The Citizen, 2018-08-30, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018. PAGE 19.
Entertainment Leisure&
James Smith tells Huron County’s story with puppets
Drivers should be cautious of students
Continued from page 18
important meeting as the faith
community starts the process to
search out a new minister.
The Londesborough UCW will
meet again on Monday, Sept. 17.
By this time next week, our young
folk will be back in class for the
2018/2019 school year. The yellow
buses will be rolling through the
village again. It will be necessary for
drivers to be constantly aware of
these changes again when travelling
about the area. And that first week
of September brings more traffic
because of the Thresher Reunion in
Blyth.
Unfortunately it always seems to
be the end of summer once
September rolls around. It has been a
real summer and I, for one, will be
sorry to see it end. It must be my
educational background that always
finds me melancholy during early
September. Let’s hope the warmth
will last through Thanksgiving.
Radford’s Farm Equipment is
having a cleaning-up sale, another
name for an indoor yard sale, the
next two Saturdays. It might be a
good chance for others in the village
to do some cleaning up as well.
For Tickets Call 519.523.9300 Toll Free 1.877.862.5984 or visit blythfestiv
Season Sponsors
val.com
Media SponsorSeason Media Sponsor
From the days when the rubber boots at the bar
were still “fresh” from the barn, to dollar draft
ǡ ǡ Ƥǡ
contests; Wing Night at the Boot celebrates and
lampoons 141 years of the Blyth Inn.
WING NIGHT AT THE BOOT
Written by The Company
Directed by Severn Thompson
August 8 to September 15 |WORLD PREMIERE
Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary
Murray & Ruth Lowe
August 31, 2018
Best wishes to you now and always
Love your family and friends
Gemma James Smith’s
marionettes are featured at this
season’s final show at the Blyth
Festival Art Gallery in a show called
We’ve Been Here for So Long – the
Huron County Show.
James Smith’s name is likely
known to those familiar with the
centre as she has worked on several
Blyth Festival productions including
Mr. New Year’s Eve: A Night with
Guy Lombardo and The Pigeon
King, both of which allowed her to
work alongside her husband, Blyth
Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt.
James Smith worked on the
costumes for the shows, and, in
2015, also worked on Fury.
“Guy Lombardo and The Pigeon
King were my first official jobs with
the Festival,” she said in an
interview with The Citizen. “Fury
was kind of an official/unofficial
position.”
James Smith’s stepfather, Ronnie
Burkett, is one of the world’s
foremost puppeteers, winning the
Siminovitch Prize, and James Smith
assisted him with his work in her
youth. She continued to work with
Burkett, helping to bring The Daisy
Theatre to the stage, a puppet show
that was featured in Blyth in 2015.
She also crafted puppets to create,
with Garratt, The Show That Smells
(The Last Temptation of Jimmie
Rodgers) in 2015 at Theatre Passe
Muraille’s Backspace.
It’s little surprise that, when given
the chance to have her own show, it
featured sculptures and puppets, a
contrast to the more typical shows at
the Bainton Gallery that focus on
traditional two-dimensional pieces.
She initially proposed the show in
2015 and has been working on it
ever since.
“The inspiration for the show is
where I live now: Huron County,”
she said. “The show’s genesis,
however, is more rooted in me
wanting to explore my own work
and my own art after having a baby.”
James Smith was talking about her
and Garratt’s two-year-old daughter
Goldie.
The show represents a return to
her passions as well as a chance to
incorporate a new role, being a
mother, into her art.
She explained that the proposal
was helped along by her work at the
Blyth Festival, as she endeavours,
through her sculptures, to tell local
stories.
“This kind of art is something I’ve
wanted to do for a long time,” she
said. “I’ve wanted to work with
sculptural, folk-art-like portraits of
people and I thought it would be a
great way to begin that work for
myself.”
She said she has spent her career,
sculpting and building puppets, but
it was always for other people, so
doing it for herself was a great
experience and a great opportunity.
The show was curated by Blyth
native and artist Kelly Stevenson,
who was very supportive of the
work, James Smith said.
“She was very open to all my
ideas, which I was very appreciative
of,” she said. “She really helped me
stay on top of what needed to be
done for the show as I went.”
James Smith said Stevenson had
very little judgement for her work,
which was appreciated, and allowed
her to focus on the art without being
pushy.
“She was excellent to work with,”
James Smith said.
When asked which piece in the
show was her favourite, she said she
couldn’t point to one, but could
provide a top-three list, including
“School Marm”, “Eloise Skimings:
The Poetess of Lake Huron” and
“Scrim’s” – a statue of local butcher
and long-time grocery store owner
Don Scrimgeour.
We’ve Been Here for So Long –
The Huron County Show runs until
Sept. 25. For more information, visit
blythfestival.com
It is with great excitement
that Sydney is beginning her
career as a Registered Nurse
at Goderich Hospital in the ICU
unit.We hope you continue to
be blessed as your abilities
continue to grow.
We are so delighted
to announce
Sydney Falconer’s
graduation earning
a degree in nursing
(BScN).
Love
Mom, Dad, Derek,
Fraser & Melanie,
Graham, Zack.
Taking in the local flavour
Gemma James Smith’s art show, We’ve Been Here for So Long – The Huron County Show ,
opened on Aug. 24. James Smith is a practiced puppet and marionette sculptor and builder,
having first learned under her stepfather, world-class puppeteer Ronnie Burkett. For the first
time, she is using her skills to craft her own narratives and decided to focus on Huron County
stories and natives. The show, at the Blyth Festival Gallery, runs until Sept. 25.(Quinn Talbot photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Have A New
Addition?
Call for prices and details
519-523-4792
or 519-887-9114
Let everyone know about
your new bundle of joy!
The
Citizen