Instead of crocheting with yarn, Janet uses fine gauge wire to construct intricate and wearable art. She often uses natural gemstones mixed with freshwater pearls, crystals, and glass beads. All beading components are lead and nickel free. The combinations of pairings are endless, making each piece truly unique. A broken string of Grandma’s pearls can begin a new life as a bracelet or a newly designed crochet wire necklace.
Crochet necklace with amethyst and apatite
Unusually, this was done from a photograph. Terry generally paints a Plein Air sketch as he finds this gives him a better sense of the subject composition. This picture was painted direct onto salvaged birch faced ply.
Stage 1
Stage 1. I make an outline pencil sketch and then fill in the basic blocks of colour to give the general composition shape. At this stage I use the cheapest paints scavenged from my daughters arts degree leftovers!
Stage 2
Stage 2. Having gotten the rough composition I then put a little more detail into the water and start to add some shadows to give a sense of depth.
Stage 3
Stage 3. Looking again at the water I have obviously gotten some of the middle ground wrong I correct the error.
Stage 4
Stage 4. More water detail in the middle ground and I start to look at the leaf strewn banks to the right. By this stage I have begun to use Professional grade paints which give a more lively feel.
Stage 5
Stage 5. More detail in the water generally and in the pool reflections in the foreground. I also lighten the background to increase the sense of distance. Hanging foliage (top right) increases the feeling of depth.
Stage 6 – Complete
Stage 6. The final product including better reflections, clear glazed.
La Principessa is one of Maryilyn Clayton’s pieces that she is very proud of and it employs various types of wire work.
Principess Necklace
This necklace began with a foundation of base wires which is the foundation for this piece. Very thin wire is then woven to make the woven silver seen on the lower part of the work. The Ametrine stones (citrine and Ametrine blended together in nature) were wired in afterwards. Next came the braid that you see in rose gold-filled and silver on the top-most section. This was formed using an ancient Japanese braiding technique called Kumihimo.
Kumihimo bracelet
Also pictured is a bracelet which is also formed using the kumihimo disc with leather strips for a very different look.
Drop by the gallery today or tomorrow while Marilyn is on duty, and she’ll do a demonstration of the technique should that interest you.
Janet has always been fascinated by the unique qualities of textured glass and how the light passes through it. The ever-changing light of day and seasonal changes can completely affect the look of a glass panel. It is not a static image, so you could never be tired of its beauty and chameleon effects. Janet photographed one stained glass piece in different light, with different backgrounds, in front of a shaded window, and even its own reflection on a wall. And it looked different in each situation.
Fun stuff, right? Click on any image to see it larger.
Lynn mostly paints in oil and acrylic usually inspired from a photo taken during her forays into the Kawartha countryside. She aims to capture how light falls on a scene or form and how it can change something that appears ordinary into extraordinary.
People often don’t realize the amount of work that goes into getting ready for a show or a gallery. Here Sandi shows off her work tagging and organizing all the baskets made this winter. She was getting ready for the Gallery opening!
Here are Sandi’s baskets, tagged and ready.
Mary Firth’s childhood home on Lorne Pk. Rd.
When I was a kid in the 1940s, Christmas cards were folded in quarters; so my mum saved those that had no writing on the blank inside for us three kids to draw on. No pads of paper for us as, like so many others, our family was struggling after the war. But each of us had our very own box of 8 Crayola crayons – basic colours only! So we spent hours drawing and colouring and reading and playing outside with all the kids along Lorne Park Road. There was no TV, no devices back then.
I loved Friday afternoons in public school- art until recess. Bliss! I took Art all though high school and university, and summer courses at OCA in copper enamelling and paper sculpture, travelling with my former Grade 2 teacher to Toronto. I was fourteen. After completing two summers at OCE I returned the following summer to OCA to start work on my art specialist which I never completed. (I got married – as my principal said, I was taking another course!) But that summer course was lots o fun sketching in Kensington Market, on the ferry to the Toronto islands and there as well.
I sold my first oil painting that summer to one of my roommates for the princely sum of $5! Marriage brought all that fun stuff to halt – teaching, weekends devoted to laundry (wringer washer, clothesline), house work (which I loathe!) and the one bright spot, entertaining our teacher friends. Still have them, by the way!
In 1970 we tore down the old log house, and built new and larger one which was rather unfinished for quite some time. At that point we had two boys, so needless to say I was kept busy with the kids and painting trim, laying and grouting tile etc. Lots of good stuff to keep me out of trouble! So, here we get around to stained glass. When the boys were old enough to understand ‘Don’t touch!’ in 1982, I drove from the farm to Port Perry for a night school course. And here I will break off, but will continue this journey at another time. Stay tuned.
View from Mom’s Deck
What inspires me? The project I’m currently working on was sparked by a photo my mother took from her deck…a stunning sunset seen through the leafless trees in late autumn. I pulled some very old and hand rolled glass from my glass stash…stuff I’ve had for many years but was waiting for the right inspiration. The pattern I drew was limited by the amount of glass I had to work with. Pattern placement is key. No mistakes could be made while I was cutting the glass, or I would not have enough glass to finish that portion of the sunset. The order in which the cuts were made had to be well planned to successfully cut out the orange sunset pieces. The panel is almost ready to be soldered. Once finished, new images will be posted.
I admit it, I find it very hard to throw things out. I am a multicrafter and I never know what direction my inspiration will take. I see things like containers, fibres, old clothes, leather scraps, paper, and the list goes on and I wonder….hmmm could I use that at some point?
Explaining this to others is complicated. They see a pile of garbage and I see a ready source of supplies when inspiration strikes. Sometimes you need the smallest scrap of fabric in a very specific colour, sometimes a piece of wire in a certain gauge…you really can’t predict the needs of a multicrafter. And there is something heartbreaking in having to buy something when you “had” it at one point and decided it didn’t warrant the space it took up.
I truly like to believe that I am not alone in this. Although family and friends might believe I am. I try very hard to keep my supplies from over-running the family’s living space, but I am not always successful. I believe that living with a “creative-type” comes with it’s own set of rules. We need extra space, we need a little chaos, we need a comfortable place to create.
So, please keep that in mind if you like the handmade items you receive from a friend or relative. We aren’t hoarders, we aren’t slobs, we just need to to keep our inspirations close at hand 😉
My art projects began by doing bulletin boards, stage scenery and art classes with children, when I worked as an educational assistant at an inner city school in Toronto. It was great fun and I loved every minute of it.
But now, retired, I get to paint whatever and whenever I want and that is wonderful too. I love the old buildings, lakes and the natural beauty of trees and plants in the Kawarthas and try to include them in many of my paintings. My other favourite subject is the scenery in the rest of Canada.
Marilyn will be in the gallery next on July 31st. (tomorrow)
