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Taw -- OGL i) yeadairiseny FAT VENTA TOON Big city artist adjusts to life in a small village She thought country living "would be quiet, but life is, ah, hectic for multi-media artist Den- nice Hall, On this particular January after- noon, she attempts to talk about her work to a local reporter, while her one and a half year old son, Fletcher, balances a bottle of ap- ple juice and snatches a pen from the reporter's camera bag. He then pops the pen into the studio's: woodstove, and announces his dia- per needs changing. At the same time, the family's small black puppy decides she has to go out- side to do her business.- Dennice's work is promptly for- gotten, as she becomes a whirling windmill of motherhood. Finally she sits down again, but not be- fore Fletcher swipes a paint brush Ey 3 er mache friend "Ralph." "from the table. "Not my brush, Fletcher," she pleads, taking it away from the tyke. "I'm sorry," she apologizes rofusely to the reporter. "This is re awful." But it's not awful. If anything, a visit to the artist's charming Cae- ~~ --~sarea cottage is a treat. It's a unique little house, ainted up with bright colours and filled with the whimsical art of this highly imaginative transplanted Toronto artist. In the sun porch, amidst season- ally abandoned lawn chairs and _ summer paraphanalia, sits Ralph, a chunk man wi clinations. : . In the living room is a comfort- able chair, with delicate, hand- painted upholstery. Beside the chaif, a s agsy plaster mutt, a true Heinz 57 with crazed eyes, wrestles a blue ball. The dog is so wildly lifelike, small children in- variably attempt to take the ball life-sized papier mache obvious blue collar in- .. Dennice's son 'Fletcher has found the perfect for a cuddle--cozied up on the lap. of his mom's papl- away. - ) And in the dining room/studio, on a pastel rectangular cube, Reishes Moon Man, a skinny fel- ow with long legs squeezed into psychedelic pink pants, and a head shaped like a quarter moon. Moon Man strikes an incredible resemblance to the "Mac Tonight" character on recent McDonald's commercials. One might assume Dennice received her inspiration for Moon Man from the commer- cials, but Moon Man, in fact, is five or six years old. He was created for display at conventions and trade shows, and much traffic has passed by this unusual fellow. Friends have sug- gested Dennice sue the giant ham- burger chain--at one point, she seriously thought about it, but Py place then realized she probably wouldn't stand a chance against the army of legal counsel under the golden arches. Besides, she's just too busy ad- justing to life in a small village to fight for the Moon Man. -Up until May of '87, Dennice, husband Allan, and Fletcher were about as urbanized as urban can got. Allan worked (and still does) or the City in an upwardly mo- bile position, Dennice showed her artwork (and still does) at one of Toronto's. most éx¢lusive small galleries, Prime. And they lived in an ultimate "downtown" location. With every major shopping con- venience across the street, and Bay St. just a stone throw's away, "It was real downtown, It's the clos- est to being on the freeway that I can think of." 'But they had a yearning to get -away from it all for the summer, so Dennice scanned the classifieds to find a retreat not too far away from the big smoke. She saw an ad for a place on Lake Scugog and the name rang a vague bell. Before they knew it, the trio was packed up and living in a tiny View Lake cottage with no sink, no shower--just a toilet--aptly called "The Ritz." Despite the inconviences, they fell in love with the simple life. "After a week we said, we can't go back to the city!" Dennice re- calls. So they bought a place in Caesarea, moved in September, and haven't regretted their decision one iota. With one car that Allan uses to get to work, Dennice admits, "This is really isolated for me, but I love it. My friends all think I'm nuts." ) Though she claims to be shy, Dennice's outgoing personality is already attracting new friends in the Scugog area, and she's finding the peace and quiet of Caesarea is inspirational to her work. Her - work, in turn, is wildly inspira- tional. - "It's true, I have a vivid imagin- ation," she laughs. "Everyone asks me what my dreams are, like." She claims her dreams are bor- ing because she is exhausted from coming up with so many ideas in her waking hours. And she never did dream of be- coming an artist. Until she was in her early 20's, she fancied herself as a writer, penning stories and working on a "But then I sort of totally turned direction when I was 25," she says. Dennice began doodling and "someone expressed interest in my work." From that point on, she forgot all about becoming the Great Ca- nadian Novelist, and settled in as an artist. "When I changed direction I put so much energy into visual art I've left writing behind." She spent four years enrolled at the Ontario College of Art, experi- menting with all types of mixed media, graduated, and launched into teachers' college at the Uni- versity of Toronto. Which she wondered about. "I asked myself, why? Why am I doing this? Because I've always . said, those who can't do, teach." She wanted something reliable, she figures in retrospect, some- thing less tenuous than the fickle art world of which she dearly wanted to be a part of. So she taught art, food classes (she once was a chef), and, of all things, hairdressing to a techinical school so tough "they had a full- time policeman on staff." She enjoyed teaching, but even- tually got the bug to devote her- self to art--and promptly started a major business creating hand- painted costume jewellery, that was distributed in some 1,800 stores across Canada, including Eaton's. Gradually her work became bet- ter known in the city, and sh has been invited to participate in sev- eral interesting projects-«including designing post cards for sale in city shops and art stores; and creating an unusual backdrop for a magazine's fashion spread. Although she started out con- centrating on ink and waterco- lours, Dennise has stretched her limitations to include any materi- als she can get her hands on. For Christmas this year, she trans- formed wooden clothes pegs into fanciful angels. She makes glam- vol If you put a tuxedo and sunglasses on the ."Moon Man", wouldn't he remind you of a certain TV com- merical for hamburgers? Artist Dennice Hall created this friendly fellow nearly six years ago. Makes you wonder, no? Fido Is the perfect household pet. He's friendly, playful, and yet he doesn't eat much and he certainly doesn't shed. Dennice Hall Is famous for her papier mache critters. ourous earrings out of paper. Her formerly ordinary briefcase is now a vision of painted fantasy. . "I like finding things and mak- ing things from found materials," she says with a happy shrug. Her newest endeavours include imaginative map-making, learn- ing Japanese orgame, and painting up fabulous boxes and containers. And she's looking around Port Perry for outlets to display and sell her work--so far, the reception she has received is positive. Dennice admits its hard to find new connections in a new place, but she genuinely loves the arca and wants to get involved any way she can. "I have really severed my ties with the city, and I'd like to be in- volved with this community. "I've been fortunate in the past because people like my work and have come to me. Now, I have to make a fresh start." PASSPORT PHOTOS Ready in 5 Minutes PHIL WALMSLEY PHOTOGRAPHY -- NEW ADDRESS -- 117 Perry St., Port Perry 985-0744