“Autumn Wagi” by David Grieve, one of 29 artists and artisans in 12 studio locations participating in the 29th annual Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, taking place September 17 and 18, 2022 in the Apsley area in North Kawartha Township and in nearby Coe Hill in Wollaston Township. (Photo courtesy of the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour)
While many of us may be reluctant to say goodbye to summer, there’s a lot to look forward to in autumn — including, for art lovers, the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour.
The annual free, self-guided tour is returning for its 29th year in 2022, running from 10 am to 5 pm. on Saturday, September 17th and Sunday, September 18th.
This year’s tour features 29 Ontario artists and artisans in 12 studio locations in the Apsley area in North Kawartha Township, midway between Peterborough and Bancroft, with one studio location in nearby Coe Hill in Wollaston Township.
Cobourg-based painter Stephen Gillberry is a new guest artist for the 29th annual Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, taking place September 17 and 18, 2022 in the Apsley area in North Kawartha Township and in nearby Coe Hill in Wollaston Township. (Photo courtesy of the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour)
The Apsley Autumn Studio Tour is renowned for the quality of the artists working in a variety of disciplines, including painting, jewellery, glass art, sculpture, fabric art, pottery, felting, and metalwork.
Not only will you be able to view new work created specifically for the tour, but you’ll have the opportunity to meet the artists in person as well as purchase their works.
The studio tour includes artists who live in the area as well as visiting guest artists. New artists are also admitted to the studio tour every year, through a juried process.
Jewellery by Toronto-based artist Vivienne Jones, one of 29 artists and artisans in 12 studio locations participating in the 29th annual Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, taking place September 17 and 18, 2022 in the Apsley area in North Kawartha Township and in nearby Coe Hill in Wollaston Township. (Photo courtesy of the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour)
New artists on this year’s tour include Cobourg painter Stephen Gillberry, Coe Hill painter Anita Murphy, and Selwyn visual artist Kelly O’Neill.
Many of the 12 studios on the tour are tucked away in scenic locations, made even more beautiful with the emerging fall colours.
To help you discover all the artists and their studios, the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour introduced a new app last year, created by local software developer Brad Carson. This year, the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour is part of Carson’s free Toureka! app, which you can download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. You can also download a tour map.
Based in Brantford, painter David Grieve and his wife have a cottage on Jack Lake south of Apsley, where he maintains a summer studio. He is one of 29 artists and artisans in 12 studio locations participating in the 29th annual Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, taking place September 17 and 18, 2022 in the Apsley area in North Kawartha Township and in nearby Coe Hill in Wollaston Township. (Photo courtesy of the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour)
You can take a day trip and stop in at one of the local eateries in the area for refreshments (including Woody’s in Apsley, Border Town Market & Cafe and The Grape & Wedge in Glen Alda, and The Barn Chefs in Coe Hil), or make it a studio tour weekend by staying at local accommodations such as the Burleigh Falls Inn or Viamede Resort.
For your convenience, here’s a summary in alphabetical order of the artists and artisans participating in the 2022 Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, including their disciplines and the studios where you can find them, as well as a link to the studio tour map.
Rachel Conlin (Artisan Wool & Soap, Studio O)
Rachel has introduced her artisan soaps to compliment the unique wools she’s been recognized for. She began experimenting with herbs from the garden and wild plants from her farm and woodland, blending them into the wholesome soaps. Rachel says creating artisan soaps along with novel wools is not only a manifestation of nature and colour, but also celebrates the charm of farm life.
Working from his home on the edge of the Canadian Shield, Brad maintains a successful practice as both a sculptor and a functional glass blower, often traversing the line between.
Jacques is a self-taught woodworker who uses only wood from dead or fallen trees. Gnarls, insect holes, and spalted wood are his materials of choice. He is always ready for a creative challenge of any size.
Valerie has been sewing for over 40 years starting with clothing for herself and her family, which eventually grew into a children’s clothing home business in Calgary. After moving to Saudi Arabia in 2000, she brought her seamstress skills into the practice of machine quilting. Valerie enjoys the mathematical aspects of quilting. She has grown to also love the practice of free motion quilting.
Since 2005, Valarie and her husband Ted have spent the bulk of her summers at Chandos Lake in Apsley. Valarie and Ted repatriated to their log home on Chandos Lake in 2015.
Mary Ellen Gerster sees the world according to shape, value, and colour, immersing the viewer in her bright and glowing watercolour paintings. Through the layering of transparent colours she creates photo realism in her still life, fruit, flowers and waterscapes. She is inspired and challenged by subjects with strong lights, shadows, shapes, colours and is especially drawn to high contrast and bright colours.
A new guest artist at the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour this year, Stephen is an accomplished artist who has spent the past 30-plus years developing his own unique style of painting. He has experimented with colour and texture in an effort to capture the beauty and spirituality of natural elements. Currently living and working in Cobourg, Stephen studied at the Ontario College of Art and Wilfrid Laurier University and his work is widely shown and well represented in galleries and corporate collections.
