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PAGE 12, WI-ITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12,1987 WEI BUJLT A PROUD NEW FEELING Pi ces effectlv thru Saturday, August 15th.1987 We reserve the right to lmit quantites to normal famlly requirements. Savings shown ln this ad based on Metropoiltan Toronto current regular retails Some illustrations for design only and do flot necessarlly represent items on sale. Mary Ellen McQuay Forgotten art form revived INSTANT, REGULAR (VIVA DECAFFEINATED OR COLUMBIA 1M g) Nescafe Coftee 227 g JAR READY-TO -SERVE, ASSORTED VARIETIES Habitant Soups 28 FL OZ TIN By JANET BROWNE The revival- of a century-old, almost forgotten art form has provided Whitby photographer Mary Ellen McQuay with a rewar- ding career and a chance to relive the peace and solitude of rural life across Canada and worldwide. She bas become a- master of the art of hand painting black and white photographs, a technique developed by the - very first photographers who wanted to give added vitality to the colorless pic- tures of the past. "I have a tendency while doing my work to seek out and find those FàVW1 AVE L!~i ASSORTED FLAVOURS, LAYER OE Duncan Hines Cake Mixs1/uF 510 g PKG CANADA NO. 1, PRODUCI 0F CAUIFORNIA, THE NATURAL SNACK Red Seedless Grapes 218/kg l > OUTSIDE CUT. EYE REMOVED Boneless Round Roast 515kg Wîîli THIS - SAVE .50 * *WuîH THIS SAVE .20 COUPON CUO ORANGE PEKOE* * ASSORTED VARIETIES *Tetley .g fl **Heinz 45Om *Tea Bags opkg 455mauc' Lquez9:t LIMIT1 item per coupon. OFFER VALIO thru August 1th. 19W7 LIMIT i1 item per coupon. OFFER VALID thi'u AigiJst 15th, 1981 ~ature price without coupon 249) (etr rice wthout coupon 1.19) VOC 0a30r A&P THICKSON PLACE WHITBY,'70.THICKSON RD. Se smaller, quieter places, " says McQuay, whose childhood memnories of life on a 150-acre farm have been a constant source of in- spiration. Now living in downtown Whitby in a house built in the 1920's, McQuay seems to miss Whitby as it was when the population was about 5,000, and her farm in Otter Creek was flot overrun with subdivision growth. "I'd certainly have preferred to have seen Whitby stay a smai) town," she explains, "but that's really quite unrealistic, since it is 5(> close to the city. But even though it's growing, it stili has a smnall town ambiance. " Although McQuay works in both black and white and color, her most remarkable photographs are the ones she has hand painted herseif. "You have much more cont roi Over the colors in the phoîoiir.iph says Mc(quay in explanation of why she enjoys the hand painting. "You control what gets colored, which colors to use, and the depth of color needed." The subtie tojies of a black and white image are contrasted by spiashes of color on flower petals, outside open windows, or on roof- tops of quiet grey-white houses. Some of the black and white photos are best left alone, and remain un- cùlored. "I think my work is simple," ex- plains McQuay, who took Up her hobby turned-career after taking a course in Maine. 11 like to keep ex- traneous things from the frame, and just leave the basics. " Even the paper onto which McQuay prints the images is the original kind used by photography pioneers. It is fibre-based, and holds the color much better than the plastic, more modemn paper now used. "If you use this traditional method of photography and prin- ting, the print will flot fade, and will outlast us for a long, long time. " Three years was aIl it took for McQuay to make a name for herself both locally, and across Canada. Her prints are available at Picture This an .d That on Brock St. in Whitby, and she bas sold art in Toronto galleries, and ini art exhibitions across Canada. She says she averages about a show a month, and her work is included in more than 200 private collections jr Canada and the United States. Keep 'open mind' "If there's any pressure in this, career, it's about fînding a balance between being true to your artfomnî. and at the same time, trying to make a living," explains McQuay. "You can't be thinking, 'Yeah, that picture will sell' or you're defeating the whole purpose. You have to go out with a totally open mind and follow your own instincts. " In addition, McQuay has published articles in Canadian photography magazines, and she has done art workshops to en- courage other photographers. Her photographs seil from about $50 $215.