Parham United Church hosted a fantastic and spiritually inspiring ecumenical service to honour God and the World Day of Prayer movement. All area churches gathered to take part in a shared service written by the host country Cuba on the theme of “Receive Children, receive me”. Worshipers of all ages from various churches helped out with music, Cuban foods, Cuban prayers, and Cuban artifacts from many who had visited that area. Musical tributes by Stanley Stinchombe (piano) and cousins Jordan Lowery and Colin Hamilton (guitar) with Cuban rhythm instruments by the younger worshipers Hunter, Hailey, and Brody all added to the festivities and prayerful learning.

Through the World Day of Prayer, folks are encouraged to become aware of other countries and cultures and to embrace the world. They are also encouraged to prayerfully take up the burdens of other people, to sympathize with the problems of other countries and cultures and pray with and for one another. They are further encouraged to become aware of their talents and use them in the service of God. The World Day of Prayer aims to demonstrate that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence in the world.

Following the service, folks thanked God for the fellowship and the wonderful food prepared in honour of the special ecumenical experience. It was a memorable event and a true way to share in learning, worship and service to God.

Husband and wife duo Diana and Jerrard Smith, a.k.a. TRXTRS, delighted the capacity crowd at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn's Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake on February 25 with their eclectic set, which captured the crowd and no doubt garnered them a new slew of music fans. The Feral Five followed and got the receptive crowd up onto the dance floor. Next up for Music and Friends will be special guests The Bedhead Buskers (Gabby White and Nathan Paul) who will open the show on Thursday, March 24 with their folk, bluegrass and east coast-inspired repertoire. The show starts at 7:30 PM and dinner reservations can be made by calling the Sharbot Lake Country Inn at 613-279-2198.

On February 27, the MERA schoolhouse was abuzz with local growers looking ahead to spring as they swapped seeds at the annual McDonalds Corners Farmers’ Market Seed Swap.

The event, now in its fifth year, was organized by Kristine Swaren of Blue Chicory Garden farm and local grower Linda Harvey. It attracted a plethora of local growers looking for something new to plant while offering up their own seeds for others to try out. On hand were a wide variety of heritage tomato, bean and squash seeds.

New this year were cuttings taken from the former MERA willow labyrinth. The labyrinth was removed from the grounds last year, but cuttings were saved and grown out by Linda Harvey and others. The willow, salix purpurea, is particularly suitable for basket making. As the MERA legend goes, it was initially brought to the area from Ireland in the form of a basket that was then taken apart and planted. The species, which has become naturalized around the Great Lakes, is not invasive and is easy to grow. Harvey said that MERA often offers basket-making workshops.

Swaren and Harvey were also promoting Seeds of Diversity, a not-for-profit Canadian seed organization that is always aiming to renew and expand their Canadian Seed Library. The library houses a collection of seeds to back up the work of the organization’s members and Canadian heritage seed companies by storing samples of Canadian seeds and prioritizing rare and locally adapted varieties. These seeds are made available to future gardeners and farmers.

Every year, Seeds of Diversity chooses one vegetable crop or family to focus on for their seed library grow-outs, and they have named 2016 “The Year of the Tomato”. Through a generous donation from the Dan McMurray collection of the Creston Seed Bank in British Columbia, which included 839 varieties of tomato seeds, Seeds of Diversity is offering heritage tomato seeds through their Great Tomato Project. They are asking that half of the seeds that are grown be collected and sent back to the organization to be frozen in storage in their library. (Anyone interested can visit growers@seeds.ca or contact Kristine Swaren at 613-278-1226).

Harvey and Swaren are hoping to start a cooperative seed-saving initiative in McDonalds Corners. “I see it not necessarily as a seed bank but more as a list of people who are growing different things so we can know who has what seeds, and perhaps also create an online database to let growers in the area know what is available and where”, Harvey said.

The seeds up for grabs on Saturday were constantly changing as growers arrived. There was one packet of particular interest, which contained seeds from the Hopi Indian pale grey squash. Swaren was given them two years ago from Seeds of Diversity. She said that it was the last packet of such seed that existed in the country. “It is a great storage winter squash that makes awesome soups”.

There were also a number of crossed varieties of pole beans. One variety, which was named after the local farm where it grew, was the “Abundare” pole bean from Catherine Smith's farm on McNaughton Road near Maberly. “These beans were one of the first plants that we grew when we bought the farm and no matter the weather, they are prolific, delicious and abundant beans that come up year after year”, said Catherine.

