Art By Chance, Art By Choice

As published in the Citizen-Record newspaper, Wednesday, June 1, 2016, by Sara Jewell.

Louise Cloutier and the Maude Lewis inspired door at 126 King Street, Pugwash.

Most artists love what they do so much, whether it’s painting or sculpting or writing or rug hooking, and have amassed so much information over the years that they are compelled to share their experience and enthusiasm with others.

When an artist has just retired after 35 years of teaching art to high school students, that desire to teach doesn’t go away; it simply moves into a new creative space.

“This had always been my intention,” says Louise Cloutier as she pours hot water into a tea pot. We’re sitting in the kitchen space of an old house in Pugwash, a space she now calls her demonstration room. The house on King Street is owned by her partner, Richard.

“When I graduated from McGill in 1980 and launched into my teaching career,” Louise continues, “I knew that when I retired, I would like to do something like this.”

Of course, she had no idea she would end up with a studio in a house christened “ArtQuarters” when she moved to Nova Scotia twenty-five years ago.  

“When I bought my four-acre property on Kolbec Road, it had been my intention to turn the land towards the river into an artists’ retreat, with cabins or tents on platforms. I realized I didn’t want to spend all my time washing sheets. I thought about renting a venue but the cost... after all, I don’t know how successful this is going to be.”

As late afternoon sunshine slants across the blue-green painted floor at 126 King Street, Louise smiles.

“This was under my nose the entire five years I’ve been with Richard!”

This old house has fulfilled Louise’s long-time dream of having her own space for teaching art to those aged nine and older.

“This is not a gallery; it’s an educational facility,” she says. “People will come here for instruction. What will go on the walls are examples for the subjects I’ll be teaching, such as portraiture.”

With classes beginning next week, Louise hopes to attract not only retirees but anyone who wants to learn to draw and paint. Right now, she’s offering two morning classes, a Monday evening class (which is still has space available), and after school classes. More information is available on Louise’s Facebook page, ArtQuarters Pugwash

Donna O’Connell of Pugwash Point walks through the door, ready to sign up for the full twelve-week course.

“I have no talent,” she laughs as she hands over her money.

Louise assures her that doesn’t matter. With 35 years of teaching art to teenagers behind her, Louise is very confident she can teach art to anyone.

“I can guarantee anyone who walks in here will walk out with a greater sense of self-esteem and achievement because they won’t walk away discouraged; they will learn something here. They’re going to be surprised by what they come away with.”

There is a long pause.

“I said that was a guarantee, didn’t I?” she laughs.

Louise and Charlotte Fresia discuss upcoming classes in the demonstration room.

Shake Your Tail Feathers

I finally made it to Shubenacadie Wildlife Park.
I know. An abomination! I've lived an hour away from the park for over nine years and this is the first time I've visited.
First of all, I can't believe admission is only five bucks.
Second of all, being greeted by this handsome fella -- who actually shook his tail feathers at us -- was worth the price of admission. I could have spent an hour just watching him and the long-suffering peahen who, I swear, did an eye roll when he took to shakin' all over.
Thirdly, while it's not a petting zoo, we did get to pet some deer. As long as we get to pet something (Jane is still waiting to be allowed in with the big cats), we're happy. 

Dwayne's father had peacocks down at the farm, and I remember them hanging out in the trees at Scone Palace during our Scotland trip in 2010. I would LOOOOOVE to have peacocks but having spent a morning listening to them scream at the top of the peacocky lungs all over the park (there's at least half a dozen of them strutting around), I know our neighbours across the road would not be pleased. Those gorgeous feathers certainly belie a loud holler.

(For fun, stand back and watch the people sitting on the benches at the entrance to the park - they jump a foot when the peacock lets out a yell!)

Feathered Serendipity

It must have been serendipity that our trip to buy flowers ended with chickens coming home with us as well. Due to death, as happens, our flock is reduced to nine hens so we've been wanting to add some more egg layers to the coop. It's not easy finding people with chicks or pullets available; then it's not easy finding someone who isn't going on vacation for two weeks!
So when I spied a pen full of pullets in the yard of the local nursery, I hightailed it across the lawn.
"Are you selling any of the barred Rocks?" my husband asked immediately.
Done deal: home we came with seven barred Rocks and one whose breed I don't know; can't find any that match the name I thought he gave us. But it's pretty and I like to keep things mixed up and apparently, it lays a white egg, something we haven't seen in our nest boxes since we had those nasty bantam Leghorns many years ago -- talk about high-strung and neurotic. We don't want those qualities in our life, let alone in our flock.
We've put them in the holding cage, amongst the dandelions, until they are big enough to join the big birds in the coop. I don't know what our old and crippled rooster is going to do when he gets a load of the new girls. I hope he doesn't have a heart attack. Perhaps they'll be faster than his gnarled toes can move.

