MARKET MUSINGS

July 8, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Jan Freedman

We had a glorious day at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday for our Art in the Park event as well as for Kerry’s Place Appreciation Day. The Town Park was full of people enjoying the beautiful weather, the musical performances and the magician.
Our farmers’ tables are now piled high with wonderful, locally grown produce. All the salad greens are ready and I saw the first beets and broccoli of the season. There are still lots of delicious strawberries and the first raspberries have made an appearance. They will be joined soon by currants and gooseberries.
Now I’d like to introduce you to another new artisan. Her name is Minda Davis and she’s a potter. She worked in clay for many years, starting at a studio in Mirvish Village with Isolde Rest. While working full time in the corporate world, pottery became her respite.
She met and married her husband and continued her pottery evenings, once a week. Even when her son was born, and life became much busier, she still continued her pottery evenings. By then, Isolde had become not only her teacher, but also a dear family friend.
When Minda began making pottery, potters were not as careful about the health hazards associated with clay (silica), glaze making (chemicals) and fumes from firing kilns. Sadly, when Isolde became ill and died too young, Minda found it too difficult to continue to work with clay. She began teaching at Seneca College. She met someone from Burr House Spinners and Weavers Guild who introduced her to Hill Potters’ Guild which share a building in Richmond Hill.
There was a place open for her there and she began to work with clay again. Working with more experienced potters, she learned more about making pottery and glazes and new firing techniques. She is now on the Guild executive and organizes their show and sale twice yearly. Retired now, she is happy to spend more time with clay.
Recently, she began a collaboration with accomplished artist and potter Katie Argyle. Minda makes pottery, Katie makes pottery – they now make pottery together. It all began with a teapot Minda made and Katie used as a canvas for a city scene. This year, Katie suggested that Minda join her at the market and a joint booth was formed. Visit them in the park and enjoy their unique work as much as they enjoy creating it.
Again this year, the Aurora Garden Club is at the market for three weeks to promote its Garden Tour. As usual, the focus of the tour is on local gardens as envisioned and created by local gardeners. Guests will be inspired by a variety of garden designs and choices of plants that are attainable by all levels of skill. New this year is Artists in the Gardens, a feature which will see four artists from Kingscrafts Studio painting in the gardens along with displays of their completed works. Lemonade will be served in two of the gardens. Tickets are on sale at their booth in the park.
The market’s next Special Event will be Family Day on July 18, during which we will have musical entertainment as well as fun activities designed for the whole family to enjoy There will be the usual face painting and children’s crafts as well as some great surprises, so be sure to plan to attend.
See you at the Market!