Also on hand were a number of flower seeds including hollyhocks, poppies, dahlias, calla lilies and more.

Summing up the importance of saving heritage seed, Swaren said, “It's really important for independent growers to keep the heritage varieties alive to promote genetic diversity, since a lot of the commercial seed catalogues are offering fewer heritage seed varieties”.

Judging by the buzz at the Seed Swap, it looks as though many growers can hardly wait to get their hands in the dirt, and local gardens should prove diverse and prolific this growing season.

Winter months in Canada's north are the perfect time for locals to brave the cold and get together to share a meal, especially when the proceeds go to a local community cause. At the MERA schoolhouse in McDonalds Corners, that tradition is the popular foodie fundraiser, Around the World on a Dinner Plate, which takes place four times in the winter, twice each in the months of February and March. Local volunteers prepare an exotic meal, usually for about 40 diners, who pay $15 a plate. The meal is often inspired by a far-flung country to which the chefs may have recently traveled.

On February 19, chefs Lyndal and Michael Neelin took the lead in the kitchen, with the help of Jan and Steve Griffiths. The Neelins, who have never been to Lebanon, were inspired by their frequent foodie forays into the city of Ottawa. They are big fans of the many Lebanese restaurants there.

“We love Lebanese food, and eat it all of the time when we are Ottawa doing errands,” Lyndal said on Friday night at MERA, where she and her team were preparing the meal. “It's fast, tasty, healthy and inexpensive.”

The menu included kafta kabobs made with a mixture of ground beef and fresh herbs and spices; grape leaves stuffed with rice, lentils, chick peas, tomato and mint; a tabouleh salad that featured bulgur, parsley, and cilantro; plus ample sides of hummus and baba ghanouj. A green salad known as fatoush, made with lettuce and considerable amounts of fresh mint and parsley, plus red onions and cucumber, and dressed with traditional olive oil, honey and lemon juice, was also served. The meal was accompanied with pita bread known as manakish, which is rubbed with a spice mixture known as za'atar, a blend of dried thyme, sesame seeds and sumac.

Dessert is enjoyed courtesy of the diners, who are asked to contribute a potluck sweet for all to share. While the chef(s) at these events will sometimes dress in costume, or read an appropriate themed story, the Neelins brought with them some Lebanese music for the diners to enjoy.

The first event, which was held earlier this month, was a hearty men's themed dinner and in March the events will continue with German and Irish-themed meals. Past meals have included Japanese, Ethiopian, French Canadian, Australian and more. The usually sold out events continue to bring together food lovers for a hearty evening of exotic food and fundraising.

Despite record low temperatures, this year’s four-day Frontenac Heritage Festival was well attended, with crowds turning out for the plethora of events that took place through the long weekend.

Friday’s opening ceremony began with greetings from Town Crier Paddy O'Connor and Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith, and a performance by the Young Choristers under the direction of Shari Tallon.

The evening continued with this year’s hee-haw-themed variety show upstairs in GREC's auditorium with emcee and show organizer Rob Moore at the helm. The show attracted a full house with its stellar line up of talented musicians, and the clever running jokes and antics of the mostly young variety show players kept the evening flowing. Highlights included musical performances by Jim and Pete MacPherson; Dan and Kate of Sympathy Ghost; new to the stage singer/songwriter Jen Argyle; veteran performers Rob and Nancy of the Auburn Mystery; and the Creative Players ensemble.

Jessica Wedden's closing act was unbeatable, with the young fiddler proving that she continues to master her instrument with astonishing and impressive skill.

Arden was another active hub, with outdoor demonstrations and a myriad of displays set up in the community hall on Saturday. Pat Furlong Brownlee and her daughter Robin braved the overnight lows of -28 degrees Celsius (with a wind chill of -39 degrees Celsius) and camped out overnight, dressed in countless layers and sharing a huge sleeping bag under numerous layers of blankets and duvets. The two bedded down in the early settlers campsite that was set up on site and were well taken care of by early settler enthusiasts Ray Fletcher, Peter Kelly and Mike Procter.

Robin, who was celebrating her 18th birthday, wanted a special way to mark the event and said, “This was more my mom's idea and though I prefer summer camping, this is one activity that I can now cross off my bucket list.”

