by Sally Hansen

Accomplished Pakenham painter Amélia Ah You has come a long way. Born to Chinese parents in the Portuguese controlled colony of Mozambique, she grew up with Chinese fairy tales and mythological stories, African drums, Indian chai and Portuguese cuisine. In school, she studied traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, and learned about western religion and Portuguese explorers. By the time she got to Pakenham she spoke fluent English and Portuguese, as well as basic Cantonese, Spanish and French.

Today she lives with her husband, their dog, and a few farm animals on a beautiful, secluded hobby farm surrounded by a vast, geologically diverse landscape in Pakenham Township. The stern Canadian Shield guards their backs, a meandering stream leads into the distance, gently rolling fields, a marshy swamp and wooded areas bring wildlife to their front door.

Continue reading "Amélia Ah You - Uniquely You" »

Posted on May 9, 2009 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Cathy Law cannot get enough of her high fibre diet. When she isn't sewing she is designing or drawing or teaching or photographing or collaborating or thinking up her next big fibre art project. Since her retirement from a rewarding and demanding career as a special education teacher in Kanata, she and her husband Terry have turned their new home near Perth into the perfect venue for her to pursue her creative passion.

As you enter the living room, two beautiful tapestries quietly announce her extraordinary mastery of fibre art. One depicts a traditional quilted medieval theme; the other is a striking tribute to her mother, who died of cancer on Cathy's birthday thirteen years ago. The contemporary portrait is beautiful in more than appearance. The work was a collaboration with several of her fellow fibre artists, and represents many of the things that make her passionate about her flexible medium. "The possibilities are endless," she assures me. "You can go anywhere from traditional quilting to experimenting with mixed media and painting on fabric. There are no limits to the ways you can play with texture and colour and form."

Continue reading "Catharina Breedyk-Law - A High Fibre Diet" »

Posted on May 9, 2009 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Their medium is not the message. Jane and Bob Christie excel at creating flowing, fluid works of art from cold, lifeless metal wire. Jane designs and creates wonderful wire jewellery; Bob designs and creates whimsical wire sculptures. They share a studio in their rustic log cabin on the shore of the Ottawa River in MacLaren's Landing not far from Fitzroy Harbour, and thoroughly enjoy working companionably but independently to their individual muses.

The Christies share many artistic and other interests, but they certainly aren't cookie cut-outs of each other. Born in Montreal, Jane moved to Arnprior when she was four. She remembers spending many mesmerizing childhood hours accompanying her father, a professional forester, on nature walks. Her dad was an encyclopaedia of knowledge, teaching her how to identify plants and trees, and to discern the wonderful array of natural beauty that was concealed all around her. She spent countless hours exploring and collecting in her own backyard. Stones and insects were her favourites, and they feature prominently in her wirework jewellery today.

Continue reading "Jane and Bob - The Twisted Christies" »

Posted on May 9, 2009 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Rob Riendeau

A Conversation with Mike Nickerson

We've all been exposed to the reactionary, hand-wringing media reports on the "economic downturn." So it was a refreshing break to read Mike Nickerson's latest article The Upside of an Economic Downturn when it showed up in my email inbox. Afterwards, I decided that it was high time to sit down and pick Mike's brain on the topic of global economic issues and people's ability to respond locally.

theHumm: When I first read Life, Money & Illusion it seemed that the ideas weren't really in the mainstream. Talking to people about the themes in the book was difficult.

Mike Nickerson: They weren't as interested then; now they want to know. That's definitely a change.

Continue reading "The End of Illusion?" »

Posted on March 2, 2009 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

As soon as I was seated in front of a cozy fire in Patrick Kavanagh's home in Lake Park on the edge of Mississippi Lake near Carleton Place, he brought out his family photograph album. In it was one of the most captivating portraits I have ever seen. It looked like a painting by Norman Rockwell for the cover of "Saturday Evening Post," even though it was black and white. The amazing thing about it was that I knew that the boy in the photo had red hair. It was a candid photograph of Patrick. And yes, he had red hair.

