bracebridge

Exhibition of Muskoka Heritage

October 4, 2010 By Michelle Hendry

Saturday, October 9th 2010 marks the opening of “Legacy” at the Auburn Gallery of Fine Art in Gravenhurst. It is an exhibition of portraits, paintings and photographs depicting the people and places of 19th and 20th century south Muskoka and some of their stories. The artists participating are Helene Adamson, the late Henry Fry, and myself. Everyone is welcome to drop by and see us from 1-3pm on Saturday, October 9th. The exhibition runs until October 22nd.

Helene Adamson took on the challenge of painting famous industrialists from Gravenhurst’s past often working from very small and often grainy black and white pictures. Some of the oil portraits are of A.P.Coburn, founder of Muskoka Navigation Company; Tom Greavette; Dugald Brown, hotelier and owner of Brown’s Beverages; Dr. W.B. Kendall, physician-in-chief of the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium and Muskoka Free Hospital; Mary McBride, one of the town’s earliest school teachers; and others, seven in total.

Finding photos of my subjects wasn’t easy. Cyril and Marion Fry at the town archives were wonderfully helpful. […] It was sometimes a guessing game when it came to eye or hair colour, but happily folks were pleased to share what they knew about their ancestors.

~HA

The late Henry Fry was the town’s first real documentary photographer with many of his photos stored in the Gravenhurst archives. The current location of the Auburn Gallery was Henry’s home and darkroom where many of the images on display were first developed. A relative of Henry’s, Nancy Lynch, is doing a special project in fabric using Henry’s images. This project is a must see!

My paintings and photographs are from my explorations of Uffington, Cooper’s Falls, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and other south Muskoka and north Simcoe locations over the last two years. I shot hundreds of photographs in search of the right places, the right light for the series in which the current paintings are a part. Each location inspired me in some way and that inspiration led to research that was like a treasure hunt into the past both beyond and informing the work.

When I paint a chair by an old window, I wonder who may have sat there and what their lives were like… When I first entered the Livingstone/Stephens house, there was a feeling, as if the walls whispered to me. Something about that house drove me to discover its history, a process that took months following one clue after another until a chance conversation led me to the daughter of Richard and Belle Stephens, now 90. She shared stories of life on the farm and the tragic tale of Neil Livingstone, the house’s builder. The place touched me, and now I feel a part of its history too. I invite the viewer to step into that world.

~ MB

The histories of the people and the properties in this exhibition have been researched and documented. Michelle searched land registry records, interviewed family members and combed libraries. Included will be the full story of the Livingstone/Stephens house and it’s legacy of gold in Bracebridge; the award winning “Everything But the Bathroom Sink” from the Heal house in Gravenhurst, currently under renovation; the story of the Fleger/Veitch-Marchildon House, also being restored; and the fate of the St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Uffington. Many of these stories will be the foundation of my 2011 book.

Reflections from the Dark Season

October 31, 2009 By Michelle Hendry

Today marks the beginning of the dark season. The veil between life and death is at its thinnest. Everything seems to be moving into that period of stasis, growing season is over, the harvest is in and life appears to recede into the darkness and the darkness envelopes it.

As the season moves on, I think of it as a time for reflection, and for many early cultures, it was the time for storytelling and sharing a culture’s past. I have come across some very interesting thoughts on the significance of words and art – how they work together and how they compete in terms of defining culture. On his blog, Clint Watson discussed the importance of stories to the context of an artist and their work and how it might help sales (see article here). On Arti’s Blog “Ripple Effects“, the idea of the Visual replacing the Word is explored in terms of how literacy is not just the written word, but also the recognition of visual symbols. (Arti also looks at how the movies model scenes after great art to achieve a deeper meaning.)

Now that several days have passed and I have had an opportunity to reflect on the McMichael show, certain conversations I had on opening night are returning to my mind. One such conversation was with a friend and very talented stained glass artist, Evelyn Wolff. Evelyn participated in the exhibition I curated in stained glass in 2004. (See her work here)

Evelyn asked me about the spiritual nature of my work. To look at my paintings of old homesteads and intense skies, one might not see it as spiritual in nature in the same way the use of traditional cultural symbols might convey. I am driven by something deep inside of me to portray these empty places. To some, the feeling is immediate and the painting may not tell my story or even the story of the place itself; it often tells them some of their own story. These places reach into me and demand of me to recognize what is important and that all of it is ephemeral. The loneliness and existential questions of a Hopper (Arti’s term was existential loneliness) or Hammershøi painting reach across time because even though they may be paintings of old places and people that no longer exist – or may have never existed, they reflect something of the human condition. They are Allegory.

“Window Seat” is moment in time, frozen, as if the owner of the chair just left for a second. The space, the air remains still and time expands like a meditation. The moment. Nothing else exists. What came before and what will follow do not matter. I wonder if that would answer her question?

The story of the house is beneath the painting in the link above. The story of my discovery of the house goes back years but I only had the courage to enter it last Spring and that story is here. What’s your story?