Inside the Kennebec hall, Wilf Deline, president of the Frontenac and Addington Trappers Council, showed off both new and old traps of yesteryear and a wide variety of fur-bearer pelts. His wife Debbie offered up a display focused on items produced by the Hudson Bay Company.

The Kennebec Historical Society also had a huge display of heritage items, including clothing, tools, photos and other artifacts. Joanne Pickett and Aileen Merriam served up seven delicious hot and hearty home made soups for their Empty Bowls event in support of the North Frontenac Food Bank, and by the end of the day over $1300 was raised for the cause. Janet Gutowski and Town Crier Paddy O'Connor, along with judges Doug and Debbie Lovegrove of the Historical Costume Club of Kingston, were decked in their heritage finest as they made the rounds on Friday to six local businesses who competed in the first ever business competition. For the competition, business owners were invited to get into the heritage spirit, and had an opportunity to show off a number of interesting artifacts.

Many also showed up for the historical walking tour of Sharbot Lake. However, due to the extreme cold the event morphed into an informal talk at the Maples restaurant.

Many weekend meals offered up by local restaurants and organizations were also well attended, as were the Legion dances and open mic events, which attracted musicians from far and wide across the county.

Though the always popular Polar Bear Plunge was wisely postponed due to the cold, all of the other evens ran as planned.

The Heritage Craft Show, which was held for the first time this year at the Sharbot Lake United Church, hosted 10 vendors, and also included demonstrations of willow basket weaving, quilting and crocheting by local artisans.

Congratulations to all the organizers, who put together another successful event. They wish to thank all the brave souls, who despite the bitter cold made this year’s festival an overwhelming success.

2016 Heritage Festival Run/Walk

by Joan Hollywood

This year 26 people and 3 dogs took part in the Family Day event, raising $210 for the outdoor rink fund. Taking advantage of the milder Monday weather, everyone completed their routes in anticipation of the yummy cookie medals waiting for them at the finish. The St. Lawrence College Employment Centre 10K winners were: 1st Jessica Devries, 2nd Tracy Holloway and 3rd Anne-Marie McAuslan; and 1st Zach Devries, 2nd Karl Kent, and 3rd Bob Harding. The Central Frontenac Heritage Committee 5K winners were: 1st Jean Holloway, 2nd Evelyn Harding, and 3rd Sandy Robinson; and 1st Rudy Hollywood, 2nd Denis Morel and 3rd Kyle Kinkley Dale. The Central Frontenac Oso Rec Committee 2K winners were: 1st Teagan Cox, 2nd Laura Bridge, and 3rd Caray Ford; and 1st Darrell Bridge, 2nd Doug Steele, and 3rd Peter McCauslan. TriRudy.Com presented two special awards: one to Brian Robinson for his volunteer work and one to Allison Bridge for her keen enthusiasm.

Those who attended this year's Frontenac Heritage Festival variety show on February 12 may recall one new and notable performer who took to the stage. Jen Argyle performed an impressive five-song set at the festival opener, which included a number of classic country and original tunes.

In both her sound and stage presence, she seemed the epitome of a seasoned performer. Appearing relaxed, and comfortable in front of a full house, she sang with such ease and naturalness that one would have thought her a veteran. Surprisingly, that is not the case.

Argyle first started singing publicly this past August, and she said that in fact she suffers from incredible stage fright. “I have been working really very hard to overcome it and it is still something that I have to consciously fight every time I get on stage to perform.”

Argyle, who teaches at Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna, has been singing in private for most of her life. She said she began singing and playing guitar in front of her students as an initial first step in playing publicly. Next, she was encouraged by friends to play at an open mic event in Kingston, where she was received very positively. “I was absolutely terrified and incredibly nervous when I did it but I had some friends there supporting me, which made it a bit easier and when I saw the positive response, it egged me on to keep trying.”

She has since performed at the Cove in Westport alongside Shawn McCullough and has made a number of videos of herself performing, which are now public on her own YouTube channel.

No stranger to music, Argyle studied classical guitar for years as a high school student in London, Ontario where she grew up but it was just this year that she decided to bring her talents to the public eye.

At the Heritage Festival show she nailed her covers of Merle Haggard's “Today I Started Loving You Again” and “The Way I Am” and Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire”. She also sang two of her own originals, “The Old Cowgirl in Me” and “One Silver Bullet at a Time” which were equally impressive.

