- ble. Gail is a modest in her achievements and says she owes much of her success to Mrs. McDougall, "If it wasn't for her I would have had to study in London or Stratford." Mrs. McDougall is the only instructor in the area qualified to teach the course. An Associated Teacher herself, Mrs. McDougall has been giving piano lessons in the area for the past 60 years. Her musical career began in 1920 when she taught at Stanstead College in Quebec, an affiliation with McGill University, for eight years. Mrs. McDougall had aspirations to become a concert, pianist and began First of its kind Rural women's conference to beheld at UWO in May Rural women living on farms and in small towns are not being adequately served by colleges and universities. "Traditionally agricultural colleges put on courses that have to do with strictly technical aspects of farming and universities of- fer credit courses in academic subjects," says Ann Harley, director of pro- fessional and personal development courses at The University of Western On- tario. "But you have to look at the special needs of rural women. One woman told me they don't want courses in dried flower arranging. They want meat and potatoes courses." Widowhood, wife batter- ing, the technological revolu- tion on the farm and the Sorority tours farms Xi Epsilon Beta Sorority Chapter held its April 14 meeting at the home of Ann Adams and secretary Linda Meade read the roll call. Ann then presented her program on "Farming To- day". After a very infor- mative talk on farming, in- cluding preparing the land, seeding, etc., and the dif- ferent types and costs of machinery and expenses, the chapter then went on a tour of the T. B. Allen Feed Mill in Londesboro. Keith Allen and Jack Armstrong led members on a very in- teresting tour of the mill, ex- plaining what grains come into the mill, what is done with them and how different grains are mixed and what the end product looks like. Following this, Keith and Jack took the group to the Allen chicken barn to see caged layers. The eggs drop onto a conveyer belt from the cage and are brought to the end of the row where so- meone stands and puts them into the cartons to be stored and later sold. Then we drove by the Allen corn dryers where Ann briefly ex- plained about drying and storing corn. Back at Ann's home, the minutes of the previous meeting were read followed by correspondence which in- cluded notice of plays this summer at the Huron County Playhouse and thank -you s from Audrey Kemp and Brenda Rutledge. A letter was read from the Clinton Hospital Auxiliary regar- ding Hospital Day in May and another letter from the Clinton Hospital Building Fund Committee requesting a donation. The treasurer's report was given followed by the social report. The Chapter will go to the Avon Theatre on June 4 and have planned the Mother's Day Tea for Satur- day, May 9. Vice-president Arm passed on more Feunders Day infor- mation . and Marj gave the ways and means report. Vi- vienne reported for service that the daffodil sales were again successful and reminded everyone of the Blood Donor Clinic May 12. It was noted at this time that a mistake was made in reporting the names of the spot dance winners at our dance March 28. The winner was not Mrs. Helen Lyon, but Mrs. Joanne Lyon. Our apologies to these two ladies isolation of rural life are some of the real issues con- fronting them, Mrs. Harley" says. Recently women from rural areas have started to form their own self-help net- works and in many cases are asking colleges and univer- sities to offer courses on farm safety, personnel management, credit and loans, and family law. "The Rural Connection — learning opportunities for women in rural areas", a three-day conference which will be held at UWO May 8 to 10, will be the first attempt in Canada, and perhaps even in North America, to deal with the special educational needs of rural women on a large scale. About 200 women from across the province are ex- pected to attend the weekend conference, which will cost $60 including meals and ac- commodation. Sponsors of the conference are the UWO Faculty of Part-time and Continuing Education, the Ontario branch of the Canadian Com- mittee on Learning Oppor- tunities for Women (CCLOW) and a number of government ministries. During the conference women will participate in workshops and hear presen- tations on such things as how to persuade colleges and universities to offer specific courses, how to obtain government funding for pro- grams, how to organize discussion groups and speakers series and how to create networks to share in- formation. Mrs. Harley notes that one of the big differences between urban women and rural women is that in the country problems are ex- acerbated by loneliness and isolation. Traditional rural roles are breaking down, creating confusion about what should take their place. Many of the older farm women left off being full farm partners when the demands of child rearing took them out of the fields, Mrs. Harley notes. When the children are grown, these women find themselves left behind by the technological revolution which has turned farming from a family operation into big business. Even rural women who are full participants in the farm operation often have very low self-esteem and see themselves as "just a farmer's wife", Mrs. Harley says. Some of the younger women who have recently moved from urban centres are finding that their careers have ill-prepared them for the isolation of rural life. They are also finding job op- portunities limited. Fears that women's groups will be seen as radical or "women's lib" also keeps many rural women isolated and unwill- ing to make their needs known to universities and colleges, she says. Just providing a forum for discussion for women from all over Ontario will repre- sent a major step forward, Mrs. Harley says. Following the three-day conference, specific recom- mendations and suggestions will be made to appropriate government agencies, ministries, colleges and universities, and community organizations. One of thereasons for Western's inolvement in the planning of the con- ference is its position as an area university serving rural counties extending as far north as the Bruce Penin- sula, west to the Michigan border, and south and east to Lake Erie. UWO offers credit courses through 18 extension centres in small towns and cities scattered throughout this region. • studies in the intensive program, but decided to quit when she was mar- ried. . She instead turned her musical talents to teaching and hundreds of area children have studied under her expert direction. As an instructor, Mrs. McDougall is still in demand as a piano and singing instructor and she ad- mits, dmits, "More people want lessons than I can manage." She now only teaches advanced piano to limited number of senior grade students, but still thoroughly enjoys teaching, because, "It's nice to have someone coming intothe houseeverydayt'.,..� Even though children today have a wide variety of interests and hob- bies to choose from, piano lessons are still popular and Gail helps to fill the demand and two days a week she offers lessons at the Wingham Public and Hullett Central School. This way, she explained, she can teach 22 students a week, twice as many as she was able to teach at her own home. As well, she maintains a busy home, where son Danny, 21, practices his guitar for his band "By Special Appointment" and teaches lessons, following his music studies at Humber College. David, another musical member of the family, keeps the home supplied in his furniture making creations which he has aimed his career towards and husband Harry, clerk -treasurer of Hullett Township, still sings in his spare time. Music seems to be an in -born talent with the Lear family, but Gail ac- cepts her family's natural gifts as a normal part of their lives. Many peo- ple dream of having these talents, but for Gail, it was more than just a natural gift that has gained her the highest Associated Teachers award. Through her determination and Mrs. McDougall's patient dedication, music has made Gail's life a very rewarding one. After years of dedication and determination Gail Lear. front, has completed her Associated Teachers written examinations in piano. Under the expert direction of Winona McDougall of 'Myth Mrs. Lear finished with 93 per rent, the top ,nark in the conservatory ,Sheiley McPhee photo,