First introduced to oil painting as a child, David has been painting ever since and has developed a unique distinctive style. He uses a multi-layered technique, applying thick swaths of oil paint to create images inspired by the Ontario landscape.
Anja works with broken china, pottery, porcelain figurines, and tile to give these elements a second life in her whimsical mosaic art pieces. She also incorporates forks, beads, buttons, bottle caps, and typewriter keys.
Dolores’ work includes quilts, using imported fabrics from England and Japan, as well as wall hangings, runners, and smaller items. Many of her pieces have wool felting incorporated into the quilting, as well as beads, silk, and quite a number of other interesting embellishments.
A member of Kawartha Potters Guild and Spirit of the Hills Art Association, Melanie enjoys creating personalized pottery, particularly clocks. She enjoys making one-off pieces and is currently experimenting with raku and smoke fire techniques.
Carolyn’s artwork includes hand-woven tapestry, acrylic painting, block printing, fabric painting, and painting on birch bark. As a tapestry artist, Carolyn has exhibited in Canada, United States, and England. Her paintings reflect her understanding of textile structures, her eye for colour, and her ongoing interest in geometry and pattern in art and nature.
Vivienne is a contemporary artist based in Toronto whose work is very much influenced by natural forms. She creates highly distinctive jewellery using both traditional and non-traditional materials.
Living in rural Apsley, Lisa paints the world around her. Jack pines, full maples, wild flowers, and rural homes, Lisa paints what is found outside her front door.
After a successful career both nationally and internationally in architecture, Barbara Miszkiel has returned to her original interest in fine arts, painting primarily in acrylics. Although Barbara has created new buildings most of her career, in painting she is drawn to old buildings, live subjects and landscapes.
The starting point for all of Molly’s work is the pristine landscape that surrounds her: the lake, forest, and uninterrupted skyscape are the foundation of every piece she paints. A visual artist whose primary focus is abstraction, she works primarily in acrylic and mixed media.
A new guest artist at the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour this year, Anita’s works of art are about emotion. Despite having spent her life in rural settings near Bancroft, her work is inspired by the interaction between people and nature rather than the wilderness itself. A member of the Canada Council for the Arts, Anita studied at the Toronto School of Art and has work in private collections across the world.
A new guest artist at the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour this year, Kelly is a multidisciplinary visual artist who enjoys the immediacy of dry materials in her drawing practice, and engages with found objects, natural materials, video, assemblage, and textile practices to create three-dimensional forms and installations. The Selwyn-based artist studied sculpture and installation at Toronto’s OCAD University and Her work has been shown in galleries in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
Applying multiple patterns in a range of colours on clay, Cathy creates one-of-a-kind functional pieces of art or a whimsical collectible. New animal-themed mugs, piggy banks, and horse figurines add to the collection among a continuation of animated forms of snowmen, gnomes, Santas, and assorted critters.
After working for many years in the tech industry, Judy Ranieri retired and began to explore her creative passions. Many of Judy’s projects are inspired by nature and utilize natural fibres, fabric, colour, design, and textures to create one of a kind textile and fabric art pieces.
In her 30-year career as a glass artist, Susan has drawn inspiration from the landscape in which she lives. An avid gardener, she continues to explore the idea of garden through her vessel and sculptural works and is well known for her vibrant floral vessels.
Kathy has been a stained glass artist for over 25 years, using traditional techniques to produce stained glass art. Concentrating on the copper foil method, Kathy looks to nature for inspiration.
Catharine is a self-taught artisan who is inspired by the natural beauty of coloured gem stones, the ability to form and create meaningful pieces of art through wire working, and her own creative style of stringing that can be worn at any time of the day with any style of fashion.
Clare Scott-Taggart aka Rusty Girl (Metal Sculpture, Studio F)
Clare owns Rusty Girl metalwork studio in Toronto, where she designs and makes railings, furniture, arbours, limited-run production pieces for the garden, and sculpture.
David is inspired to create new works in watercolour, acrylic, and oil by the surrounding landscape. Painting full time following a career in advertising, graphic design, and colour retouching, he applies this knowledge and skill into his paintings.
Obsessed with the relationship between great food and handmade pottery, Judy believes eating from handmade pots elevates the dining experience. Her work is carefully hand crafted to be enjoyed as everyday art.
First launched in 1994, the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour creates public awareness of the arts by promoting and supporting artists in the community.
For more information on the 2022 Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, visit apsleystudiotour.com. You can also follow the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour on Facebook and Instagram.
Find the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour on the Toureka! app or download the tour map and watch for the black-and-white studio tour signs that mark each studio location. (Photo courtesy of Apsley Autumn Studio Tour)
This branded editorial was created in partnership with the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour. If your business or organization is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