Argyle says, “I always smile and try to convince myself that I am okay and I use a lot of positive self talk and visualizations before I get on stage to help me out.” She said her motto is, “Fake it till you make it”, a modus operandi that seems to be doing the trick. Argyle also practices on average two to three hours a day, which no doubt is a confidence builder.

Coming up is her first full length solo performance, which will take place at the Snow Road Community Centre on Thursday, February 25 from 7-9pm. She plans to sing more of her favorite country standards including traditional old country classics by George Jones, Loretta Lynn and others. She will also be performing 10 of her own original tunes.

Her family will be in attendance, something that Argyle says she finds nerve-racking but judging by her first local foray into the public spotlight at GREC, no doubt she will overcome. Her advice to other musicians/performers who may suffer from stage fright is, “ I always like to remember what my friend and fellow teacher Katie always tells me....'You can do hard things.' Believe it or not, it is true.”

Argyle is hoping to bring her talent to other musical venues in the area. Tickets for her Snow Road concert are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. For advance tickets call Don at 613-278-0958

Family Day was created as a kind of sanity day for Ontarians, an excuse to have a day off in February, the month that needed a day off the most but did not have one.

When it was created, the other option under consideration was to call it Heritage Day, and even though Family Day won out, the events that have sprung up over the years in Central and South Frontenac have always had a heritage feel to them.

The Frontenac Heritage Festival, a Central Frontenac-based event, was originally held later in the month but moved to the Family Day Weekend three years ago.

In South Frontenac, Family Day events at the Frontenac Arena included horse-draw wagon rides, snow-shoeing, an outdoor open fire-pit, skating, games and prizes, all events that could have been held 100 or 150 years ago at winter gatherings in the region.

In preparing articles for the Frontenac County 150th anniversary in 2015, a book was loaned to the Frontenac News as the potential basis for an article, and while we did not get to it last year, we thought it fitting to run the article this week

The Barretts of Bedford Township

In many ways, Michael Barrett epitomized Canada in the 19th Century. He was born in 1801, somewhere in Ireland and by 1851 he was settled on a farm located in between White and Potspoon Lakes, on or near what is now known as the Westport Road. There is a large pond, Barrett's Pond, which at that time was surrounded by the Barrett farm.

The records are a bit sketchy, but it appears Michael Barrett arrived in Kingston with his first wife in the 1840s or before. His first wife may have been Eleanora Casey, as a Michael Barrett and Eleanora Casey are listed as baptismal sponsors in the parish records of St. Patrick's Church in Railton from February 17th, 1844. There is no other record of his first wife's name, although they had four sons.

It is known that Michael Barrett married his second wife, Ann Maloney, in 1846 or 1847. According to family lore, both of them came from Ireland and had been widowed, and Ann had two children with her first husband, whose last name was Madden. Ann was 20 years younger than Michael. They had their first of eight children together in 1847.

It is not likely that all of their children lived together at any point, but the “one storey log house” in which the family was living on the 100 acre farm, according to the 1861 census, must have been pretty crowded.

The 100 acre farm, Lot 2, Concession 3 Bedford, had 4 acres of spring wheat, 2 acres of rye, 1 acre of peas, 3 acres of oats, 3 acres of buck wheat, 2 acres of Indian corn and 7 acres of pasture land. The rest of the land was made up of hay fields, and mostly wooded or wild areas.

In addition to farming, with which the whole family would have helped, Michael Barrett was also a “Path Master” for Bedford township. Path Masters in those days were people who ensured that local land owners put in their days of roadwork, which were required as part of local taxation. The Path Master also made sure that the work done was the right work for the roads and that it was done correctly.

Michael Barrett held this role in the community even though the census indicates that neither he, nor his wife Ann, could read or write.

The Barretts farmed at that location, eventually doubling the size of the farm to 200 acres, until they were elderly. In 1884, the farm was sold to two of their sons, William and James, for $1,000 each.

Michael Barrett died on March 24, 1892, and was buried at the nearby Sacred Heart Cemetery. The cause of death is listed as 'old age'. Ann Barrett died less than a year later, on February 7, 1893. She may have died because of a fall.