Patrick traces his own interest in photography back to his childhood days in England when his father, the late Patrick Desmond Kavanagh, was taking those family portraits. The family moved to Saskatoon when Patrick was nine, and moved again to Dunrobin in 1970. Patrick has studied marine navigation, journalism and electronics. At the age of 22 he thumbed his way from Ireland to Istanbul, carrying only a knapsack, a tent and a sleeping bag. "Those six months were the best education I ever got. It really taught me common sense. I learned to listen to my gut, trust myself, and to be comfortable in my own skin." His biggest regret is that he did not have a camera with him.

Continue reading "Patrick Kavanagh - A Photographic Memory" »

Posted on February 1, 2009 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

In grade three Doris Wionzek won a prize at the Beachburg Fall Fair (near Pembroke) for her sample of hand lettering. In 2005 Almonte calligrapher Doris Wionzek was chosen by the Canadian Heraldic Authority to inscribe the legal text on the Letters Patent of the Personal Coat of Arms of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. Wionzek was chosen from a long list of calligraphers registered with the Authority.

Her selection was a singular honour since the Governor General is the authority empowered "to exercise or provide for the exercise of all powers and authorities lawfully belonging to Us as Queen of Canada in respect of the granting of armorial bearings in Canada". An image of the Letters Patent granting armorial bearings to Michaëlle Jean is available here.

Continue reading "Doris Wionzek: "C" is for Calligraphy" »

Posted on January 1, 2009 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

"Abandoned as an infant, Jamie Brick was taken in and raised by a pack of wild medieval rabbits. This unusual upbringing reflects in this artist's eyes as he sculpts stone, wood and mixed media into creatures from a world that lies just left of centre." This is how sculptor and lifecast artist Jamie Brick introduces himself on his artist's website at www.jamiebrick.com. When I asked him where the rabbits had come from, he told me he had been thinking about Tarzan being raised by apes in the jungle, and...

When he and his wife, Annette, attended a conference on professional development for artists at Queen's University, they found themselves in annoyed disagreement with the lecturer's emphatic insistence on the importance of a carefully crafted, formal Artist's Statement. It was clear that in this authority's opinion, Jamie's whimsical and slightly disconcerting humour was not only ill-advised; it could severely compromise his chances of commercial success. Imagine the couple's delight when another attendee interjected that perhaps the most delightful and memorable statement she had ever read had been by an artist claiming to be raised by medieval rabbits!

Continue reading "The Hare-Raising Tale of Artist Jamie Brick" »

Posted on December 1, 2008 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A shipment of dilithium crystals came in and theHumm site seems to be operational again. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience the recent Humm outage has caused.

Continue reading "We have lift off!" »

Posted on November 16, 2008 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Some people have trouble figuring out what they want to be when they grow up -- even after they reach retirement. Saskia Praamsma, on the other hand, found her niche early in life and is quite contented doing what she loves. "I love clay," she responds enthusiastically when I ask her why she is a potter.

Praamsma particularly enjoys hand-building unique sculptural pieces, decorating them with textures and stains. "On a wheel, you get round pieces. I'm more interested in form." She forms her stoneware creations into all kinds of novel shapes, from elongated footed vessels and vases with headpieces to whimsical animals. Her pottery is eclectic, reflecting the wide range of life experiences that have shaped her as a person.

Continue reading "Saskia Praamsma - Feats of Clay" »

Posted on October 1, 2008 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Sally Hansen

Christine and Eric Brackenbury's lives and artistic pursuits are as multifaceted as the precious gems that adorn the unique jewellery they create. Both are visual artists as well as exceptionally gifted jewellers. Christine has had several exhibitions of her paintings during the past year, and Eric is about to have his first exhibits of his photography this month in Almonte.

Their principal artistic passion is their goldsmithing and jewellery design partnership. Both are certified, apprenticeship-trained professional goldsmiths; Christine trained in Canada, Eric in London, England. We are all surprised when they calculate their answer to my question about how long they have been designing and executing one-of-a-kind pieces in gold and silver. The couple bring a combined expertise of nearly eight decades to their challenging and demanding art.

Continue reading "The Multifaceted Brackenburys" »

Posted on September 11, 2008 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)