The Escarpment Artists are hosting their Country Art Tour on June 22 and 23 across five studio locations in Kilbride, Carlisle, Campbellville, and Milton.
The work of 18 artists will be available to peruse and purchase over the course of this tour. Fine art, jewelry, pottery, and metal art will be amongst the offerings, and participants can choose to go to any number of the five studios between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on both days.
The first two art tour locations are in Carlisle; the first (at 331 Progreston Rd.) will feature the art of watercolourists Marnie and Bill Brehm, painter Jenny Panda, and potter Natalia Buchok. The second location (2 Palomino Dr.) will showcase the work of potter and ceramicist Monika Schaefer, painter Linda Ross Gallagher, and the wire-wrapped jewelry of Angelina Trkuja.
Location three, 6459 Cedar Springs Rd. in Burlington’s Kilbride neighbourhood, will show the largest number of artists in one place, with the work of Diana Tusznski, Louise Botha, Lois Freese, and Adrienne Reed, all painters; Anne-Ellice Pascoe, who creates stained glass art; Ursula McDermid, whose mediums are ink and paint; and Harold Dickert, a luthier (for those not familiar with the term, including the writer of this article, a luthier is someone who crafts stringed instruments with a sound box and a neck — guitars, in Dickert’s case).
Head further north to Campbellville, at 8307 Guelph Line, to find the studio of painter Anna Olszowka and wood sculptor Davoud Khosravi. Go further north still to Milton, to the studio of potter Denise Keats, at 13655 Fifth Line Nassagaweya. And there is no need to make Carlisle your starting point and Milton the end; the beauty of the Country Art Tour is that you can make your own route, as well as seeing the studios and work of more than one artist.
This year’s studio tour and sale will also support CORE Burlington by way of salamander art for sale, which may vary by studio location. CORE (or Conserving Our Rural Ecosystems) is committed to preventing the expansion of Nelson Aggregate’s quarry operations in the Mount Nemo area, preserving the natural features of the Escarpment, and protecting the endangered Jefferson salamander.
It is the Jefferson salamander, of course, that has inspired the salamander-themed art that will be at each art studio location this weekend. The Escarpment Artists also collaborated with CORE earlier this year, creating one-of-a-kind large-scale Jefferson salamander characters, appropriately named Jeff and Sally, which were hidden around Burlington for kids to find over March Break. Now, salamanders will feature on items like Schaefer’s reusable name tags and gift tags; the proceeds of the salamander art will go to CORE.
The Escarpment Artists work to make their work accessible and interesting to art lovers of all kinds, with art cards as an entry point all the way through to commissionable custom work from some artists. For more information on the artists and the Country Art Tour, go to www.escarpmentartists.com/.
