Moncton and Southeast New Brunswick Celebrate the Victoria Day Weekend with the 2008 Fundy Studio Tour

by Joanna Manning

Do you sometimes wonder what inspires artists to create? Why they choose clay, glass or wood?  How they work with their chosen medium to make objects we admire and want to have around us?

If like me you ask these questions, the Victoria Day weekend give us a chance to find answers and meet artists in their own spaces. Be those spaces a herb garden, a 100 year-old hall or a purpose-built pottery studio. Welcoming a new season, a group of artists along the Fundy Trail have come together once again to celebrate creative enterprise and talk about their art as they open their studio doors for the tenth anniversary tour. You’ll find celebratory discounts or offers at each studio too.

For a foretaste of what to expect, join me on this guided tour of the ten studios. Our drive of discovery down Route 114 begins in Hillsborough where Paul Thibodeau -  from Paul's Wood Crafts practices the fine art of wood turning, and loves to talk to visitors.  Mostly self-taught, Paul uses exotic woods such as purple heart , curly bubinga and bird’s eye maple. The curlier the better he says, to create grandfather and granddaughter clocks and his newest shapely segmented vessels.  These complicated designs are created from hundreds of small pieces, lathe turned and glued together.

Hillsborough is home to Kindred Spirits Stained Glass. Trained tailor Diana Boudreau approaches her current craft with similar precision. Her raw materials have much in common with fabric. Glass in rich and pastel colours, abstract patterned, glass that is rippled, textured, shimmering, hammered, like watered silk, to create pieces that have been commissioned world-wide.
Her two-dimensional glass panels incorporate antique bottles, dishes and polished stones.  During the opening weekend her patio stone kits will be priced at $10.

Near Hopewell Cape Wendy Johnston’s signature pottery will delight. Vessels, bowls, platters vases, all brilliantly glazed in strong hues and embellished with drawings and text are the result of years of exploration and finding the balance between edgy decorative pieces and pottery that is functional, beautiful, highly original and personal, As a Canadian artist Wendy brings attention to the landscape around us and believes fine art should not be aloof, that art and craft can blend. Check out the Artisan’s Suite B&B while visiting.
 
All the artists on the tour commit to personally creating a high standard of artwork, not handicrafts; to be open to the public during the season and provide information about their art; to contributing as a group to the costs of the colourful brochure.

New to the group this year is The Purple Fish. Artists Deborah Langlois and Dave Wright create and sell enchanting folk art paintings and carvings from their 100 year-old house with its tin ceilings and purple door. Deborah creates highly original one of a kind mixed media pieces using salvaged drift wood and old doors. Collaging these finds with acrylics, paper and found objects she uses her decorator’s eye to bring unusual and unrelated items together, giving them new artistic life. While there visit the old barn and meet the goats and chickens

Take a detour up Albert Mines Road to two more studios.  At Tansy Lane Herb Farms Carole Coleman’s studio is a 40-acre garden where she carefully tends heritage herbs and old medicinal plants many of us categorize as weeds. An expert on growing lavender she creates amazing products you can eat, bathe in and use to soothe away skin irritations. New products this year include all natural shampoos, creams and reed diffusers. Carole inherited her skill and green thumb from her ancestors. Using some of the same healing plants brought from Europe by early settlers or learnt about from native peoples. Check out the many workshops and Summer Wellness Festival she organizes.

Also on Albert Mines Road at Albert County Clay Co. Judith and David Tait are working their way through 16 tons of Fundy Bay clay. Their business is a small industry fuelled by local resources. Judith, who trained in the pottery country of Stoke-on-Tent in England, makes slab hand built pieces, all decorated with the imprint of local foliage; ferns, maple leaves, twigs. You’ll find functional bowls, wine coolers, soap dishes, wall sconces and tables with wrought iron bases. On the tour weekend they’ll help your create you own tile for just $10.

Route 114 becomes Route 915. Turn onto Mary’s Point Road and long-established Studio on the Marsh where the original paintings of wildlife artist Lars Larsen are commemoratively exhibited and prints are available along with works of other Maritime painters. Gallery owner Michelle Harvey offers lots of nature oriented art, including duck sculptures, deer carvings, pottery and glass. New this year is the work of Jacqueline Verge of Dartmouth, NS. Michelle is also a framing expert. She promises a good selection of $10 items for the opening weekend.

Further on Route 915 Jon Westrup works his magic with quartz or silica sand, soda, lime, potash and lead, plus lots of heat, and even more talent.  On the shelves of Studio Maza is a rainbow; witch balls, vases, candy bowls and ornaments.  All are amazing products of three furnaces and Jon’s creative expertise and commitment. Most of Jon’s pieces begin with clear glass; colour is added by rolling the piece in powdered colour or small multi-coloured chips; ribbons of fine glass canes can be applied to the outside. Currently his pieces are getting bigger and “funkier”.

Take time to explore and enjoy at An Artist’s Garden where Karin Bach has a great selection of oils and watercolours of flowers and landscapes, stoneware pottery, wildlife sculptures and weavings. There is also raku-fired pottery from Tim Isaac and, celebrating the Year of the Frog, five new frog tiles. You should also meet her walrus, her 2008 environmental mascot. The gardens with be blooming so plan to stay awhile and smell the blossoms. You might look inside the inviting B&B rooms.

At the end of this rainbow of arts you’ll find the scenic photography of Brain Townsend. Brian, who has been photographing for 30 years in southern New Brunswick, was fascinated with insects from an early age, and happy to discover photography enabled him to capture butterflies then let then fly away in all their beauty. Now he looks through his lens at nature, wildlife and the local landscape, producing some panoramic views. Brian enjoys being part of the tour because he gets direct contact with the public, getting feedback about his work. At his studio you’ll find photography not available anywhere else. He promises some ‘ten’ surprises during the weekend.

So much to explore and enjoy, and you may bring back a hand-made memory.

•  Be sure to check out the Moncton Spring Lawn and Garden Guide