Luck was with him. Via an online chat room for artists, Stuart met a like-minded young lady living in Alberta. When the virtual relationship reached the point that the couple were spending several hours at their respective keyboards every day, he convinced Stephanie Hurd to travel to Norfolk, England, to meet him. A year later they were married, and Stuart experienced his first encounter with the infamous Manitoba winter cold when he went to meet Stephanie’s parents. “-40º was just not acceptable,” he told me with great conviction.

Luck was with them. On a trip to visit Stephanie’s grandparents at their cottage on Opinicon Lake near Chaffey’s Lock, the couple passed a small house with a “For Sale” sign on it. They bought it, and three years later the two artists are solidly established in the growing Rideau Lakes arts community.

Stephanie Davison’s love of animals inspires her realistic wildlife art. Click on www.picturesncrafts.com/stephaniedavison.html to enjoy her portraits of birds and animals from around the world. Trained in fine art at the University of Manitoba, she also welcomes commissions for pet portraiture.

Stuart Davison’s art is much harder to pin down, as is Stuart. He paints first impressions, instinctively following Camille Corot’s revolutionary advice to his landscape students back in the 1800s, seeking a spontaneous and utterly personal response to an unmediated flow of creative images drawn from his life experiences and his imagination. “Sometimes I’m lying in bed at 11:00 at night and I’ll visualize something, and I just get up and paint,” he tells me. Most of his canvases are done in acrylics and many are partially or totally abstract. Others are bold and simplistic in theme, like a fish, or a fish skeleton. Stuart feels that many people in today’s complex society yearn for a return to, or at least a reminder of, simpler times. A large abstract suggesting a golden moon rising over a body of water was one of my favourites.

When I ask how he achieves some of the complex colour effects visible in his impasto technique, he responds that he seldom uses a brush, employing a sponge, his thumb, a piece of apple, or anything that seems interesting. Like his images, his tools are inspiration driven.

Customers have described his work as contemporary and urban, although he revels in his rural setting. “The best sound in the world is the first robin in spring,” he tells me, and he knows the birdcalls of the many species living nearby. He also enjoys the many advantages of working as a cook for biologists and student researchers during the summer months at the nearby Queen’s University Biological Station. The snakes, turtles and insects he finds in the fields are readily identified. More importantly, he has the winter months free for pursuing his art.

His fondness for simplicity and simpler times is immediately evident in his series of whimsical and utterly charming small watercolour paintings. Think Peter Rabbit or Winnie the Pooh and you will understand why these small sketches work so well as greeting cards. Many of Stephanie’s realistic wildlife paintings likewise transform into eye-catching cards.

To complement their respective artistic talents, the enterprising couple have created a fine art and crafts studio, “Pictures ‘N’ Crafts”, located at their home at 11 Garrett Rd. just off Chaffey’s Lock Rd. about 35 km southwest of Smith’s Falls. As their website says, “Our shop is packed with handmade crafts, quilts, soap, and a wide variety of art. There is something for everyone’s tastes and budgets”.

In many ways Pictures ‘N’ Crafts is an extended family effort. Stephanie’s grandmother and Stuart’s mother contribute to the many knit and quilted items for sale. Stephanie’s dad, a farrier, makes horseshoe objects, and everyone pitches in to provide a constant variety of knick-knacks and oddities. Stephanie and Stuart are now collaborating on jewellery in addition to providing a full custom framing service. “I always sell my paintings unframed,” explained Stuart, “because individual tastes are so different.” While in the U.K., Stephanie apprenticed as a frame-maker. Because of their low overheads, top-of-the-line equipment and focus on excellent service, they have attracted a stable base of artist framing customers from Ottawa, Toronto, and even the U.S.

The Davisons’ Pictures ‘N’ Crafts studio is stop “F” on this year’s Rideau Lakes Studio & Garden Tour on June 28 and 29. The Tour website provides details and a map. It’s a lovely drive through beautiful countryside, and there really is something for everyone. You can preview Stuart’s and Stephanie’s art at www.picturesncrafts.com, contact them by phone at 272–0128, or email them at picsncrafts@yahoo.ca.