by Steve Scanlon

A lot of books are conceived by asking the question “what if”. I suspect that David Mulholland has taken the same concept and applied it to his latest novel, Duel.

His newest work explores the duel between Robert Lyon and John Wilson that took place in the town of Perth on June 13, 1833. We all know why men fight - love or money top the list - but “what if” this famous duel was fought for different reasons? “What if” a report surfaced many years later that had been written fifty years after the fact and documented the exact cause and its ultimate effect? “What if” this report tells a different tale from the one considered historically relevant? “What if” the two principals were mere puppets in a twisted turn of events?

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Posted on September 17, 2009 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Fifteen years ago Dawn and Mark Burnham moved to the small town of Maberly west of Perth to indulge their artistic muses in a peaceful rural setting on the bank of the Tay River. Since then Mark has become a wood carver and furniture maker, and Dawn has become a full-time potter and ceramicist.

Dawn Burnham creates beautiful glazed bowls and other functional table dishes. She also delights in constructing hand-built clay sculptures designed to decorate your home or garden. All her pieces are original and one-of-a-kind. Along the way she developed a unique eleven-step process that resulted in her recent participation in the renowned1001 Pots Exhibition in Val-David, Québec. She participates annually with Mark in the Labour Day Weekend Sundance Studio Tour in Maberly.

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Posted on September 17, 2009 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

The Derry Studio is suffused with the golden warmth of nodding sunflowers beaming down from canvases of all sizes. Jan Gilbert admits, a shade ruefully, that she has become known locally as “the sunflower painter” since she embraced her painting fulltime a few years ago. “I like yellow,” she laughs.

She likes red and blue and every other colour of the rainbow too, as evidenced by her vivid acrylics celebrating the rural beauty that surrounds her country studio. Particularly striking is an Ashton landscape featuring a riot of wildflowers in the foreground. Another, aptly named “Dancing Tulips,” evinces her wonderful freedom with colour. That freedom illuminates her portrayals of all the seasons. It is especially striking in her winter landscapes where she finds warmth in the glow of the sunset on frozen Ontario fields. Her snowy “Crooked Fence” is lush with deep, rich earth tones against the intense blues, violets, indigos and fuchsias of an evening sky and snowy shadows.

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Posted on September 17, 2009 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

When Wayne Williams retired as principal of Almonte High School five years ago, he had no intention of turning the family living room into an art gallery. Instead he first wrote a novel that had been nagging at him for many years. As a former drama instructor and amateur actor, he assumed he would get involved in amateur theatre. But first he decided to try his hand at painting and signed up for a beginner’s watercolour course at Wallacks. The paintings currently on display at Perth Gallery and throughout his home in Perth are delightful evidence that he found his creative métier.

“Painting is the reason I can’t wait to get up in the morning,” he tells me. If the exuberant watercolours on the walls weren’t proof enough of his statement, the broad smile on his face certainly was. And yes, his watercolours are exuberant. They positively glow with life. That glow is probably a reflection of the excitement and satisfaction Williams feels as he explores the range of creative possibilities the world of watercolour has opened to him.

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Posted on September 17, 2009 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Discovering digital photography was a real eye-opener for Ruth Stenson. Most artists enjoy what they do. Ruth Stenson is ecstatic. When her full-time care-giving responsibilities suddenly evaporated with the deaths of her beloved parents in 2005, Ruth’s husband sent her off to Newfoundland for a well-deserved holiday. He also gave her a little Canon point-and-shoot digital camera and a manual.

“I hate to sound corny,” she tells me, “but somehow I found myself.” Stenson had never felt a requirement for “alone” time until she shut out all the distractions and totally focused on the moment through the viewfinder of a digital camera. As the daughter of a United Church minister, wife and homemaker, mother of five kids, merchandising and training manager for Sobey’s, and eventual caretaker of two declining parents, personal time just hadn’t been a need that made it to the top of the hierarchy.

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Posted on September 15, 2009 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)