The lives and deaths of Michael and Ann Barrett take up only 14 pages of the 235-page book “We are the Barretts of Bedford Township” but it is really the foundation for the painstakingly researched, well illustrated book, which covers the genealogical record of all or most of the descendants of both of them. It also paints a pretty good picture of the way farming families intermingled and settled in the area; the way others migrated to Kingston, Napanee and other parts of Ontario and northern United States. It also chronicles tragic deaths due to illness, accident or war.

One of those tragic deaths was that of Anthony Barrett, the youngest son of Michael and Ann. According to family stories, when Anthony told his mother he was going to take a job on a log drive on the Napanee River for Rathbun's Lumber, Ann said “'Anthony don't go out on those log drives – you'll come back in a wooden box' and that's exactly what happened.” The accident reportedly took place while Anthony was running a raft on Depot Creek, north of the Bellrock mill, in late May or early June of 1880. He was 18. Log drives continued on Depot Creek each spring until 1905. A song was written about Anthony's death called “'Twas on the Napanee – the Ballad of Anthony Barrett”. The music has not survived but several verses of the lyrics have. Here are some of them.

“Come all ye tender parents/ a tale of woe I'll tell/ Of a brave and comely youth/ in Bedford he did dwell.

His parents doted on him/ he was their youngest son/ but now alas, he has gone from them/ his youthful days are done.

It was on the Napanee/ while rafting saw logs down/ he fell into the water there/ and there, alas, was drowned.

The day they brought this young man home/ it would grieve your heart full sore/ to see his old, aged father/ his old gray locks he tore.

Likewise his old, aged mother/ in anguish wept and cried/ as if her poor, dear heart would break/ since her darling boy had died.

The neighbours all, both young and old/ this young man did adore/ and well they might: they lost a friend/ whom they will see no more.”

In 2009, one of the Barrett descendants came across Anthony's headstone in the Sacred Heart Cemetery. The headstone was broken in two and was sinking into the ground. James T. Barrett and James Edward Madden, great great nephews of Anthony Barrett, took it upon themselves to repair and restore the headstone. The inscription etched into the base of the headstone reads “A mother's hope, a father's joy/ deaths hand here laid low/ God came and took our darling/ to his command we bow”.

The gradual decline of the farming communities is also a feature, as the permanent resident population of the township peaked in the 1880s and then began a long decline that continues to the present day. As farms were passed on from generation to generation and eventually sold off, in many cases, another economic driver is seen to be replacing the farming economy of Bedford Township. Farms were often bordered by lakes, White Lake and Potspoon Lake among them. And where there was once a large family farm there are often five or 10 cottage lots. The old farms, many of them with only foundations where houses and barns were, are either hay fields or even derelict fields that are slowly going back to forest.

Where there are now homes and homesteads separated by hundred of metres and rural lands that are partially cultivated or wild, in the late 19th Century there were mines, sawmills, villages, and post offices.

All that is left of Glendower Village is the Bedford Hall, and another village, Sangster, had disappeared without a trace. Other villages, such as Fermoy and Burridge, are now just collections of houses, but at one time each of them were known for some form of industry, be it a sawmill or two, a large cheese factory, or a mine.

Over 120 years after the death of Michael and Ann Barrett, the book, which was published in 2012 by James J. Barrett of Chelmsford, Ontario, is able to bring the past to life. The family names in the book, Madden and Hickey and Barrett, Noonan and Gibson alike, are still found on mailboxes on the roads in the area af Westport, White Lake and Buck Bay roads. Although they have scattered to the four winds, the Barretts are still present in Bedford Township.

The Bedford Historical Society is hosting an open house at the Bedford Hall on Saturday, Feb. 20 from 10am-3pm and all are welcome. For more information call Lois Webster at 613-375-6332

The Frontenac Heritage Festival went off as scheduled, more or less. Although the Polar Bear Plunge was cancelled due to cold, and the snowmobile trail ride was also canceled, due to lack of snow, all the other events went off. The cold did not bother the overnight campers at the winter campout in Arden on Friday night when the temperature plunged to minus 30 or so. Well, maybe it bothered them but here they are smiling nonetheless ...

Tay Valley Township is joining with its neighbours in the Perth and the townships of Drummond/North Elmsley and Beckwith in the 200th anniversary celebration of the Perth Military Settlement of 1816. In that year, the first wave of settlers came into the region after the War of 1812 and they were granted land in the municipalities surrounding Perth.

