Please join artist Susan Barton-Tait and curator Maeve Hanna for the opening of a new show – The Ladies: Isabella – at Storefront Studio, 1144 4th Ave on Thursday august 25 starting at 4.30pm.

Light refreshments will be served.

Help support local artists – come, take a look and say hello!

The Ladies illuminates Barton-Taits ancestry, FRANK PEEBLES / PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN AUGUST 23, 2016 07:44

“The legacy of Isabella McKenzie is built of pulp and human spirit. The story is almost wordless.

Barton-Tait is a professional artist and she introduces her 19th century ancestor to the world in the frame of her picture window at 1144 Fourth Ave. That is where she operates Storefront Studio, with its regular art display in the main street-facing showcase. This one, a sculpture and mixed media examination of Isabella McKenzie’s life, is large enough that she is opening the doors for the public to come right in and spend time with the details.”…..

– See more at http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/entertainment/local-a-e/the-ladies-illuminates-barton-tait-s-ancestry-1.2329230#sthash.mivlpkEm.dpuf

The Ladies: Isabella, detail

detail, The Ladies: Isabella

A Necklace for her Daughters, detail

detail, The Ladies: Isabella

Isabella’s pin cushion

cast paper teapot, tea cup, saucer and chair

detail, The Ladies: Isabella

baby shoes knitted by Isabella

detail, A Monument to Isabella

Isabella’s lace

detail, Pendants for Rita

The opening was awesome; so many people with enthusiasm for a fun artistic event in the downtown, tea from David’s Tea, and canapes prepared by Maeve Hanna and myself. It was great to see everyone.

Thank you to Silvia Morrison for the wonderful comment and great photos of the canapes and the studio. Both Maeve and I were truly appreciative.

Silvia Morrison

An exquisite delicately crafted exhibit and gallery space. Many of the images imprinted on the pulp evoked ancient and sacred objects. The food was fabulously presented and delicious!!!!

Thank-you for an enjoyable experience

studio image -boxes: Close to the skin and Held in the Hand

studio image – kitchen

opening reception

The Ladies: Jean, Rita & Helen; Work by Susan Barton-Tait; Curated by Maeve Hanna

The Ladies: Jean, Rita & Helen

The next exhibition in the series curated by Maeve Hanna features the Ladies: Jean, Rita, and Helen. They were Isabella’s daughters.

Rita was a teacher, bookkeeper, single mother, grandmother, breadwinner for Isabella and Helen, holder of the ancestral memories; Jean was a nurse, an independent woman, a financial whiz, a traveler; Helen was also a nurse, a great storyteller, and a very funny person. Their lives reflect the lives of women after the two world wars and during the depression – they were independent, resourceful, thriving on their abilities to survive whatever life threw their way with humour and intelligence.

As was the custom in the mid-1900’s, playing bridge was a very important social activity in any small town. Rita was an avid bridge player and had bridge cloths and various accessories for 6 tables of bridge – table numbers, score tally cards, pencils. I have used the bridge cloths as a base for casting handmade paper into which I embossed various articles from the ladies’ lives ( possessions handled by them) as well as embedding prints of paleolithic artifacts. The prints resonate with memories of the touch of the ancient wearer since they were “held in the hand” or were carried “close to the skin” by Stone Age peoples.

Jean was the adventurer, she traveled to Paris in the 1930’s, throughout the United States, she drove a car and a boat, embraced new inventions, played the stock market to great success, married in her 40’s, and lived an independent life.

Helen was a nurse who returned home in the 1930’s to look after an ailing aunt and then her mother Isabella. Her sense of humour served her well over her long life of 100 years.