Local Artists Featured in National
Magazine
by Morri
Mostow, Record Correspondent
Knowlton
Photos by David Anderson
Several local
artists received national recognition in the June issue of Chatelaine magazine. Their
products were displayed in the lavish photographs showcasing the 19th-century
Knowlton heritage home of Nils Fluck and Jodi Mallinson. Fluck derived a great deal of
satisfaction from restoring their gracious post-and-beam clapboard home purchased in 1998.
Owned prior to 1861 by Sarah Knowlton, the house was rolled down the street in the 1920s
from its original location on what is now Victoria Street to its present location on
Benoît Ave. “It’s easy for me to fall in love with a house that needs
work,” says Fluck, who studied woodworking at high school in England from one of the
country’s finest woodworkers. “Nothing much had been done to the house for more
than half a century so it still retained most of its original fittings. I changed a few
things but strived to keep it true to the period.”
Owners of
Hurricane Grace in downtown Knowlton, Fluck and Mallinson are great believers in
supporting local artists and the local economy. “We design and produce all our
clothes locally ourselves, so we’re a part of the same economy that we want to see
grow and flourish.”
“It was
wonderful to be able to decorate the house with original pieces from dozens of different
local artists,” adds Mallinson. “Beyond their intrinsic beauty, they give the
house an authentic Townships feel.”
All the
artists featured here, and many more, will open their studios to the public on the Tour
des Arts, from July 14 to 22. For more information, call 1-800-565-8455 or visit www.acbm.qc.ca/tour-des-arts.
Hurricane
Grace, located at 285 Knowlton Road, Knowlton, carries women’s and children’s
clothing designed by Jodi Mallinson. For more information, call (450) 243-0164.
***
Jane Walker, known
for her gay hand-painted designs on textiles, is also an accomplished water colourist. She
started painting t-shirts, hats and canvas bags in Montreal 20 years ago and branched out
from there. Four years ago, she and her artist husband Jack Walker left Montreal to settle
permanently in their West Bolton country home, where they now work from home-based
studios.
Jane Walker
creates one-of-a-kind painted pillows, pillow shams, floor cloths (the modern equivalent
of oil cloth), linens, and decorative fire screens (surrounded by twig frames created by
her husband). While Jodi Mallinson chose Walker’s bright wildflower motif for her
living room throw cushions and bedroom pillow shams, Walker paints many other designs,
including old-style furniture, reptiles, birds, animals and other motifs “mostly
inspired by nature,” she says. Jack Walker, a woodworker, specializes in furniture
and folk art (bird feeders and twig pieces).
Jane Walker, JCW Design, in West
Bolton. For more information, call (450) 243-6258.
***
Robin Badger
marries beauty with function in her trademark line of blue-pottery tableware. All her
pieces go in the oven, microwave and dishwasher, making them perfect for everyday use.
“I pay attention to details like weight, performance, ease of use,” says Badger.
“My pitchers have to be beautiful but they also have to pour well and be sturdy. I
live with all my designs. My kids load the dishwasher with them. We try them all out
first.”
Each original,
signed piece from her potter’s wheel is decorated with a triangular abstract pattern
imprinted using an original ceramic stamp “to give it a classic touch without being
dressy” or the popular wheat sheaves that she carves into each dish while still damp.
Badger designs her serving pieces to be multipurpose: a pasta bowl can double as fruit
bowl or be used to bake a betty in the oven. “These are the kinds of pieces I reach
for in my kitchen all the time,” says Badger.
Badger and artist
husband Robert Chartier also produce custom architectural tiles, for use as backsplashes,
wall murals and tabletops. They are currently working on a master tile for Mallinson and
Fluck, for use as a border above the wainscoting in their Hurricane Grace boutique. This
textured tile will reflect the store’s blue-and-white gingham theme.
Robin Badger, Down to Earth, in
West Bolton. For more information, call (450)
243-6258.
***
Adding a
finishing, country look to the pine floors of Mallinson’s and Fluck’s restored
dining room is a large, oval, braided rug in beige and navy, custom designed and produced
by Anne Johnston in her West Brome home-based studio. A regular at local craft shows,
Johnston began creating her braided products six years ago, when she bought and learned
the business from a woman down the road.
Johnston
specializes in braided oval or round area rugs (in sizes up to 8’ x 10’), hall
runners, stair treads, chair pads and placemats. After choosing the colours with the
customer, she machine-braids the yarn and assembles the product on her sewing machine.
Made of sturdy polypropylene yarn, her old-style, homey creations are both washable and
durable.
Anne Johnston,
Brome Braids, in West Brome. For more information, call (450) 243-5432.
***
In daily use in
the bathrooms of Mallinson’s and Fluck’s heritage home are a variety of handmade, cold-pressed soaps from the soap factory
at Station Knowlton. This funky old-style country emporium cum café makes dozens of kinds
of all-natural, handcut soaps — from goat’s milk, to watermelon, to sage and
cedar — and sells a wide range of bath accessories, gift items and antique
reproductions.
Station
Knowlton at 7 Mont Echo, Knowlton. For more information, call (450) 242-5862 or visit www.stationknowlton.com.