In Tay Valley, there are four signature events being planned by the municipality in addition to a number of events being put on by community groups and businesses.

The first of the signature events was the Tay Bells Winter Celebration at the Maberly fairgrounds and the Maberly hall. The event featured heritage-themed games and races, such as a plank race and a tug of war, horse-drawn wagon rides, hockey, and indoor games, as well as performances by Fiddlers & Friends and Jessica Wedden in the hall.

Organisers were pleased with the turnout, and members of the fire department as well as others provided a strong volunteer crew to make sure everything went as planned.

The weather was not exactly as wintry as one would expect in February, but that didn't stop people from enjoying themselves.

The other three signature events in Tay Valley are the Scotch Line History Fair at the EcoTay Farm on June 11 & 12; the Settlers Heritage Days and Lanark County Plowing Match on August 19 & 20; and finally a Betwixt and Between family potluck and dance on December 28 in the Stanleyville Hall.

A host of other events are scheduled, both in Tay Valley and the other municipalities throughout 2016. For a full list, go to lanarkcountytourism.com, click on the 200th anniversary icon, and then where it says “events page” on the next page. There are one or two events just about every weekend until the end of the year.

Fiber artist, felt maker and designer Zoë Emily Lianga's show at the MERA school house opened with a well-attended vernissage on February 5, and those who have an interest in felt will be fascinated by the diverse work of this talented artist.

The show, titled “Zoë Emily”, includes a wide assortment of felt wall hangings, wearable clothing and functional and decorative objects, all created with Lianga's keen eye for design, function and pure aesthetics.

Lianga grew up in Brooke Valley and now lives and works from her studio in Perth. Surprisingly she has only been felting for the last three years. A former student of fashion design who specialized in sewing, pattern making and haute couture, she learned the art of felting while on a trip to New Zealand. At a chance gallery stop she fell in love with the work of felt artist Raewyn Penrose, who happily shared her felt-making knowledge with Lianga.

When Lianga returned to Canada she decided to go “all in” with felt and has since dedicated her life to it. “Being able now to build my own fabrics from fibers is just so exciting and it’s opened up this whole new world where I can combine my pattern-making skills with my felt-making and create my designs from the ground up,” she said.

Her wearable art includes shawls, cowls, vests, and coats, some of which are so amazingly intricate and soft to the touch (the cowls especially) that they seem magically spun from mother of pearl. It's as though the pearly and opalescent surface of shells were whipped up in some kind of cotton-candy-like spinning machine and spun into a magically soft and shiny fiber.

Lianga creates these fabrics from scratch through a process called wet felting. She starts with the finest and softest of wools, including merino from New Zealand, alpaca sourced locally and from Peru, camel from China and yak from Nepal, all obtained from highly reputable sellers. Into these she mixes raw silk and other plant-based fibers. She begins each piece with raw wool that has been washed and carded. She next breaks it up into small individual wisps and lays them out into fine uniform sheets, building up the thickness of the layers. Her thinner cowls require just two layers whereas her heavier garments are comprised of five. The final layer is where the art happens. Lianga designs the top surface with patterns and shapes in colorful blends, then soap and water are applied to the piece, which is “worked over”, meaning it is vigorously rubbed, rolled and kneaded until all the fibers interlock, resulting in a single uniform piece.

Lianga's surfaces are exquisite. Her designs, mostly abstracts, harken back to her love of mathematics but some are more image-based and one cowl seems to depict a silhouetted tree landscape.

The colors are subtle and rich, with the silk adding that intrinsic shimmer, allowing the hues to change depending on the degree of reflected light or shade. Also of note are her felted flowers, which she makes in many varieties. The petals she treats as a painter might, with each changing in color from base to tip and with tiny felted balls hanging from the thin individual stamens.

Equally appealing are her functional felted and quilted bags, soft ovoid-like forms that are happily free standing and whose colors and patterning are well considered, creating a functional object that begs as much to be used as it does to be seen. Her large pillows are also dazzling; one catches the eye with its swirling blue and orange bulls-eye pattern. The show included a number of impressive large felted wall hangings that show that Lianga has an inherent sense of composition and aesthetic abilities. Her “Triangles” combines thin lines and bigger swathes of triangular-shaped forms that hang together in a perfectly balanced and yet tense composition. Some of her newer works lie in these larger hung pieces, like the triptych titled “ The Trio of Profiles”, which is comprised of three smaller quilted pieces in subtler shades, showing various silhouetted human forms. The first has one alone; the second two together; and the third has many. This new work has Lianga exploring a new technique, pre-felting, which is a two-step process. The imagery suggests that she seems to be moving away from geometric patterns and towards recognizable stylized imagery that tells a personal story.

