Ray McNeice

Ray shares:

On My Easel

... latest acrylic still at the basing-in stage. 

Inspiration: Aguasabon Falls and canyon from our trip to Western Canada in June.

Ray is at studio #16  on the Tour 

Also at this location is Margaret Grandison 

For the Love of Jo

One of our longtime sponsors, the coffee shop Love of Jo, also display our members art on their walls. Each month a new tour artist's work is shown. 

For the month of September and October, as a preview of the Tour, the paintings represent a sample of the work that you will see. 

Stop by, have a coffee and enjoy our work 

For the Love of Jo  
6308 Main Street, Whitchurch-Stouffville, across from the Clock Tower and 19 on the Park

Grace MacPherson

With Labour Day behind us our artists are all busy getting ready for the Tour ....

Always popular at their studio are Grace's hand painted original bookmarks.
She is busy painting and assembling them.

She also shares a new painting. 

Blowing in the Wind (C) Grace MacPherson 2015

Make sure to stop by Studio # 15 on this years Tour. 

Three Generations of artists at this location; Grace, daughter Diana Bullock and granddaughter 

Allison Bullock 

Art Times 3

Studio Tour artists Grace MacPherson, Diana Bullock and Allison Bullock were the subject of a recent article in Good Life Magazine York Region Edition. For the complete magazine please visit here  and scroll down to the York Region edition at the bottom of the page.

Here is the article

All credits to Good Life Magazine

Picture of artists by Mary Cook 

Images of art (c) the artists

Siek Wassenaar

Thanks to Studio Tour artist Siek Wassenaar for sharing ..........

The making of a wooden bowl
The neighbour's tree at the cottage had to be cut down. I had my eye on this tree for some time because it had a number of small burls on it. A burl is a wart like growth on a tree. Some times they just grow on the side of the tree and some times they surround a tree, all different species can grow burls. It is not known why they form but they are highly priced by wood turners because of their colour and grain pattern. Often they contain bark twisted through out the wood.

I was given the section of the tree with the burls on it which then had to be cut down into manageable bowl blanks.

Four small burls were cut from the out side of the tree. The wood should be turned as soon as possible after it has been cut to prevent it from drying out too fast which leads to splitting. The pieces that can not be turned right away, must be painted with a water/oil emulsion and stored in a paper bag.





The bowl blank is mounted between centres and shaped.

A foot is turned on one end so that it can be held in a chuck to removed the inside.








The wall thickness is left at approximately 10 % of the bowl diameter. The rough bowl is now painted inside and out with the water/oil emulsion weighed and returned to the paper bag. The drying process takes about one year for each inch of thickness of the wood so for a bowl of 1 inch wall thickness it requires about 6 months before it can be finished. During the drying process the bowl and the foot distorts and they are no longer round. When the bowl no longer loses weight i.e. water, it is remounted between centres and the foot is turned round . With the foot round the bowl can now be put back in the chuck first the outside is turned to its final shape and then the inside.

The turning complete, the bowl is now sanded inside and out starting width 180 grit sand paper and finishing with 400 grit.
A shellac finish is applied and when dry it is rubbed down with very fine steel wool.






The bowl is reversed in the chuck to remove the foot, decorate, sign and finish the bottom.






The finished 7”x4” maple burl bowl.

How will you remember?

This is a repeat of a post from last year. 
Thanks to Studio Tour artist Grace MacPherson for sharing her memories of
her experience serving Canada during World War II. 


In 1943, Grace MacPherson was Grace Gauntlett...

Studio Tour artist Grace MacPherson, RCAF WD, 1943-45

"If you had good marks in your final year at school, you could leave early to join the Armed Forces. I went and saw a film, “We Serve That Men May Fly.” It was all about serving in the Air Force, and I thought that if I enlisted I would be sent to England. My brother John was in the RAF and was ferrying planes between Lagos and Britain. Later he was posted to Burma. At age 18, I enlisted and my mother didn’t really approve of what I was doing.

The Air Force was recruiting women to take over jobs, allowing the men to serve overseas. I was happy to be chosen for training as an operational clerk. This was a very selective course and top secret. We would be getting information from radar stations and plotting it on grid maps so they could be identified as friend or foe.

