C2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 31, 1999 AUTHOR EVENTS! EASTER GIFTS! Bookers Bookstore, 172 Lakeshore Rd. E., Oakville *844-5501 • bookers @ sympatico.ca HARDCOVER NON-FICTION 1. NOT DEM) YET, THE UNAUTHO RIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY D R R BU CKM AN (Brunch A pr 25) 2. NOTES FROM A BIG COUNTRY B ILL BRYSON 3. ELEGY FOR IRIS JOHN BAYLEY 4. LIFE STRATEGIES PHILLIP M cGRAW 5. ALL TOO HUMAN, A POLITICAL EDUCATION GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS 6. SURPASSING WONDER, THE INVENTION OF THE BIBLE & THE T4LMUDS D. KENSON 7. COURAGE TO BE RICH SUZE ORMAN 8. THE ENDURANCE CARO LINE ALEXANDER 9. BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY H ENRI NO U W EN 10. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK 1 NEAL WALSH PAPERBACK NON-FICTION 1. BECOMING HUMAN JEAN VANIER 2. PATH TO LOVE DEEPAK CHOPRA 3. BOOM BUST AND ECHO 2000 DAVID FOOT 4. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN FRANCES MAYES 5. THE MAN MHO LISTENS TO HORSES M ONTY ROBERTS 6. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE CHRISTIAN SOUL JACK CANFIELD 7. THE ILLUMINATED HAGGADAH M ICHAEL SHIRE 8. WOMEN'S BODIES, WOMEN'S WISDOM CHRISTINE NORTHRUP 9. TALKING TO HEAVEN JAM ES VAN PRAAGH 10. INTO THIN AIR JO N KRAKAUER HARDCOVER FIC T IO N 1. CINNAMON GARDENS SHYAM SELVADURAI (G.G. 6 Giller Nomination, Brunch, Apr. 25) 2. THE SPIRIT CABINET PAUL QUARRINGTON (Brunch, Apr. 25) 3. ELIZABETH AND AFTER M ATT COHEN 4. LOVE OF A GOOD WOMAN ALIC E M UNRO (Giller Winner '98) 5. BLINDNESS JOSE SARAM AG O (Nobel Winner '98) 6. BE COOL ELMORE LEONARD 7. SINGLE & SINGLE JOHN LE CARRE 8. A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES RUTHRENDELL 9. THE TESTAMENT JO H N GRISHAM 10. VITTORIO, THE VAMPIRE AN N E RICE PAPERBACK FIC T IO N 1. GETTING OVER EDGAR JOAN BARFOOT (Author event Thun. Apr. 15) 2. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA ARTH U R G O LD E N 3. THE READER BERNHARD SCHLINK 4. TARA ROAD MAEVE BINCHY 5. BARNEY'S VERSION MORDECA1RICHLER (Bk. Clubs. Apr.) 6. SUCH A LONG JOURNEY ROHINTON M ISTRY (Go v. Gen. Winner, Booker Norn) 7. STORM OF THE CENTURY STEPHEN KING 8. WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR JO H N IRVING 9. STREET LAWYER JO H N GRISHAM 10. DEEP END OF THE OCEAN JACQUELYN MITCHARD Best B e t s I provided courtesy of B o o Ic e rs o o o k s t o r » _ s p * o l o t o r c a » r s « to o o k o iu t> » Her colourful flowers come from within C olour has always intrigued Joanne Currah, and flowers make her happy. Hence her colourful paintings of flowers - all kinds, shapes, and colours of flowers. And they don't always match the shapes and colours of the real thing. Currah just goes with the flow. "I always see flowers in different ways. It allows me freedom for the shapes. Nowhere else can I use colour like I can with flowers and that's what excites me," she explains. "Early on (in a painting) I stop looking at them (the real flowers), and it takes over from inside. My flowers have a personality all their own." That personality, she explains, is probably a reflection of her mood at the time. She refers to herself as a mood painter, and her style of painting as self-directed. Most of her paint ings are watercolours, however, she has started to outline the flowers in acrylic. And although she claims to vacillate between realism and impressionist painting, she admits that the acrylic outlines tend to keep the flowers more realistic. "They have a look of being embossed. It's different, and I like to be different," she says. When Currah began painting, her florals were bold and bright, abundant with deep, rich colours. But now, she says, her colours are mellowing. "I'm still using lots of colour, but it's purer and clearer colour - light and bright. It seems to be where I'm going. It makes me happy," she explains, attributing her love of colour to her love for Claude Monet's paintings and his use of colour. "I'm playing with visual colour, complementary colours, to make the colour vibrate and sing. For instance, blue and yellow are complementary colours, but they will excite the eye more if you drop a bit of violet in. It's quite a challenge." Her husband, who has a background in engineering, does all Currah's framing; and she says the quality he provides is represented in her prices. "I use very expensive frames to complement my paintings...So you're not just getting the painting, you're getting top quality framing, too," she says. "I vowed that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it my way. It's the whole presentation. People who are famil iar with framing know that it is part of the price." And prices, she adds, can run from $35 for a small, unframed painting to $2,100 for a large framed one. But since it is easier to transport unframed work, her husband wjll be at the One-of-a-Kind show to frame paintings on the spot. Some people, she adds, are collecting her small paint ings in her frames to complement one another. "They are building their own gardens, maintenance-free, no weeding," she quips. "The framing pulls them together." Currah advises people who fall in love with a painting to buy it immediately. She has had too many people take one of her cards and call her later wanting to buy a particular painting that has been sold. "They can order one, but it won't be exactly the same. It will be beautiful, too, but not the same. If I painted everything the same, I'd get bored," she says. "When they fall in love with it, they better nab it, because I can't paint a picture that they have in their heads." Stories by Carol Baldwin Photos by Peter C. McCusker Joanne Currah says flowers make her happy. And her flowers don't necessarily match the shapes and colours of those in her garden. Part way through a