Sunshine In My Eyes

There is a recipe in my Field Notes book (available September 30) for dandelion jelly so I thought I should make some. It's not, as some have thought, that I have to make sure the recipe works; the recipe is a Nova Scotia version of the one Jane Purdy uses for her jelly. Jane's story is one of the essays in the book; the jelly recipe provides a nice wraparound for her personal story of carrying on after loss.
So, if I'm going to have a door prize at the book launch, that basket of goodies needs to include dandelion jelly.
And happily, batch numero uno turned out.
Here's a tip: you need a lot of dandelions to get two cups of petals! Me and bees, out in the dandelions.

Expanding Local Borders With Food

Field Notes column for Wednesday, May 18, 2016, by Sara Jewell.

Alia Kamareddine prepares the marinade for chicken that will become kebabs.

The Oxford Resettlement Project committee, working to bring a Syrian refugee family to town in less than a year, is holding its first major fundraising event next week.

The Lebanese Dinner on Wednesday, May 25 seeks to bring old timers and newcomers together over a meal to enjoy delicious food and interesting conversation.

Councillor Dawn Thompson, who first floated the idea of resettling a Syrian refugee family in Oxford, hopes the dinner will dispel the misconceptions some people hold about Middle Eastern people and their food.

“This is just another event in the community to bring us together and to help bring another family to our community,” Dawn said. “We have heard that we are ninth on the list to receive a family, in roughly eight months.”

The idea for a Lebanese dinner came from Alia Kamareddine, a local businesswoman who came to Canada as a refugee twenty-five years ago during Lebanon’s civil war.

She was inspired by a fundraising event in Wallace.

“My kids went to the dinner in Wallace and they served Syrian food which is like Lebanese food,” she told me. “I thought we could do a dinner in Oxford because I like to help people if I can, and the Syrians are desperate.”

Alia and I are friends, and as someone born and raised in Ontario, I can attest to the fact that Alia is as Maritime as the next Maritimer when it comes to food.

I show up at her house for coffee and leave stuffed. She can’t help but serve food, not only because she loves to cook but also because hospitality is very important to her (sound familiar, Nova Scotians?). I love her homemade yogurt because it isn’t sour. 

For the May 25 meal the Lions Den in Oxford, Alia is serving chicken kebabs, stuffed grape leaves, rice, hummus (chick pea dip), and tabbouleh (parsley, tomato and onion salad), and offering for dessert baklava and mamoul (shortbread pastries filled with dates and nuts).

The most common flavourings used in Lebanese food are mint, pepper, garlic, olive oil and lemon.

For those of you who think Lebanese food is “foreign” or “weird”, think of how much you enjoy egg rolls, chicken balls and chow mein. Think of stuffed grape leaves as a cabbage roll, although Alia is offering a vegetarian version with chickpeas.

Only 100 tickets are being sold for this fundraising dinner; they are $20 each and available at the Scotiabank in Oxford, which is matching the ticket sales. 

Syrian families who have already arrived in Cumberland County are invited to attend the dinner in Oxford. 

Although the meal is being offered as take out, why not eat in since the Lions Den will be decorated in the colours of Lebanon and Syria, and Lebanese music will be playing in the background? You can treat yourself to a trip to another country without having to leave Oxford.

And when you are pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoy the food, you can thank Alia in her native tongue, Arabic, by saying shukraan, “shook-ron”.

Can I Get A Hallelujah?

 

You know how I feel about trees. 

You know how I feel about clear cutting trees.

So imagine how I feel about the replanting underway in the 65 acres 

so ruthlessly levelled during the winter of 2014. 

Can I get an amen?

And a Whoo hoo! for good measure.

The View Across the Water

There really isn't a lovelier space in the Pugwash area than the Thinkers' Lodge overlooking Pugwash Harbour. It's available for workshops, receptions, and other events like, ahem, book launches.
I spent the day there for a writing workshop with the wonderful memoirist and essayist, Marjorie Simmins, author of 2014's "Coastal Lives" and the forthcoming "Year of the Horse" (among other publications).
As soon as I walked into this room, my eyes went to this window and the view beyond for that wedge of land at the mouth of the harbour where it meets the Northumberland Strait is Pugwash Point.
I could see our old summer house. It sits on a hill so it's always easy to spot, even in the grey, misty air.
It became emotional for me being there, looking over the water and seeing the house. The longer I was there, the harder I felt the tugs on my heart, the tugs of regret that we sold it, the tugs of longing as I thought of the rooms and the memories my family created there.
I felt this pull to remember, to regret, since the illustrations for the Field Notes book arrived in my email inbox this week and the sketch of our house on the hill is lovely, absolutely lovely. As well, the house plays a huge role, could be a character all its own, in the book I'll be writing as a result of today's workshop.
Between the memories of my father and the memories of that house, I was a hot mess by the time I arrived home at five o'clock.
"How was the workshop, honey?" my husband asked after I'd walked in the door.
I burst into tears.
"It was wonderful."