Blog | Page 27 | Claustro

Rock Painting of the Month - May · Jun 2, 12:55 am

For the month of May, I am including two paintings as THE monthly favourites … one image is a painting of an Erratic found at Silver Peak of Killarney Provincial Park, JUST SOLD to a client on my waiting list. The second image is a painting of one of the many Georgian Bay Beaches found in the Midland area. This one is specifically inspired by Lafontaine Beach.

— Carol Currie

Comment

---

Town of Midland is getting a Cultural Centre for the Arts! · Jun 1, 11:42 pm

The Town of Midland is getting a $5 million cultural centre compliments of the Reinhart Weber Foundation.

The Midland Cultural Centre will be built at King and Elizabeth streets on the site of the former Roxy Theatre and is expected to open by September 2011.
The building will be over 20,000 square feet of Fine Art to include a gallery space and the Quest Art School and Gallery. The Centre will also include a theatre and facilities for the exclusive use of the Huronia Players.

We at Claustro want to take the time to thank Mr. Weber for this generous gift to the Arts Community here in Midland, a town otherwise known as the Gateway to Georgian Bay and home to one of the largest Mural Tours in Canada.

Mayor Jim Downer states “Midland has been and sees itself in the future as the prosperous economic heart of north Simcoe County and a home to leaders in the emerging industrial, intellectual and creative economy.”

THe only sad thing about the building of a new Arts Centre in this location is the loss of one of Fred Lenz’s best Murals, dated 1996, so I wanted to document this fine work before demolition.

— Carol Currie

Comment [1]

---

Thunder Beach, Georgian Bay, Looking at Giant's Tomb · May 25, 02:07 pm

The Thunder Beach Association has asked me to line up a few artists to host their FIRST ANNUAL Art Exhibition at their Clubhouse this Summer, dated for Sunday July 18 1-5pm – open to the public.

So I took advantage of this great weekend weather to head up to the beach and take some measurements of the building and property to determine the layout of the show. It’s going to be a FANTASTIC lineup of a dozen eclectic artists. More details to follow in the next blog – with photos and links to each artist’s website.

So of course, while I was there, I visited the beach to take some photos to become artworks for sale at the show. I can’t believe that GORGEOUS “bonsai” appearing Pine Tree!!! Woohoo. And beyond, you can see Giant’s Tomb. I will be painting the works through my sunglasses – with a polarizing lens to bring out the greens in the water. Unfortuneately my camera doesn’t have that filter yet, but it was truly like a Northern Ontario Caribean scene.

— Carol Currie

Comment

---

Willisville Mountain, West Entrance to Killarney Provincial Park, is at RISK · May 25, 01:29 pm

Pictures speak louder than words! The first two photos of this blog show a BEFORE and AFTER shot of a new area VALE Inco is expanding into. These are new operations outside of the present Lawson Quarry site. The photos were taken on Sunday, May 16 and Monday, May 17 from the lookout on the Willisville Road. I welcome everyone to comment on this issue as this is so near and dear to my heart. This is a sensitive historical area. It is a legacy area where Group of Seven Artists came to paint and sketch. For more details of this, follow this link to Friends of Killarney Provincial Park where many of the paintings and sketches are borrowed from the McMichael Gallery.

On Friday, May 14, and only by sheer luck, Jon Butler, local resident and member of the La Cloche Mountain Preservation Society was informed by a VALE Inco employee that they would be opening a new aggregate quarry and crusher at the west end of Frood Lake. This is the forested area between the Willisville Road and Lawson Quarry where a pickerel pond is located. The pickerel pond operates between May and July each year and it is run by local volunteers. Jon is a volunteer to start the water pumps each day and this is how he came in contact with the VALE Inco employee.

This new aggregate site is approximately 550 yards from the Village of Willisville, which is also the WEST Entrance to Killarney Provincial Park and Grace Lake.

There was no communication whatsoever between VALE Inco and the Willisville residents, lodge owners or land owners who will be directly impacted by this expansion.

There was no environmental study or public forum before this expansion.