I thought I would include some of the music I was listening to when I was inspired to write this post:

Sleepless, Marnconi Union
Chill, Jazz Fiction
Simple Song, Lyle Lovett
Deep Peace, Stephen Halpern

Window Seat & McMichael Opening

October 18, 2009 By Michelle Hendry

Featured at the McMichael Autumn Art Sale, October 23-25, 2009

The McMichael Show opens at the end of this week. I will be at the Gallery from 6 -10 pm on Friday, October 23rd. I hope to see many of you there! The will be free parking on the opening night event. Details can be found on my website.

The Livingstone House

“Window Seat” (above) and the “Yellow Door” (below) are both from a derelict farm house near Bracebridge that was originally owned by a Scottish immigrant and carpenter, Neil Livingstone. Mr. Livingstone came to Muskoka in around 1861 at the age of 40 and died here of pneumonia in March of 1905 at the age of 84.

Neil Livingstone was a skilled carpenter and became a prominent contractor of public buildings in the Town of Bracebridge before the turn of the century. He was responsible for the original Registry Office in 1877 and for the completion of the Town Hall in 1881. Only the Tower from the original Town Hall remains today. Livingstone also won the contract for the completion of the Dominion Hotel. It is still standing, however, I am under the impression that only the main floor is in use. I would love to get a look at the upper floors!

Without looking at the records, there is mention of a building permit for a house on the Livingstone property in 1891. The 1879 Muskoka Atlas shows two building there previous. I am going to guess that they were a barn and a homestead and that the house built in 1891 is the one that stands today.

Looking at the architectural detail on the house, I was not surprised to discover Mr. Livingstone was a carpenter. There are very few rural homes in this area with such great attention to detail, a curved staircase with a complicated arched ceiling and stunning hardwood that is rock solid even after nearly 15 years exposed to the elements. Most farmhouses in this region were very basic and without much detail. Farming in Muskoka was often an impossible business due to the rocky terrain, so few would have had the wealth to build a brick house with so much elegant carpentry.

I have yet to make the trip to the Land Registry Office to determine who inherited the house in the early part of the last century. I am hoping to discover if Neil Livingstone had any children. There is no mention of them in local publications, nor mention of a wife. For me, there is a distinct female aura about the place. It makes me curious to know who else lived there before the farm was sold to commercial interests. That information should be in the next Newsletter in mid to late November.

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I will be continuing my Muskoka Interiors series over the coming months. I plan to have another from the Fleger House by the end of November. New events, plans for 2010 and paintings will be in the November/December issue of my Newsletter. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here!

The 'White House' & a WIP

September 19, 2009 By Michelle Hendry

Earlier this week I visited with one of Bracebridge’s most noted historians, Mr. Ken Veitch. Mr. Veitch’s family along with the Shea’s has been in Muskoka for over a century and was one of the founding families of the town of Ufford just north of Bracebridge.

The house above, familiar to many who have driven to Windermere House, was one of the Veitch family homes. Ken’s grandparents lived in what was to become known as the “White House“. The “White House” was once only half the current size. Houses in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries in rural and farming communities were built off of standard plans. This house is actually very similar to houses all over Muskoka and other parts of Ontario. It is strikingly similar on the exterior to the Fleger House in Uffington – even down to the teal trim. The difference here is that the “White House” has two peaks. Ken explains:

It has two peaks because it was originally two houses that were put together… Another house was picked up and moved to the one location.”

Ken said the old house used to have a porch under which he used to play as a child. I wonder if there are any toys beneath where it stood? I am planning a formal visit to the old house with Ken and the current owner, Bill Shea, later this Fall. I look forward to seeing this one up close. Some places, like the Fleger House, “Yellow Door” (Livingstone) House and St. Paul’s Strike a chord in me. The “White House” was another of those. Amazing that I should meet the grandson of the owners…

During our over 2 hour visit, I discovered Mr. Veitch’s impressive Index for Muskoka. Every name mentioned in any local history, periodical or any other publication is listed with the page or location of that reference. This Index is nearly three inches thick! In it, I was able to discover the history of the “Yellow Door” (Livingstone) house. I have another painting in the works that should be complete by the end of this month, so I’ll save that story until then. I now understand why this house had such incredible architectural detail… Stay tuned!

If you are seeking family history or are doing research in Muskoka (mainly Bracebridge and area), you must look up Ken Veitch. He will be releasing a book on the History of Ufford in October 2009.

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This is a house I shot in Simcoe County, not too far from Creemore, around this time last year. It is coming along slowly. Insulbrick is not the easiest thing to paint! The rich light of a September afternoon is hopefully what this one will show when it is complete. It is a very pretty, but lonely house. I have had my feelers out for a history on this one, but, so far, no info yet! The property has been for sale for quite some time and the house is surprisingly solid. I would hope that any buyer might keep it…

I hope to finish this one up early this week in order to get working on the second “Livingstone House” painting. The drawings and the prep are done, all I have to do is start painting! I will also be meeting with Vankoughnet historian Jennifer Milne again this week. Lots of new places on the agenda for the Fall – and many more stories to come… including the story of Johnny Moon.

Exhibition of Muskoka Heritage

Reflections from the Dark Season

Window Seat & McMichael Opening

The 'White House' & a WIP

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