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B6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, May 3, 2000 Arts & Entertainment Oakville Beaimr Entertainment Editor: Carol Baldwin 845*3824 (Extension 254) Fax: 837-5567 The sky's the limit Artist Tom Sachade doesn' t limit his work to canvass B y C a r o l B a ld w i n / / K ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR T uscany, an area in Italy that conjures up images of olive groves, vineyards, stone churches, and quaint villages, is more than just a memory for one Oakville couple. They sleep every night surrounded by the richness of its pastoral beauty. And Tom Sachade is the man who made that possible for them. The Oakville artist painted a mural on of the couple's 16-by-14 foot master bedroom, featuring a different aspect of the Tuscany landscape on each wall that seam lessly merge into one scene. "I did a mock up for them on watercolour paper and stapled the four panels together for a 3-D effect," says Sachade, adding that his estimated time of 92 hours to complete the job was right on. Sachade, a graduate of the illustration program at the Ontario College of Art and the fine arts program at Guelph University, has also studied computer graphics at Sheridan. He has worked commercially as an illustra tor and in the world of health-care where he added artis tic touches to both the inside and outside of retirement and nursing homes. But now he wants to get back to his roots - creative art. "My heart is in doing art. But I decided not to limit m yself to any one field," he says. "I will paint anything that you can paint." And by that he means anything - furniture, walls (with faux finishes or murals), canvas (portraits, etc.), paper, the list is endless. "When I started I thought more narrowly, but that's what I like about art, you can open so many doors and become more flexible." But despite Sachade's flexibility and diversity, his artistic eye never loses sight of the final product. For example, he doesn't just paint antique furniture, he repairs it if necessary. And if painting would spoil the period piece, he will simply strip it and coat it with a clear finish. One 1910 high chair that he refinished had a rotted base and was missing a tray. Looking at the before and after pictures in chronological order is like watching the pieces of a puzzle come together to create a flawless antique. For another client he reproduced a portion of the print in the fabric of her dining-room chairs onto the top of her table. And another satisfied customer is sur rounded by an English country garden in her bathroom, complete with topiary tree and birds on branches. "1 tend to work realistically because I am an illustra tor," Sachade explains. Sachade teaches art part-tim e at Redeem er University (formerly Redeemer College) in Ancaster, which he says offers him a nice balance. In fact, he adds, he worked on the Tuscany mural every second day and taught on the days in between, which gave him the balance he needed, artistically and physically. "I didn't anticipate how physically strenuous a pro ject of that scale would be," he says of the mural, which included a "wispy sky" on the ceiling. Sachade says he also likes to buy pine craft materials and alter them into one-of-a-kind artifacts. "Gallery work is another area I would like to experi ment with," he adds, noting his penchant for anything challenging and artistic. And when it comes to gallery work, Sachade works in all media - oils, acrylics, watercolours, pencil, pen and ink, chalk. "I would love to have an exhibit of 10 or 20 pieces with a theme in mind. My goal is to become known as an Oakville artist." And his m ulti-dimensional thinking may just do that for him as he devises more ways to make money as an Photo by Peter C. McCusker Oakville artist Tom Sachade and the landscape mural of T\iscany, Italy he painted on the bedroom walls and ceiling for an Oakville couple. artist. One such idea is to get his art work Another goal of this m ulti-talented has a relationship with several profession on an image bank on the internet. Oakville artist is to have some of his furni al sewers who put the products together for "Then if people decide to use an image, ture, artifacts, and ultimately his paintings customers," he explains, confident that his they would pay the image bank and the and drawings in his wife Janet's home dec finished work would complement the items artist would get royalties," he explains. "A orating store on Speers Road. in her store. "Once I have a collection, I lot of times artists have work stored away "Fairhome Fabrics prim arily carries would like to get it into Janet's store." in their homes that nobody sees, collecting drapery and upholstery fabrics, but Janet Right now Sachade is working under his dust. They can get on the web and actually also has finished things as well - bedding, company name - Skinny Pig Productions, make money with it." pillows, hardware, blinds, drapes. And she and can be reached at 825-1322. Give your life guidance. Digital Cable TV from COGECO is here! COGECO Digital Cable comes w ith the Digital Navigator, an on-screen interactive view ing guide th a t lets you plan your view ing in advance. Program it to find your favourite shows, rem ind you when th e y're on, and autom atically switch channels. You can even use the Digital Navigator to block out programs you d o n 't w ant your kids to see. The Digital Navigator from COGECO. I t 's the guidance you've been looking for. Bundle it up -i and save up to 3 5 % ! 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