R. D. Lawrence’s Life Depicted in New DVD

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Marie

R. D. Lawrence was a celebrated Canadian wildlife author who has written 30 books that have been published in 30 different countries in 16 different languages. His wife, Sharon, works hard to keep his message alive and is happy to be offering some of his books and the DVD about his life “Canada’s Best Kept Secret: The Natural World of R.D. Lawrence” on the new online gallery, www.MadeInHaliburton.ca. This online gallery supports the work of visual artists, literary artists and musicians who have an affiliation with the Haliburton Highlands.

The importance of his works as a Canadian naturalist and wildlife author have been commemorated by numerous awards and the creation of R. D. Lawrence place in the village of Minden Hills, Ontario, Canada. He chose to study life by examining the habits of various animals with a focus on wolves. As such he was instrumental in creating the Haliburton Forest’s Wolf Preserve where visitors can learn about this often feared animal and view them in their natural habitat.

Given R.D. Lawrence’s passion for the natural world it is fitting that R.D. Lawrence Place was created as a sustainable straw bale building. Visitors can tour the facility to learn about the concept of sustainable building while being introduced to the life works of R. D. Lawrence. The R. D. Lawrence Place has an objective of offering ”public education around strategies to improve the environment.” To this end they have joined the living planet community.

Tour de Forest — Studio Tour Featuring Canadian Art in the Haliburton Highlands

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Marie

The 6th Annual Tour de Forest is happening on the Civic long weekend
August 4th – 5th , 10 am – 5 PM.

Six years ago a group of established Haliburton artists realized that many people enjoy the creative talents that Haliburton has to offer, but visit in summers only.

After much deliberation the Tour de Forest Artisans Tour was created with the objective to offer a tour within a small area:one that is travelled easily in a day.

Each studio hosts at least one guest, some as many as three. The participating artists
are juried using stringent criteria. It is also our mandate to mentor new artists and offer
them the experience and encouragement to bring their work to the public.

All the participating artists have some connection to Haliburton, however they don’t necessarily live in the area. This concept adds an exciting dimension to the work that is on display.

This year 10 studios with 28 artists! Within the tour, we are offering a variety of art and craft: stained glass, pottery, jewellery, wood working, painting, photography and fibre art. Each year the tour grows. We have experienced more and more people appreciating the quality of art and the fun of traveling within a compact, exciting tour on the “canvas” of the beautiful “wooded” Haliburton Highlands.

Many of these artists also sell their work year round on www.MadeInHaliburton.ca .. so, any time you need a gift or something special for yourself or your home why not bookmark this site and buy Canadian 12 months of the year.
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Haliburton County Studio Tour — 25th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Marie

Take a look at this video showing the art work of artisans who have been, or are still, associated with the The Haliburton County Studio Tour which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The utube video is a wonderful tour of the magnificent art available in The Haliburton Highlands, Ontario, Canada. This years tour is September 29th & 30th and Thanksgiving weekend October 6th & 7th in Haliburton Highlands, Ontario, Canada. If you can’t make the tour take a look at the work of some of the artisans who are on the tour, as well as others who are not, at www.MadeInHaliburton.ca anytime of the year, anytime of the day or night.

Canadian Potter Rickie Woods — More Than a Quarter Century of Pottery

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Marie

Canadian potter Rickie Woods, of the Haliburton Highlands, Ontario Canada, has been creating pottery for more than a Quarter of a Century. She was already trying to make a living as a potter at the time of the launch of the Haliburton Highlands Studio Tour. The Tour is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Rickie reminisces about the changes that have occurred since it began.