The enlistment poster that inspired Grace to join

We heard we were going to the West Coast, Victoria and were stationed in a lovely old home. It was at one time earmarked as a government house. It was called Kildonan House in the ritzy Rock Bay area. The officers lived in the house and we had barracks, which were built on the extensive grounds.

We had four shifts; the operational room had to be manned 24 hours a day. I was on D shift and about 12 of us living and working together became a happy family. We had a lot of time off, as the work was considered stressful, and our work area was located in the basement of the Belmont Building, across from the Empress Hotel. I would have to be checked by service police when I entered and left.

We were connected to several isolated radar stations on the West Coast: information was relayed to us by radio telegram. We plotted it in on a grid map. If the identification couldn’t be made, Fighter Control would send up an aircraft to check. Sometimes a plane from the training base would get lost and it was through the radar and the Filter Ops that they were located and saved. Another time a plane went off course and was headed for the mountains, and they were alerted on time. There was an aircraft detection post on top of the Belmont Building, and we manned it during the day shift. We had to identify, if we could, anything that we saw. We also took calls from civilians who were also looking out for aircraft activity.

Our time off gave us the opportunity to travel up and down the island, to Vancouver and to the States. Our commanding officer would give us a letter of introduction, and we could go and get second priority on the planes. First priority was the wounded. We flew from Seattle to California and across to St. Louis. Another time we just hitchhiked. Everyone was kind to those in uniform. We never had any trouble we couldn’t handle.

Here, Grace (2nd from the right) and her fellow WDs pose for a photo that later appeared in the newspaper.

Once coming home on leave I used every form of transportation: ferry, train, plane, bus, and hitchhiking. Stopping at Thunder Bay, and looking out of the window, I saw the faces of young, fair-haired boys waiting in the bus beside us. They were German POWs waiting to be transferred to one of the camps.

 VJ-Day came and we paraded in Victoria. It was an exciting day for everyone. We went to a service at Beacon Hill Park—lots of service personnel there. The speeches were getting a bit too long so someone set fire to the grass and that caused a diversion. There was a big dance in one of the hangars. Aircraft took off and bombed the station with toilet paper!

Shortly after, I was given my discharge and I went to Vancouver for the final paperwork. I received $210 for my two-and-a-half years in the service. I was happy to be going home, though not regretting one moment I spent in the Air Force, to serve “that men may fly.” Maybe I didn’t get to England, but I found good friends, travelled across Canada by train and the United States courtesy of the government. We were told that our presence on the West Coast saved many lives, and prevented many serious accidents and loss of life."
 

In 2008 Grace attended a WD reunion in Ottawa; she stands beside a WD plaque that was unveiled at the War Museum

To Grace and the thousands of other Canadians who have served, we thank you.

All set

Well we are all set to go!

Its a great Studio Tour - meet the artists, see wonderful art, a fun way to spend some time this weekend. We look forward to meeting you ..... look for our signs!

October 19 - 20  10am to 5 pm

Allison Bullock

Allison Bullock has a section on her website called "On My Easel"
See some of her behind the scene insights ...... and make sure to stop by Studio 15 to see her work as well as her mother Diana and her grandmother Grace.

Colin Whitebread

Colin is presently teaching an acrylic painting course for adults at Latcham Gallery. He finds it
exciting watching people fulfill a bucket list goal of finally taking time to be creative.

Colin has over 20 new pieces for this years studio tour. Here are a few samplings! Make sure to visit Colin at Studio 8

Bill Brennan

Bill Brennan is a self taught painter of the past ten years. He works in what he calls the forgiving medium of wet on wet oils.He also paints in acrylics and covers almost all subjects but people and animals. He regards painting as a life long learning experience.

Bill is at Studio 1

Carin Bacher

Take Part....In Art!
 Carin shares with us

An integral part of Canada’s heritage, the magnificence and beauty of the Totem sadly almost became a lost art.

In the 1800’s this majestic art form very nearly met its demise through the implementation of “assimilation” legislation.

In what year was the law prohibiting totem carving repealed? 1892, 1914, 1927, 1936 or 1951?

To learn the answer and more interesting aspects of totem carving we invite you to visit
Studio # 1 during the tour.