On Monday, May 17 Jon visited the MNR office in Espanola to view the aggregate licence #20568 that covers this new operation. The licence was grandfathered in in 1998 and a site plan was registered in 2001. There were no environmental studies or public forums required and none were held. There are no time lines required on the site plan or licence.

Licence #20568 also includes Willisville Mountain.

The La Cloche Mountains Preservation Society will be dedicated to save Willisville Mountain. Further information and regular updates may be obtained by contacting Jon Butler at willisvillemountain@gmail.com , on Facebook, at The Willisville Mountain page and at www.lacloche.ca.

I encourage everyone to get their local radio stations to play selections from the Willisville Mountain CD by Ian Tamblyn CD. The song ‘Take the Mountain Down’ is very appropriate. Copies are available through www.lacloche.ca

The Sudbury Star contacted Jon in this regard and the Story became front page headlines written by reporter Harold Carmichael, Saturday May 22, 2010 News Edition Article

Here is some excerpt’s from this article.

Willisville Mountain at risk
VALE INCO
Posted By HAROLD CARMICHAEL THE SUDBURY The Village of Willisville, which has a population of about 55, is located on Highway 6 between Espanola and Little Current. Willisville Mountain is situated in the heart of the La Cloche Mountains — an almost two billion-year-old mountain range.
Forty-five artists came together in 2009 to create the Willisville Mountain Project, an art project dealing with the four seasons. An exhibit opened in Willisville in July 2009 and will travel until August 2010.
Butler said Willisville Mountain, which was once home to a fire tower and was the scene of filming with the television seriesAdventures in Rainbow Country,is the highest point in the area and draws lots of hikers annually who come for the spectacular view. Willisville Mountain is also associated with many Group of Seven painters, such as A.J. Casson, A.Y. Jackson and Franklin Carmichael, he said.
“We are not against development,” said Butler. “There has to be mining in Northern Ontario, but there must be somewhere else available, an alternative to this … We consider it of historical significance, just by the art history alone. And it’s right beside Highway 6.”
One of the Group of Seven paintings in the permanent collection at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, noted Butler, is A.J. Casson’sFrom Willisville Mountain.The painting will be featured as part of the In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven exhibition, which opens today at the gallery.

— Carol Currie

---

OPEN VICTORIA DAY WEEKEND! · May 14, 08:07 pm

CLAUSTRO Studio & Gallery Open House this VICTORIA DAY weekend.

Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm.

We invite you to come visit, hang-out and discuss art, life, and love and check out our new CLAUSTRO Studio and Gallery space!

Carol will be showing some of her latest “Georgian Bay Tree series” in various sizes from as small as 6” x 6” to 9” x 12” to as large as 30” x 60” … various sizes for various spaces.

Since I am working on these pieces right up to the day of opening, I won’t be able to upload all the images to the site for an online preview, so you will have to come and see them in person.

So whether you are coming to shop, observe, view, or chat, I welcome all … afterall, the solitary confinement of winter painting is now officially over, and I am excited to show everyone what I have been working on. As always, after a long run of painting, it’s fun for me to get some feedback and social time!

We will be open Saturday and Sunday May 22 and 23, 12-5pm…where I will also be working on some pieces in the gallery before the work heads down to the Toronto for the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square.

Look forward to seeing you here.

For those coming from out of town, there are some special events happening over the weekend :
1. The Miss Midland Boat Cruise will be starting up with a scheduled cruise both days from 2-4pm.
2. The Wye Marsh is starting their seasonal guided kayak and canoe trips through the Marsh.
3. Midland’s first Farmer’s Market will be held at the Chamber of Commerce parking lot Sunday morning.
4. The Huronia Museum, located at Little Lake Park, is having an Astronomy night Saturday at 8pm.
5. There will be live celtic music at Cellarman’s downtown Midland Friday at 8pm (awesome local 5 piece fiddle and guitar band).
6. And live music at Kelsey’s Saturday at 9pm.
7. Monday May 24th, awesome Live Toronto Reggae Band at Explorers Cafe starting at 1pm. On the menu will feature their amazing jerk chicken and rice.

So come and stay – we have plenty of hotels and Bed and Breakfast Inns to enjoy a great Georgian Bay Victoria Day holiday weekend.

— Carol Currie

---