A Year in my Arts & Crafts Garden by Elaine Waisglass

August 11, Roger in a tuxedo

May 31 – July 21, 2012
Opening: Thursday, May 31, 6 p.m.
Edward Day Gallery
952 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON, M6J 1H1
T: 416.921.6540
E: eddaygal.toronto@sympatico.ca
www.edwarddaygallery.com
Hours: Tues. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m

Elaine Waisglass’s photography exhibition, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden premiering May 31 through to June 30, 2012, at Edward Day Gallery in Toronto, is inspiring and intellectual. Executed as large and medium sized hand printed images using archival paper and inks, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden is a unique collection of 16 limited edition photographs fusing old ideas with the newest digital technology. The exhibition presents scenes from Waisglass’s historic Toronto property and home shot in natural light. The effect showcases her quest for beauty in its most simple and enchanting form.

The exhibition is a celebration of the Arts & Crafts philosophy and Waisglass’s own home and garden– both having been heavily influenced by the international movement begun in the 1860s. Inspiration for the exhibition was born 17 years ago with the rescue of an unwanted, century-old Toronto house and neglected three-acre garden. Architect Eden Smith originally designed the residence with unity of house and garden in mind, each aligned to the values of renowned Arts & Crafts leader, William Morris.

For years, Waisglass diligently documented her garden’s progress with photographs, becoming so enthralled that she upgraded the camera, lens and printer numerous times and began making her own prints. Recently, Waisglass spent a year photographing different elements of the garden’s cycle- from numerous old rose species and peonies every June to hydrangeas, Japanese Anemones and oak leaves in October- producing the stunning collection, A Year in My Arts & Crafts Garden. Along with the exhibition, Waisglass has created a limited edition, hand-bound, archival book on the philosophy and history of the Arts & Crafts movement, including beautiful renditions of her photography.

“The Arts & Crafts movement’s quest for beauty and ‘the mutable moment’ (beauty quickened by the inevitability of death) has become my own personal quest. In winter, long after the beautiful flowers of summer have faded, my photographs recall their beauty,” says Elaine Waisglass.

The windows in Waisglass’s Arts & Crafts house were strategically designed by Eden Smith to provide views of the garden and capture sunlight: rooms reserved for use early in the day, such as the kitchen were built to capture the sunlight in the east; as the day passes, the sunlight moves to the sitting room typically reserved for evening use. Waisglass’s still life photographs shot inside the house also capture this light and include the period furnishings and draperies designed by William Morris.

Like the house, Waisglass’s entire garden was carefully planned to suit the Arts & Crafts philosophy. While daffodils and tulips scattered through the meadow may seem random to the unknowing eye, every bulb was carefully placed. Waisglass worked with gardener Cynthia McCarthy to turn the property into an extension of her home, a holistic outdoor living space. As the Arts & Crafts movement’s very prescriptive philosophy requires, the garden is ‘wild’ at the perimeter and formal at the house. An unclipped hedgerow encloses the garden, creating an outdoor room. Inside the space is divided into smaller ‘rooms’. Along with beautiful flowers, 200-year-old trees and thousands of plants, the landscape design includes a rose garden, a purple perennial garden, a cutting garden, and a kitchen garden, harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, herbs, strawberries, peas and more.

Waisglass studied fine arts and sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and Design before working as a producer and screenwriter for a variety of documentaries and television programs.

About the Gallery:
The Edward Day Gallery was established in 1992 and represents both Canadian and International award-winning emerging and  senior contemporary artists. The collection is comprised of sculpture, painting, drawing, photograpy, printmaking, and other media. Located in the heart of the Queen West Art District of Toronto, the Edward Day Gallery professionals are committed to advising both new and experienced art buyers about art acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.edwarddaygallery.com