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we Er 14 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. Janvary 31, 1984 Spinner and weaver Wendy Bateman, seen here at her biggest loom, will be off on a trip to the Northwest Territories in March and Colorads in October. For a glimpse at a true artisan's lifestyle, see story. ANNOUNCEMENT David, Larry, Nancy, Josie and Shelly of David's Hairstyling are pleased to have Delphine Brown and her new Acrylic Nail business associated with their establishment. INTRODUCTORY FEBRUARY SPECIALS NEW NAILS NAIL FILL ACRYLIC MANICURE NATURAL MANICURE SHORT TERM CERTIFICATES 30 to 119 Days 15 to 29 Days 8% || 9% Minimum $5,000. Minimum $50,000 GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES 5 Year Annual Interest 117% Minimum $500.00 1 Year Annual Interest 9% * Minimum $500.00 Rates subject to Change without Notice STANDARD TRUST 168 Queen Street, P.O. Box 1318 Port Perry, Ontario 1 0B INO Telephone: 985-8418 Pree ( Narwend | mpgs Meme ( onady wpe ad -v( ar VICTOR CORRIE TEN BOOM ' JESUS IS KSNONAL PORTRAIT OF NG CUINY RAKKO WS PANNETIY (Liv? SUN., FEB. 5th TIME: 7:30 P.M. FREE METHODIST CHURCH Reach & Franklin Sts - FREE ADMISSION - Denture Therapy Clinic _ 305QUEEN STREET PORT PERRY VF -- OPEN -- DEEGAN 5 Wendy Bateman has to pry herself off the ceiling to answer the ~ "I can't believe it," she groans into the receiver. 'I'm going to Colorado'. It's mid-January and the Port Perry weaver has just been asked to teach at an autumn re- treat high in the Rocky Mountains. She is one of 10 fibre artists from around the world who will be teaching at the retreat and she will be the only Canadian. It goes without saying "that she is excited but in the meantime, some- thing even more exotic is in store for her. Wendy is going to the ukon In March she'll take an all-expenses paid trip to Whitehorse, a frontier city with a population of 15,000. For three weeks she'll be treated like royalty, the guest of various artisans, while she teaches her craft. It is at the request of the Weavers and Spinners Guild of the Yukon that she will go, just as she has accepted similar requests to teach in other countries. I like travelling. And teaching,' she says earnestly leaning for- ward on her elbows at her kitchen table. *'I find that I wouldn't be growing if I wasn't shar- ing what I know. If I spent all this time in my studio I'd be living in a vacuum." She needn't worry about it. In recent years she has toured England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and on one memorable occasion was the mentor at a workshop in Memphis Tennessee. And when Wendy travels, she doesn't spend much time admiring scenery or castles. If there's a weaving studio or a fabric outlet in the neighbourhood, she's there checking it out, soaking in new techn- iques and ideas. Her thirst for fresh information started nine years ago when she found herself hobbled with an uncooperative leg. "I was told to stay off it for six weeks and being Wendy I couldn't stand sitting around doing nothing. So my friends brought some books for me and as it turned out the books were on macrame and off-loom weaving,' she recalls. She dug into the craft with vengeance and six _ weeks later was teach- BY APPOINTMENT ONLY! Tuesday & Thursday Nu Evenings 630PM 8 Saturdays PLEASE CALL: 985-2916 ing it to her friends. "Then I said to my- self, Wendy, you'd better learn more your- self if you're going to teach," she says with a grin that takes over her . face. "They also say the sign of a good teacher is someone who just stays 'a step ahead of their students." Ever since then she has taken that advice to heart. Separated from her husband for the past year, with two children married and one old enough to take care of himself, Wendy has the time to cultivate her skill. Each year she makes her way up to Caledon Hills where she is tutored by a lady who has become a close "friend. She also takes in as many craft shows as she can, entering many of them herself. She's studied weaving formally at St. Lawrence College, Dur- ham College and Sir Sandford Fleming in Haliburton, where she now teaches. The dark- haired Scottish descend- ant is also a member of the Ontarie Craft Council, the organiza- tion that presented her with her first weaving award--the Certificate of Merit in 1976 for a black sweater em- blazoned with an Indian motif. The motif is actually the original Naomi, a Navajo Yei figure, the sandpainting represen- tative of the female. Once the nicknamed Naomi figure sprang to life on her sweater, Wendy was inspired to create a life-sized Naomi. Woven in one piece and stuffed by hand, the doll took six weeks to complete