There's a tightly-knit creative enclave in the Upper Saint John River Valley of western New Brunswick, Canada. Meet our artists and artisans, musicians and performers as well as entrepreneurs and leaders. (These interviews, currently on hiatus, first appeared in the Woodstock NB newspaper, the Bugle-Observer.)
‘I don’t usually take just one photo ─ I occupy the area.’
Photographer, poet John P Rairdon
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| For this scene near the downtown market in Woodstock NB, 57 images were combined to create a midnight panorama. “February is the longest month of the year,” says Mr Rairdon. “We trudge along in the darkness, clinging to any source of light to guide us into spring.” |
‘I’d like to make a suit of armour someday.’
Chain maille jeweller Connie Wilkinson
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| “It’s the prep work that is most time consuming,” notes Ms Wilkinson. Here, clockwise from left, she coils copper wire using an electric drill ─ once completed, a coil like this will have consumed about two feet of wire; the coil is cut into individual circular pieces; each coil is then “knitted” to a specific pattern. |
‘A chance to dream out loud.’
Peter McLaughlin at Second Wind Music Centre
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| Mr McLaughlin leading a choir concert that ended an inaugural vocal workshop in September 2014. |
‘It’s good for the community.’
Beth DeMerchant and Jaye Hargrove at the Bath Meeting House
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| Jaye Hargrove (left) and Beth DeMerchant point out some of the restoration highlights of a Dolores Bohan folk-art mural, a detail of which is also pictured here, which was rescued from a local school cafeteria. |
‘I tell it straight from the heart.’
Author, historian, environmentalist Ann Brennan
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Ann Brennan making an appropriately costumed entrance
at her book launch in September 2014. Photo courtesy Brigitte Marsden |
‘We’re just a speck in the scheme of things.’
Artist-performer-activist Michele Kazakos
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“I ♥ the Tar Sands” at Bath’s Gallery 262 was a multi-media installation by
Michele Kazakos that included pottery, animal skulls, bird feathers, iron work
and frames of reclaimed wood. At the “Evening Salon” reception in September 2014,
attendees chatted with the artist and performer, seemingly pleased
with the environmental statements put forth by her work. |
‘My love of colour, and life, throws itself on the paper.’
Artist Suzan Carsley
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| Talking about this watercolour featuring Woodstock’s St. Gertrude’s church, artist Suzan Carsley remarked that one of her next paintings will feature three adjacent houses in that part of town that hold some fascination for her. “I never grow tired of things around me here,” she notes. |
‘Some people play cards. We sit and quilt.’
Kookie Sewell of the Woodstock Quilt Guild
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Sewell and her quilting friends get together at her home a few times every week.
“Here I have the room and the equipment,” she comments. “I guess that’s why everyone
comes here.” Beverley Page, in the background, is a regular.
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‘There’s nothing I wouldn’t try if I thought it might be fun.’
Artist-sculptor Phillip Harrington
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At the McCain Art Gallery’s Chalk the Walk event at Florenceville last month, Harrington, in foreground, used his graffiti skills to “tag” his name. Look carefully< at his complex chalk art, which is nearing completion, and “PHILLIP” becomes evident.
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‘The art scene here in the valley has exploded in just a few years.’
Gallery curator Victoria Hutt
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Over the years since its founding in 1984, the McCain Gallery has attracted
many high-profile touring shows. Here, executive director Victoria Hutt talks about “Maritime Folk Art”, from the collection of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery which was shown in September 2014. |
‘I was looking for people to play Renaissance dance music.’
Musician John Thompson
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| Thompson, here playing a unique double ocarina for visitor David Dolan, says that “the adventure video game ‘Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ has made this instrument newly popular.” |
‘I like to make them and I like to get rid of them.’
Woodturner Dale Slipp
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Slipp, at left, in his workshop turning the outside of a new bowl on the lathe.
Centre, from top, the bowl after the first turning then going to the second, inside phase.
At right, rough bowls take at least four months to dry in the “bowl bank”. |
‘I’m weaving up a storm.’
Artist Henni Stanley
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Mrs Stanley in her studio. Looking back on her eclectic career in art, she says “the more I do, the easier it gets.” |
‘Most everything I make could be used as a weapon.’
Blacksmith Shawn Taylor
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Even a fairly simple piece like this poker at right requires multiple steps and lots of discipline.
The photo at left shows one of two forges that Taylor uses to get the iron red hot.
“Most blacksmiths use propane (like this one) but coal gives a hotter fire and it’s a lot quitter." |
‘Most people don’t understand the difference between etchings and prints. And why should they?’
Artist Ann Kittredge
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Kittredge in her Woodstock studio.
“I’m feeling into paint these days, finishing some old work,” she says. |
‘15 years later, there’s a lot going on. Shop, gallery, market.’
Sculptor-artist-cabinetmaker Kerry O’Toole
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Having launched a sculpture competition in fall 2014 called
“When Pigs Fly”, O’Toole can wax poetic about technique.
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‘We’re destroying the earth at such a rate ─ I’m trying to draw attention to its beauty.’
Artist Judith Saunders
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Seen here about to work on one of five large new paintings, each about 30 by 40 inches, Saunders explains that “it took me years to learn how to mix colour,” adding that “my early work was darker. I don’t know why.”
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‘I’m on a mission to bring more of the things I like to a place that I like.’
Musician and cultural force Amy Anderson
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| Amy Anderson, whose business card reads “wearer of many hats”, pauses in the piano room during a busy day at the Centre for Culture and Creativity in Grafton. |
‘A show can be nerve-wracking, it’s so very personal.’
Lynn Billings
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Lynn Billings, shown here with an acrylic painting of irises,
has a knack for capturing the delicate beauty of flowers. |
‘This collection is truly remarkable.’
Tom Newell visits the Toy Soldiers Gallery
at Connell House Museum
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