Good evening  I want to say thank you to the members of the  Artistic Vision  group.  They have certainly shown through their show last year and again this year that the artistic vision and creative ability within this municipality is alive and well.

This group is one of a number that have been active through the years in this area.  I can remember a group of ladies who met in the barn  at Haddon Hall to learn and experiment with various styles and mediums tutored by professional artists from the area.

The Tuesday Afternoon Painters  were also an active group for a number of years, surprising enough they were mostly older ladies who had taken up painting as a hobby and found an intense interest in continuing the creative process throughout the years.

The Warp and Woof, owned originally by Susan Daley and then by Muray Barkhouse,  featured  articles produced here in the area and tole painted for the tourist industry by him and others.   Mr. Barkhouse's ability is still on display today in the memorial bell book on display at back of the sanctuary in  the United Baptist Church.

Woodworkers within the village such as  the Stanford Furniture Company, Arnold Hume and Douglas Morash Sr.  had the ability to create beautiful  furniture  in designs that are copied in this day and age and are found in many of the houses within the village.

Boat builders and designers from this area are world renown ed, Stevens,  Heisler, Mason , Barkhouse, and the well-known the Chester  Cs  , the  Tancook schooners and whalers .

Arthur, Stuart and Christine Smith as well as many other blacksmiths brought their craft from mundane to decorative.  In the same family group Chip Smith was a  skilled wood turner and Gail Smith also is artistically talented

Local weavers, knitters, crocheters, tatters, quilters, rug hookers, appliquers, seamstresses, upholsters, curtain makers, knitters of nets  and lobster head, jewellery makers, film makers, print makers, flower arrangers    and the list goes on.

Over the years we have been home to many well-known artists, who found our scenery and our area a  place remain.   I can think of Jack Grey and Don Curley as examples.

Today we have  many potters, landscape artists, hand-crafters, stained glass artists, architects, writers and film makers, book publishers within arms length.  We are truly blessed with artistic talent in this municipality.

This year as part of the restoration of Lordly Estate we developed, an on-line  database to showcase and provide information  about the artists and artisans within the Municipality.  We called and attempted to contact as many of the people we felt  might be interested in joining us on-line  and we asked for any other people they knew of who might be interested.  This is a free on-line service, all it takes is a bit of time to fill in the information   .    Examples of the artist's work, contact information, where articles may be purchase etc. is included, as much or as little information  as you would be comfortable sharing with the world on line.  If you are not on-line than we will gladly add your information and pictures for you at no charge.   Participants my also purchase  additional  gallery space for $25.00 a year which they can change and update as they wish.    Beyond that we will provide space at Lordly House on a rotating basis for our users to showcase their work and also provide the use of the gallery space here at the station for that as well.  We charge a fee of 20% on sales to help defray  our costs.  If you would like to join us or find out more, please pick up a postcard, it contains a link to the website.

Thank you for inviting me this evening,  The work on display tonight certainly proves beyond a doubt that artistic ability is alive and well in our municipality