Newcomers Got Talent

Creativity on Display was the theme for our March 4th KW Newcomers monthly social meeting. Members were encouraged to share their talents by bringing in their creative works for display and conversation. It was a wonderful evening for friendly conversation and getting to know those presenting members in more ways than one!!!!

Who would have thought that Sandy Clyne was such a great Watercolour artist? She told us that "she paints because he has to and the flowers that speak to her in her gardens must find their way to her canvas."

Anne Gilchrist wowed us with her wonderful knitting, mostly done out of love for family members. Her sweaters were unique and made with interesting yarn. You will never find Anne sitting idle as she will either have cards or knitting needles in her hands.

Shirley Dorton is also an amazing knitter and crocheter who sells her wares far too cheaply!! Jockie could not resist trying on one of her brilliant red hats. She loves making colourful slippers as well. Shirley claims that knitting keeps her calm and is the best manicure going. She will be found either with knitting or her dog Candi in her arms.

Carmen Eick claims to not be a creative person, but has found a fun outlet for her imagination by making Sand Art. She finds various shaped glass containers and fills them with coloured sand and found objects such as sea shells or paper tequila umbrellas. The container on the left is in the shape of a Christmas stocking!!!

Joan Ellis's creativity knows no bounds. Her display featured quilts, cross stitching and scrap booking. Joan brought in her very first quilt as well as one that was made from a sampler course. She recommends getting a few instructions!! You may not know but Joan belongs to the writer's group and is cateloguing stories to go along with photos from her life experiences to leave for her children and grandchildren.

Now you get to see our club president in a new light!!! Cecilia Gilbert has a family tradition of making Ginger Bread Houses at Christmas time and later sharing them with other children in the neighbourhood when it comes time to partake. What a unique way to let those creative juices flow. Nothing pre fab here. She bakes and carves the walls and makes a special builders icing to attach the candies. Well with the recent birth of a new grandchild, Cecilia will be doing this for years to come.

Jockie Loomer-Kruger, who never lets any little treasure pass her by, brought in a display of rug hooking, writing and whimsical folk art. Most of us had never heard the term "Naive Art". This is the genre in which Jockie has painted for years. She calls it "art by and adult through the eyes of a child" and yep, Jockie is a big kid!! You could not go to see her current art show at the Kitchener Library without smiling and recalling your own childhood memories. Although most of her naive pieces were at the Library show, Jockie showed us a collection of naive art calendars produced in Quebec that featured her work for many years. Each of her pieces tells a story and gladdens the heart.

You could not imagine the wonderful collection of quilting and rug hooking produced by Lynda Cunningham. She is one prolific lady and yes, another big kid amongst us. Like Jockie, Lynda loves to incorporate found objects and a huge variety of fabrics into her work, and many of her quilts also have a whimsical, naive quality to them. Each piece has a story to tell and Lynda says she never has idle hands either as there are many more stories just waiting to be told!!! Lynda quilts for family and friends but also volunteers a tremendous amoung of her time making lap quilts for community groups. Lynda is indeed a skilled needleworker with an amazing imagination and a big heart!!!

Did you know that we have an incredible weaver and seamstress in our club? Sandy Hostetter brought in several articles of clothing that she had made, some weaving and a photo album full of pictures of her work along with sampler illustrative pieces. She has worked with a huge variety of yarns and fabrics over the years and is self taught. Sandy has been a member of the Weaver's Guild as well. Her clothing shows a huge amount of patience, labour, love and creativity, not to mention the signs of a skilled craftswoman. Did I say hippe??? Well take a look at her picture, which I had to implore from her I might add, and you can imagine how unique her pieces are.

This where I get to toot my own horn!!! Stained Glass has been a huge passion in my life for over 27 years. I have made pieces for Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian Woman Astronaut and Governor General Lincoln Alexander. It is a joy to think of my pieces spreading to many different countries in the world. In getting ready to particate in this event, I decided to make a book of all my work over the years. It ended up being a 150 page full colour book with over 450 photos and took me more hours than I care to remember. I made a similar book for our family of my mom's quilting and rug hooking after she passed away, so with that experience behind me I decided to produce this book for my own children down the road!! It was great fun writing the stories that went with the pieces. I also had fun developing a slide show of all the photos, which you will see in the above photo running in the background on a lap top computer. My business is called Hooked On Glass because once I started doing glass it became a huge passion. Out went the photos of my kids from my wallet and in went the photos of my glass pieces. One of my greatest joys is seeing the expression on my client's faces when they receive their unique orders. I rest on the pleasure I know people feel watching the light play on their glass as the suns rays pass through it at different times of the day. Click here view the complete slideshow photos of my stained glass pieces to date.

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I think this was one of the most interesting and rewarding programs I have experienced at Newcomers during the three years I have been a member. Thanks so much to Jockie and Sandy Hostetter for organizing the event. There was a lot of work going on behind the scenes and also with set up the night of the event. Thanks to all those members who put out such an extra effort to lug in all their work and share their stories with everyone. We are a friendship club welcoming new people into the area and opening our hearts and our doors to each other as we laugh and share the joys and sorrows in our lives. Celebrating creativity is one of life's greatest pleasures. This was indeed and evening to be remembered.