Wendy LaValle

Here's a preview of encaustic artist Wendy LaValle's new series "But sweet will be the flow'r" .  Inspired by William Cooper's beautiful poem "Light Shining out of Darkness".

Visit Wendy at Studio #2...and see the whole series.

Ray McNeice

"Ah, the glorious colour of Autumn in Canada! Ray McNeice had sketched this
scene in the summer a couple of years ago. He decided, before the leaves had
all fallen, that he would paint a watercolour and turn it into an exercise
in expressing the beauty of the Autumn season."

Make sure to visit Ray at Studio 18.
Bonus to this Studio is 3 other artists, Margaret Grandison, James Wilkes and Marie Messina

Karen Wootton

This is a slumped plate with pansies.

One of the latest pieces created for the Stouffville Studio Tour!

Karen Wootton Studio #12

John Roberts

John Roberts is a very accomplished artist. He works in many different media and in many different styles. He loves to create and he is often seen waling around town with his briefcase of sketchbooks. 

John really loves to draw people and to combine his love of drawing with donating to a worthy cause he has developed a plan. The last Friday and or Saturday afternoon of any month will find John in the Care and Share quilt room with a table set up. For a nominal charge, that he donates to the Mennonite Central Committee, John will create a beautiful portrait for you. You can either sit for John or he will work from a picture. 

Even if you are not interested in having a portrait it is fun to see John's work. 

The Care and Share is part of the Latcham Gallery building 6240 Main Street Stouffville. And make sure to visit John on the 2013 Studio Tour!

 

Round Robin Paint Off May 9th 2013

On Thursday May 9th, 2013 the Whitchurch-Stouffville Studio Tour participated in a "Round Robin Paint Off" of York Region Studio Tours hosted by the York Region Arts Council.

The "Arts after Hours" event was a way for artists to meet and network with their peers. Creating art can be isolating so these events are excellent ways to "talk shop" with fellow artists. 

The entertainment of this evening was the round robin painting tournament.

For the "paint off" each team of 3 artists had 30 minutes to complete a collaborative painting. Four tours were represented, King Studio Tour, Newmarket Studio Tour, Richmond Hill Studio Tour and Whitchurch-Stouffville Studio Tour. 

Our team consisted of artists Ray McNeice, Colin Whitebread and Diana Bullock. 

They chose to depict a kettle lake at the bottom of the painting surrounded by houses and with hills and farmland in the background. Collaged into the houses was an area map of the farms from the late 19th century. 

As well as painting, our team took a video of their work. Looks like they had fun!

 

Here is a picture of all of the paintings created by the artists that evening.

Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville, King, and Newmarket Studio Tours

Grace MacPherson

Tour artist Grace MacPherson is part of this show.
The Art Guild of Scarborough is celebrating their 50th year

Drop by and see some great art.

Sanrdra Cole Burke

Sandra Cole Burke has joined Studio Tour artists Joan Chalmers, Margaret Grandison, Ray McNeice and John Walmsley  at new the Gallery at Imperial Centre in Stouffville.   

Your invited

Please join us at one of two opportunities to preview the exhibition and meet with the artists.

 Saturday, March 23^rd from 11 – 2

 Wednesday, March 27^th from 5 – 7

Sandra Cole Burke

Sandra Cole Burke

Or drop in weekdays from 10 – 5, weekends by chance or appointment.

Deb Kirk

Deb Kirk shares this with us~

 

I expect to be taking a couple of private workshops in late spring with Ron Van Ostrand, a master Roycroft artisan. (http://www.ronvano.com/ and http://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/)   

 

I took one of his basic metalsmithing courses a few years ago to learn the basics of chasing and repousse.  It's taken me a lot of practice since then, and lots of sore fingers, but I'm finally producing some pieces I'm happy with.  

 

And besides the boxes shown here, there are so many other ways to use chased metal - in jewellery, enamelled pieces, clock faces, wall pieces, tableware.... the possibilities are endless.  

 

 

Sandra at the Love of Jo

Sandra Cole Burke has her paintings on the walls of the for the Love of Jo Coffee Shop in downtown Stouffville 

Stop by and see her work until the end of March