and now towers over its creator, who takes it everywhere. "Naomi is going to be buried with me," she says. "The South Americans always buried a doll with them." Her interest in things Indians doesn't stop there, but continues to grow with each passing year. Right now she's tossing ideas around for a series of woven pieces depicting the North American Indian granite rock paintings, something she's still working on. But that's all part of the future. In the mean- time the converted church which is Wendy's home and studio is overflowing projects she and the students she teaches must complete. Work- REKKER PHOTOGRAPHY 220 Cochrane St. - Port Perry - Candid Weddings - ing up to 10 hours a day, she paces herself, spending a few hours on one piece and then turn- ing to another. '"There's no way I'm going to sit at the same loom for 10 hours at a time," she says matter- of-factly. "I have no desire to be a factory. I want to be an artist." But in a sense, Wendy Bateman's home is her factory. Called the Fibre's Web, her business manages to support its owner strict- ly through weaving and teaching. She admits she's not rich, and she can't afford many of her own creations, but she's doing okay. : "I'm not living han to mouth, put it that way," she quipps. The studio is spread throughout the entire apartment. Five looms are housed within its walls, as well as enough wool to fill four or five garbage bags. Every room in the place is put to work -- even the bath- tub and the backyard. Since nearly 100 per cent of the fibres Wendy employs are natural, most are also coloured with natural dyes. Hundreds of marigolds give her wool a soft yellow colour, while the carrot shades her work with incredible hues not even associated with orange. Only very rare- ly does she stray from a natural path of doing things and her reason- ing is quite simple. A very important part of what I do is feel. I think anyone will admit that natural fibres will feel better." One of her favourite Port Perry weaver to hit the road, again pieces is a blanket woven with fur, indes. cribably soft and worth about $1,200. "You can't Possibly feel bad when you're wrapped up in some- thing that feels this good'. Throughout her career Wendy has con- centrated on weaving articles of clothing but more recently she's turning her attentions to tapestry. But no matter what the subject matter, everything she touches is made with the premise that it's going to last a long, long time. "I would say that I'm basically a tradition- alist but I'm trying to experiment", she explains. "I'm not what you call a funky weaver, where someone throws things together that are going to fall apart next week. I'm not going to put my time into some- thing that's not going to last. "What I'm trying to do is work to the limit with the traditional." As morning turns to afternoon and the brambleberry tea in her cup cools off, events in the life of a grand- mother, still slim and straight, unfold as the conversation whiles away. She's talented, everyone will say as they stop her in the street or in a super- market, but she's not so sure. "I have a difficult time seeing myself the way other people see me. They keep saying to me, you're so talented, but what does talented mean?' She pauses and adds, "Talent just means hard work." Tragedy shocks the community Utica & Area News by Vera Brown Church and Sunday School this week are at Utica at 11:00 a.m. The communities in the area of Epsom Village are still in shock following the early mor- ning tragedy that snuffed out the lives of the two lit- tle Begin boys. Sincere sympathy to the parents in their bereavement. There will be a fire fund set up at the Bank of Commerce in Port Perry and Uxbridge for anyone who wishes to help finan- cially - for more informa- tion contact Keith Ashton. The Funeral Service for Jeffery and Michael PHONE will be held on Wednes- day at 2 p.m. in Epsom Church. Visitation from 2 p.m. Tuesday at Port Perry Funeral Home. Mrs. Wally Scott, Mr. Bruce Beare and Mr. Dale Beare were recent visitors with Mrs. Crozier. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Fielding and girls were Sunday supper guests with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Earl Fielding. Mr. and Mrs. Lorne Slute and Kenneth were supper guests on Wednesday with son Brian and family of Whitby and were Sunday supper guests with Mr. and Mrs. Larry Ross and boys. Mr. Waldon Crawford from Porters Lake, Nova Scotia visited with his sister, Mrs. Georgina Sutcliffe and family on Friday evening. Mrs. Mildred Thomp- son spent Saturday in Mount Albert with her mother. Bill and I were Sunday supper guests with the Dennis Gerrow family in Pontypool.