Rickie was not only one of the first artists participating in the Studio Tour, she was a member of the 4 person committee that worked behind the scenes to create what is now a very successful, and much larger, tour. Over the 25 years 127 artists have participated in the tour — Rickie is one of 5 who have stayed with the tour for the full 25 years. She remembers the difficulty they had in getting artists to participate that first year. She says “We had to use a bit of coercion”. Now the tour’s reputation is so impressive that artists are even moving to the Haliburton Highlands in the hopes of being accepted as an artist on the tour. That first year there were about 200 people through each studio .. now there are 2000. Before the start of the tour it was impossible to make a living selling pottery just in Haliburton County. An artist had to travel to a variety of shows and sell pieces to galleries to have any chance at making a living. The studio tour is such a great advertising mechanism for her own private studio that she no longer needs to resort to these marketing processes. She also uses online mechanisms to advertise her products such as www.MadeInHaliburton.ca and Treasuresof.com

In celebration of the 25th anniversary there is an Exhibition at the Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre that opened May 5th and will continue to June 16th. Rickie elected to put a new item in her line of pottery into the Exhibition. It is a canoe that is formed using hand building techniques and clay slabs rather than a pottery wheel. She states that, “just like all new items in the line there were growing pains. I had to figure out the most efficient way to create this piece.” Creating decorative pieces, such as this canoe, is a bit of a diversion for Rickie who specializes in functional pottery. She was inspired by a long-time friend and former studio tour artist, Mary Wallis, to engage herself in something new and different. Her time with Mary got the creative juices flowing and this beautiful decorative canoe is the result. It truly celebrates the outdoor lifestyle of the Haliburton Highlands, Ontario, Canada in which she lives and works.

Haliburton Highlands and the Performing Arts — An Amazing Aray of Opportunities

Posted on May 26, 2012 by Marie

I just found this amazing video on utube that was created by Highlands Media Arts about the performing arts in the Haliburton Highlands, Ontario Canada. Whether you are into opera, folk, country, rock or any other form of music there are opportunities to see some of the most amazing local, national, and international performers right her in the Haliburton Highlands. The video shows scenes of some of the wonderful, natural environments in which the performances occur. There is nothing more magical than music mixed with nature! Why not check out the Forest Festival this August .. tickets available at www.MadeInHaliburton.ca.

Haliburton County Folk Society Open Stage is Back at the Haliburton Museum

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Marie

The Haliburton County Folk Society’s monthly open stage event has returned to the Haliburton County Museum and happens on the 3rd Saturday of every month beginning at 8 p.m. Admission is by donation to the Society.

Saturday May 19th was the first one at this “new” location. There were 50 people at the event and lots of great music by both people who live here full-time and cottagers who were anxious to share their skills.

It was a special treat to have Carl Dixon come out to perform .. he’s working on a new country album and was happy to have a forum to try out his new pieces. Great to live in a community where the local folk can mingle and learn from the more internationally known citizens.

You never know quite what you are going to be treated to when you arrive at an Open Stage .. why not come out and experience it for yourself?

Sterling Silver Chainmaille top by Canadian Jeweller Susan Watson Ellis

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Marie

Susan Watson Ellis has utilized her skills as a jeweller to create this one-of-a-kind, fabulous chainmaille top. That’s right this top is meticulously made from approximately 42,000 hand-crafted sterling silver links that took about 400 hours to create and that’s not counting the time it took to design and assemble them into a functionally wearable garment. The garment weighs in at 2.82 kilograms and is absolutely stunning. It retails for $50,000 and is appropriate for someone of a size 6 or 8. You can see it at the Rails End Gallery, in the village of Haliburton, Ontario, until June 16th. It is part of the Transitions Exhibition which shows an amazing collection of art created by the artisans who have been associated with the Haliburton County Studio Tour over its 25 years of life. This top was also part of a larger Exhibition put on by the Ontario Crafts Council Gallery in 2010.

Susan has a passion for natural gemstones and examines each one carefully to create a true piece of art with the blending of sterling silver and a variety of gemstones. She works from her lakeside studio in the Haliburton Highlands and is an active member of the local artistic community as is demonstrated through her membership in the Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands, and participation in the Haliburton Highlands Studio Tour. She also teaches others and is a member of the faculty of Fleming College’s Haliburton School of the Arts where she was the Artist of the week in March of this year. The article written about her on this website explains her history, passion and creative spirit.

Canadian Weaver of Wool and Mohair Shawls Joins www.MadeInHaliburton.ca

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Marie

Judith Chapman, a Canadian weaver who works in her lakeside studio in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario, Canada, has just signed on as a contributor to www.MadeInHaliburton.ca. Judith who is a graduate of the OHS Weaving Certificate Course has been weaving and teaching for 32 years. Judith is first and foremost a garment weaver but, also enjoys creating woven runners, mats, blankets and bags.