The show runs until the end of February and is open to the public on Wednesdays from1-4pm and Thursdays from 11 am-2:30 pm. The MERA Schoolhouse is located at 974 Concession Road 9A in McDonalds Corners. For more information visit www.zoeemily.ca

Fiber artist, felt maker and designer Zoë Emily Lianga's show at the MERA school house opened with a well-attended vernissage on February 5, and those who have an interest in felt will be fascinated by the diverse work of this talented artist.

The show, titled “Zoë Emily”, includes a wide assortment of felt wall hangings, wearable clothing and functional and decorative objects, all created with Lianga's keen eye for design, function and pure aesthetics.

Lianga grew up in Brooke Valley and now lives and works from her studio in Perth. Surprisingly she has only been felting for the last three years. A former student of fashion design who specialized in sewing, pattern making and haute couture, she learned the art of felting while on a trip to New Zealand. Specifically, it was at a chance gallery stop that she fell in love with the work of felt artist Raewyn Penrose, who happily shared her felt-making knowledge with Lianga.

When Lianga returned to Canada she decided to go “all in” with felt and has since dedicated her life to it. “Being able now to build my own fabrics from fibers is just so exciting and it’s opened up this whole new world where I can combine my pattern-making skills with my felt-making and create my designs from the ground up,” she said.

Her wearable art includes shawls, cowls, vests, and coats, some of which are so amazingly intricate and soft to the touch (the cowls especially) that they seem magically spun from mother of pearl. It's as though the pearly and opalescent surface of shells were whipped up in some kind of cotton-candy-like spinning machine and spun into a magically soft and shiny fiber.

Lianga creates these fabrics from scratch through a process called wet felting. She starts with the finest and softest of wools, including merino from New Zealand, alpaca sourced locally and from Peru, camel from China and yak from Nepal, all obtained from highly reputable sellers. Into these she mixes raw silk and other plant-based fibers. She begins each piece with raw wool that has been washed and carded. She next breaks it up into small individual wisps and lays them out into fine uniform sheets, building up the thickness of the layers. Her thinner cowls require just two layers whereas her heavier garments are comprised of five. The final layer is where the art happens. Lianga designs the top surface with patterns and shapes in colorful blends, then soap and water are applied to the piece, which is “worked over”, meaning it is vigorously rubbed, rolled and kneaded until all the fibers interlock, resulting in a single uniform piece.

Lianga's surfaces are exquisite. Her designs, mostly abstracts, harken back to her love of mathematics but some are more image-based and one cowl seems to depict a silhouetted tree landscape.

The colors are subtle and rich, with the silk adding that intrinsic shimmer, allowing the hues to change depending on the degree of reflected light or shade. Also of note are her felted flowers, which she makes in many varieties. The petals she treats as a painter might, with each changing in color from base to tip and with tiny felted balls hanging from the thin individual stamens.

Equally appealing are her functional felted and quilted bags, soft ovoid-like forms that are happily free standing and whose colors and patterning are well considered, creating a functional object that begs as much to be used as it does to be seen. Her large pillows are also dazzling; one catches the eye with its swirling blue and orange bulls-eye pattern. The show included a number of impressive large felted wall hangings that show that Lianga has an inherent sense of composition and aesthetic abilities. Her “Triangles” combines thin lines and bigger swathes of triangular-shaped forms that hang together in a perfectly balanced and yet tense composition. Some of her newer works lie in these larger hung pieces, like the triptych titled “ The Trio of Profiles”, which is comprised of three smaller quilted pieces in subtler shades, showing various silhouetted human forms. The first has one alone; the second two together; and the third has many. This new work has Lianga exploring a new technique, pre-felting, which is a two-step process. The imagery suggests that she seems to be moving away from geometric patterns and towards recognizable stylized imagery that tells a personal story.

The show runs until the end of February and is open to the public on Wednesdays from1-4pm and Thursdays from 11 am-2:30 pm. The MERA Schoolhouse is located at 974 Concession Road 9A in McDonalds Corners. For more information visit www.zoeemily.ca