painting, she says, "it takes over from inside." Jill Eisen creates authentic quilts in miniature form, framed and ready to hang. Presented by THE BIG TICKET on sa le now ! AKVILLE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS . f r f r t s f - Alan Frew & Friends A benefit for Cam p Trillium & The Rose Cherry Hom e Saturday, April 3 at 8:00 p.m. Featuring Lighthouse, Susan Aglukark, Glass Tiger, \ M urray M cLauchlin and many more! An Evening At The Apollo Theatre Thursday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m. A n impeccable tribute to legendary perform ers such a s The D rifters, The Supremes, the P latters and m any more! ST.LAWRENCE • I ■ ** tV **» » » ■in association with CT1W O1250 (905)815-2021 c a ll fo r tick e ts now .1 The Second City Touring Group Comedy Cabarets in the Studio Theatre Friday, April 23 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24 7:30 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. Enjoy a night o f laughter! / f i j p Presented by ylSLEEIUH BIG TICKET members save 20% Visit the b o x office, 1 3 0 N a v y S treet (a t L a k e sh o re ), M o n d a y to F rida y, noon to 5 p .m .; S a tu rd a y 2 to 5 p .m .; or tw o hours b efore show tim e . For m o re in fo rm a tio n on u pco m in g show s e x p lo re o u r w ebsite at www.oc4pa.com b y Affirmative Communications. That Dorothy Parker In the Studio Theatre Fri., & Sat. May 28 & 29 at 8:30 p.m. Written & performed by Carol Lempert A one woman tour-de-force chronicles Dorothy Parker's life and work. A witty, biting, touching slice o f literary history! Visit Voho of Oakville, to test drive th e a ll n ew '99 Volvo S80 Miniature authentic antique quilts If you've always wanted an antique quilt but could never afford one, Jill Eisen has the answer - miniature quilts, framed and ready to hang. Each of Eisen's miniature quilts are reproductions of designs and patterns from the 18th and early 19th centuries. And she sometimes uses antique fabric that she has pur chased from textile dealers. Failing that, she hartd dyes Vic torian cotton, often with natural dyes from leaves, barks and berries she has collected. "Each pattern has been carefully researched to ensure its authenticity," says Eisen, noting that the antique material she buys can be authenticated by its colour, the size and scale of the pattern, and the stitching - by hand or machine. "But sometimes when I handle the (antique) cloth, it falls apart in my fingers. But I can't buy antique quilts and cut them up. That would be too expensive. So sometimes I pre fer to buy the Victorian cotton and dye it. I know the fabric and where it has come from." The Oakville artisan's antique miniature quilts are avail able in three types - piecework, applique and embroidery. They are then preserved in frames that are handmade by her husband and painted by her with milk paint followed by a faux finish with beeswax and tung oil for protection. She has many quilts that are six-and-a-half or seven- and-a-half inches square, but she has recently started mak ing larger ones - 8" x 10" and 10" x 10". And she thinking of going even bigger - to pillows and duvet covers that will not actually be quilted but screen printed. "I'm taking a course at Sheridan in dye chemistry and screen printing. The dye chemistry is so I will be able to reproduce antique colours using good dyes and pigments," she explains. "The screen printing will allow me to create more intricate designs and to produce a design on cushions and maybe do bedding to go with the (miniature) quilts. If I could screen print using my designs, it would be some thing that people would enjoy." Eisen has also added some new patterns to her collection. However, her popular maple leaf design may not be avail able at the One-of-a-Kind Spring Show. "It was the true Quebec design in the original colours - an olive green on an off-white background. But I also did some in red. I made four and they all sold," she says, adding that she may not have enough time to make more for the Toronto Jrade show. Eisen's next project will be to frame four of her separate miniature quilts in one frame. This larger framed work of art would be less expensive than buying the four patterns separately. Her next challenge, she says, will be to create the Dou ble Wedding Ring pattern, which she has had a number of request for. "All the circles (one complete circle, inter twined with four quarter circles) are made into little squares of different colours. It's piece work and applique, and it will be a challenge," she says, explaining that the dif ficulty will be in maintaining the integrity a circle that is made up of tiny squares. Eisen's miniature quilts range in price from $139 for the smallest to $699 for the largest. A U C T IO N SALE GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 2nd at 10:30 am Preview from 9:00 am At the Agricultural H all, M ilton Fairgrounds, Robert S t., M ilton Selling item s rem oved from an old O akville Home w ith select inclusions. Fea turing an exceptional selection o f furn ish ings including: C hina cabinets. Oak stacking bookcase. Filing cabinet and heavily carved bedroom suite . Parlour tables. D ressers. W icker sets. M ahogany parlour set. C hairs, C locks, Ceiling, floor and table lighting. O il lam ps. Sterling and silver plate. Royal D oulton fig urines, C hintz, Shelley, C arlton W are, C hina d inner sets. C rystal, V ictorian glass, D olls, Toys, P rim itives, P aintings. Prints and m any m ore item s o f distinction. FU R TH ER LISTIN G AVAILABLE. THIS IS A SALE YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!! Terms: Cash, Cheque with 2 pieces I.D. No reserves, no buyer's premium. For further sale or consignment Info., Fax or Phone: JON MEDLEY, AUCTIONEER (905) 878-2647 http://www.oc4pa.com