She is an accomplished weaver who has shared her knowledge with others through publications such as Handwoven, Tablet Weavers Studies & Techniques and for Fibre Focus. Articles for these magazines have focused on woven wearables, double weave, seersucker lace and tablet weaving.

Judy is one of the founding members of the Haliburton Highlands Fall Studio Tour, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and displays her work with her husband Gary’s paintings at Mountain Lake Studios in the Haliburton Highlands. She is also a member of the Art Council~Haliburton Highlands and the Haliburton Highlands Weavers and Spinners.

Judith loves to weave with natural fibres because they are kind to our planet and remind us of a simpler life, and of our heritage. Judith states that “There is something very special about the creation of a hand woven textile”. She goes on to explain that “The process begins with inspiration often derived from nature. Through various stages of development a one-of-a kind fabric is created.” The product that is then produced with this fabric has an extremely long lifetime and can be cherished by the recipient for many years.

Mohair is one fibre that Judith particularly loves to utilize. It is one of the oldest textile fibres in use today and is one of the most durable. In addition, it is soft, luxurious, resilient and animal friendly all at the same time. It is in fact an environmentally friendly alternative to real fur. It is sheared from the Angora Goat, spun into a yarn, woven into a cotton backing and custom hand dyed for the most luxurious animal friendly furs available in today’s market. The hair of the Angora Goat has characteristics that are similar to wool except that it does not have the scales that can irritate the skin like wool can. It has smooth fibers, which give it luster, and shine and the luxury feel of cashmere, angora and silk. The hair won’t shrink and is easy to care for. Take a look at the selection of shawls available on a “buy-now” basis from www.MadeInHaliburton.ca.

Canadian Watercolour Painter Joins WWW.MadeInHaliburton.ca

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Marie

Gary Chapman, a well known and respected Canadian artist, has just joined the over 40 artists displaying their work on the new online gallery www.MadeInHaliburton.ca . Gary states that his “sole motivation for creating art comes from his love of nature”. Gary is particularly inspired by the changing of the seasons and his landscape paintings illustrate the changing moods of the landscape in every season. Whether the painting is of an evening sunset or a moon rising they transport us visually to the scenes that inspire us most.

Gary is a founding member of the Haliburton County Studio Tour and is back on the tour again this fall. He is an active member of the artistic community in the Haliburton Highlands and is a member of the Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands. Gary devotes time each summer to instructing watercolour courses at the Sir Sandford Fleming College Haliburton School of the Arts. Last year he was one of the instructors to launch the extension of the Fleming program to Huntsville, Ontario.

Gary resides at his Mountain Lake home in the Highlands of Haliburton.

Pinhole Photographer, Joe Smith, Joins WWW.MadeInHaliburton.ca

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Marie

The Carousel by Joe Smith

Joe Smith, Canadian pinhole photographer, has just joined the more than 40 artists displaying their work in the new online gallery www.MadeInHaliburton.ca. Joe states that “My interest in photography began about the age of 10 when I received my first camera”. Joe frequently came into contact with photographers and photography during his career in advertising. He was attracted to the details that go into creating a photograph: composition, lighting and processing. In addition to the technical aspects Joe is interested in the history of photography and collects cameras. After retiring his interest turned, in addition to collecting cameras, to alternate methods of photography – methods such as Van Dykes, Salt Prints, Cyanotypes, Tintypes, stereo and pinhole.

The Glen by Joe Smith

Pinhole photography has a long history that is thought to go back to the Greeks. The word photography comes from the Greek and means painting with light. Pinhole photography is experiencing a rebirth and allowing artists to have a more ‘hands on’ approach to creating photographic images. The pinhole photographer often builds the camera itself, creating an element of control that gives it a unique twist. Joe says that “Once the basic concept of a pinhole is understood and you are able to create a workable camera, entire new worlds of possibilities are opened”. Joe enhances the images he takes through photoshop and then prints them on his ink jet printer with archival inks and paper. His show at the Rails End Gallery in 2009 helped the public to better understand this photographic technique. Take a look at his work to see the results.

Joe is a member of the Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands and a general supporter of the arts in the Haliburton Highlands Ontario Canada.