LeMoyne Star in Rodney Ontario

Le Moyne Star painted by Allan Watson Rodney Ontario

After months of waiting the LeMoyne Star has finally appeared on the garage door of Allan Watson, Rodney Ontario. Allan contacted me several months ago about his plan for “gettin on the barn quilt trail” He has sent along a little bit of information about his project.

Block name: LeMoyne Star (also The Divided Star, Star of the East, North Star, Louisiana Star).
This block was created prior to 1860. It is named after the LeMoyne brothers who settled in Louisiana in 1690 and founded the city of New Orleans. It is often called “Lemon Star” in the North.
The Watson’s found this block on a website and immediately fell in love with the colors and design. If you’re travelling South on the  Furnival road into Rodney check out this fabulous art piece. Here’s the address, 289 Furnival Rd Rodney ON.

Great job! Thanks for getting involved.

Denise

THE WAR OF 1812. PBS Doc premieres Oct 10th

For two and a half years, Americans fought against the British, Canadian colonists and native nations. Some of the War of 1812’s battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent. This film shows how the glories of war become enshrined in history, how failures are quickly forgotten and how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning re-enactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, THE WAR OF 1812 presents the conflict that forged the destiny of a continent.

THE WAR OF 1812 is a production of WNED Buffalo/Toronto and Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc., in association with WETA Washington, DC

Tecumseh Monument Redevelopment

The Friends of the Tecumseh Monument, a local not-for-profit, have been working on the redevelopment of the Tecumseh Monument site.  A new Interpretive Master Plan has been extensively researched and the resulting plans were unveiled in a presentation by Rob LeBlanc from Ekistics Planning and DesignSeptember 19th, 2011.  Wow.

Lisa Gilbert & plan for Tecumseh Monument

This ambitious project is worthy of the stature of Tecumseh and the Confederacy.  George Ward was one of the smaller characters; Tecumseh is HUGE.

To arrange interviews or for further information, please call or email:

Lisa Gilbert, Chair, Friends of the Tecumseh Monument
519 674 2322         lgilbert@ciaccess.com

The Battle of Tippecanoe, which took place outside Prophetstown in present-day Indiana at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, was fought on November 7, 1811. United States forces, led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory, defeated forces of Tecumseh’s growing American Indian confederation led by his younger brother Tenskwatawa, also known as The Prophet. The Tippecanoe defeat dealt a devastating blow to Tecumseh’s confederacy, which never regained its former strength. Public opinion in the United States blamed the Native American uprising on British interference. This suspicion served as a catalyst to the War of 1812, which began only six months later.  Source.

Rick Sommer, Made On Earth Art Gallery, Wardsville

Made On Earth, the world’s first environmentally-friendly art gallery, opened in Wardsville August 3rd, 2009.  During Wardsville’s Bicentennial in 2010, Rick was Wardsville’s artist-in-residence, supporting and advising the painting of the  8′ X 8′ barn quilts.

Rick’s art gallery is exactly the kind of unique destination our community needed.  Rick has a great community development vision and working with him is a dream come true.  He is an amazing artist, a master gardener, carpenter, and has impressed his neighbours and community with his hard work. Welcome to Wardsville, Rick.

Eco-art gallery opens in Wardsville By the Chronicle, August 2009 Rick Sommer of Wardsvile has opened Made on Earth , the world’s first environmentally friendly art gallery on Longwoods Road. The gallery includes a courtyard which is available for other artists to use to show off their own work. Above, Rick sits with one of his works of art entitled Earth, which like all his works, is made entirely of recycled materials. Earth is made of an old tabletop, a picture frame, a tripod, vacuum wire, and other material. Rick Sommer has set out to make his art gallery and culture centre as environmentally friendly as possible. His art supplies are often whatever he finds at the dump. All his work is recycled. He paints on things including discarded tabletops and doors. His paintbrushes and even his paint is all gathered from what other people throw away. His paintings, carvings, crafts and other works are displayed across his yard at 2504 Longwoods Road, Wardsville. Starting next week, it will be open for people to browse and buy his art. Sommer has been doing research into eco-friendly art for the last 15 years. He said he’s heard about other eco-art galleries, but some of them cut down trees to make room for themselves, or have some other non-environmentally friendly practices. His gallery, Made on Earth, should be the first to be eco-friendly on this high a level. Made on Earth includes a courtyard which will be for other artists and vendors to display and sell their work. Vendors with original, homemade crafts, food and products may call Rick Sommer at 519-693-0904. Sommer hopes to have the vendors’ courtyard open by April 2010. Sommer aims for his gallery to have a positive impact by giving local artists a space for their work, and also by drawing business people willing to invest in the community from the larger urban centres, such as Toronto. “This isn’t about me or my artwork. It’s about rebuilding a community,” said Sommer. “What I’m trying to do is rebuild the community using recycled materials that are environmentally friendly… I want to find the original artists. There’s a lot of great artists out there, they just don’t know how to promote themselves.” Sommer grew up in a log cabin in the wilderness of northern British Columbia. He said he was born an artist, and he’s kept it up all his life. When he was a kid he would make his own toys out of river clay. As a young adult, Sommer joined the American Military and served two years in the 82nd airborne and three years in the Special Forces. After a honourable discharge, he moved to Toronto and decided to get back into artistry. At first he sold his art on the street, and he would later spend the next twenty years working in carpentry and landscaping for mansions. It was during this 20-year period that he would paint murals at the Dovercourt boys and girls club in Toronto. He said his painting activity had a way of drawing in kids from the streets. “I realized that, silently, I can help people without them knowing. I decided I was going to find a place to sell my art work, do it professionally,” he said. Sommer said he met Prince Charles during his time with Dovercourt, and the two had a conversation about the environment that helped prompt Sommer’s decision to do an eco-friendly art gallery. “Prince Charles, when I met him in Toronto, he said the earth has less than 200 months, and it’s now down to 93 months before it’s too late to save the ecosystem,” said Sommer. Sommer moved to his home on Longwoods Road with his wife May 2008. Sommer works in art styles including painting, poetry, music, carving, martial arts and others. He’s also working on ‘fusion art’, art that includes different mediums rolled into one. Some fusion art is paintings with poems packaged along with them, but for some fusion art he tries to incorporate all five senses in art that is visual, is scented, and even includes an original recipe for taste. “I want to go beyond the canvas on the wall. I want to put scents and music and poetry all in one art form,” said Sommer.

Link to article by The Chronicle. http://www.thechronicle-online.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1679900

Art-Other than Barn Quilts

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Elmer Lumley of 2835 River Drive Glencoe ON has taken Barn Quilt art to the next level.

Elmer painted this lovely circular design on a 48″ antique saw blade. This saw blade was used in the family saw mills. “I remember it being used in the 1940’s ” Elmer states. Elmer is a creative guy, as you can see by the bear silhouettes he made.

This is just a small example of how art can help to form a community. “Creatives”, people who enjoy making things from whirly gigs, to silhouettes, to willow furniture to quilts,making art that can be decorative as well as functional. These people live in all of our communities ………..           

Creative Communities.

Keep up the great work. If you have pictures of great rural art send them to this address and we will start a rural photo album.

Thanks Denise