Month: September 2011

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you the second in Gillian Grace’s series profiling artists participating in the Danforth East Arts Fair on September 17th and 18th (that’s this weekend!).

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Everyone has heard of slow food. Some of us — depending on our fondness for the New York Times travel section — have heard of slow travel. But what about slow photography?

Riverdale photographer Horst Herget has recently started taking portraits using tintype, a process developed in the 1850s. Think: a lensman working behind a bellows camera in a period movie; a silvery-hued likeness in an antique locket.

Herget describes tintype as a counterpoint to both his corporate photography work and to speedy, digital shots. Each photo requires varnishing a plate, which takes about 5-10 minutes. The plate must be used while wet, and only once, and require an exposure of at least two seconds. Because of all the hands involved, the result has a unique texture, with “telltale swirls” on the border from  preparation.

In an age when every cell doubles as a camera, tintype requires an unfamiliar commitment — both of time, and, on the part of the subject, involvement in how the final image will turn out. “Because the process is much slower — you can take four portraits an hour — the subject becomes a participant,” Herget says.

At the Arts Fair, Herget, toting a team of assistants, will offer up 4” x 5” portraits for $35;  each works best with one to two subjects, although he can accommodate larger groups. Plan to spend about 15 minutes taking the shot, then another 45 minutes or so exploring the other booths while the tintype is prepared.

“ There’s a tone to it, definitely a softness to the image,” says Herget of the end result. “There’s something timeless about them.”

Thanks to Gillian Grace for the first in our series of profiles of artists showing at the Danforth East Arts Fair on the Sep 17-18, 2011 at East Lynn Park.

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Provenance-minded Torontonians already quaff Ontario wine and make their marinara sauce with fresh-from-the-farm tomatoes. So why not locally made wool?

The Married Spinsters duo — from Markdale, Ontario, and made up of Adele Goldsmith and Michelle Campbell — spin the fleece of Grey County sheep into soft, naturally hued yarns. Shorn from Corriedale and Dorset sheep, as well as alpaca, the fleece gets washed and carded (turning an unruly fleece into a wheel-ready ball of wool) before the pair spin it into a single- or- double-ply, knitting-needle-ready skein (they sell 100 yards for about $30).

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Colours range from an almost pure white to a dark, chocolatey brown, with soft greys in between; the Spinsters also sell a small range of dyed offerings, with some incorporating metallic fibres and sari silks.

As with all the best local offerings, hand-spun wool lures with its individuality. Unlike machine-made wool, which has a uniform texture, the Spinsters’ skeins have a textured feel and subtle variations in colour — one grey knits up naturally into a Balmoral-worthy tweed.

The duo are working their way through some 2,000 pounds of fleece, from a farmer getting out of the wool business;  they’ll bring some of the SUV-sized ball of wool to the fair for spinning demonstrations. Kids can try their hand at carding, and the wheel. (One of the most common questions last year: Will I prick my finger like Sleeping Beauty? No, no pointy spindles — or wicked fairies — on this type of spinning wheel.)

Along side skeins of wool, Goldsmith and Campbell sell kits ($50) for making thrum mittens. A technique that evolved in Newfoundland, thrum knitting naturally insulates garments by working bits of fleece into the inside, making the mittens extra warm, and very soft.

Not feeling like working the needles yourself? The Spinsters also sell decorative hooked rugs — think wall hangings and table runners — and hooked-flap purses, ranging in price from $45 to $175.

Goldsmith and Campbell don’t just turn to hoofed beasts for wool — look for angora, if their rabbits cooperate. Not for sale, but of interest in the pet-adoring Danforth East, is wool spun from the hair of dogs and cats. Along with their willing collie, they’ve spun the fur of a friend’s Golden Lab, creating a hat (for the owner, not the dog!), and preserved the fur of a much loved, long-hair cat. “It spun out beautifully,” Goldsmith says.