The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

- 3 Fran Solar is just one of a handful of artists in Scugog taking part in Convergence '86, a ma- Weaving is a full-time job Dod ites, z jor convention for people in the fibre business. See stories for details. for talented Fran Solar For Fran Solar, weaving is a full- She disciplines herself to keep it that way, devoting five hours a day or more creating beautiful fabrics. Most of the material that comes out of her looms ends up as clothing. Fran is almost famous for her con- fortable hand-woven shirts and coats, but she also weaves warm, soft blankets, rugs, drapes or just about anything a customer might want. No matter what she creates, it all comes from a renovated formal sit- ting room in her family home, the well-known Bigelow House on Farmers' debt aid Farmers who receive notification from their financial institutions about outstanding farm debts should contact the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said Harry Pelissero, " OFA president. This applies to any notices serv- ed between June 27, 1986 and the ac- tual start date of operation of the Farm Debt Review Board for Ontario. The Farm Debt Review Act, creating Farm Debt Review Boards across the country, was passed by the House of Commons on June 27, and has received royal assent. However it has not been proclaim- ed, and it may take till the week of July 21 to get the Board constituted and operational. Pelissero said the Federation is concerned with farmers who are caught in this time gap between royal assent and the actual date when the Review Board will be ac- cepting applications. The OFA president said the Federation will work to get farmers access to debt review in this transi- tion period. Farmers who need assistance should contact Mr. Pelissero at (416) 485-3333. CHESTERFIELD SUITES - LOVE SEATS SECTIONALS - MATTRESSES A Large Selection PRICE! == McKEEN FURNITURE 524 Simcoe St. S., Oshawa - 725-5181 LESS THAN ~ Cochrane Street. "When 1 first saw this room I thought it was straight out of a movie," she says. The chandeliers, the heavy tapestries and the window blinds, drawn just so, brocade wallpaper and the dark furniture were too much for Fran, whose first instinct was to lift up the blinds. Since she's moved in, however, the room has been transformed in- to a weaving studio with creamy - beige walls, bright white trim, and nary a curtain to be found. Sunshine streams in through the tall windows, throwing natural light around skein after skein of brilliant coloured fibres, strewn helter skelter across the carpet. On one wall of the room are several racks full of Fran's original hand-woven clothing. Although each one is different, they retain a look that has become a Solar trademark- -soft, warm fabric, woven in a straight pattern, usually in gentle, neutral or pastel colours. She varies from the pastel colour scheme occa- sionally, particularly when she is working on blankets, but a Solar shirt is unmistakable. Not surprisingly, that particular Solar look is something Fran has evolved to after more than 25 years at the loom. She is basically self-taught, after picking up the craft in the early 1960's in Quebec, where she started our weaving fine, delicate fibres. After awhile, and with much in- fluence from local "organic"' weavers, Fran grew frustrated with the material she was working with and turned to chunky, heavy, more colourful fibres, usually natural. She taught herself to spin and launched gleefully into a weaving world with emphasis on texture and colour. "And now I'm getting finer again," she says with a grin. Her fabric is finer, less lumpy by a long shot, but the texture is still their, defined but not blaring. It's what makes the Solar look so | popular with buyers all over. Peo- ple are thrilled with her work at the One Of A Kind Christmas Craft Show in Toronto, the big show of Fran's season, for which she stockpiles her work all year long. Like the show's name, Fran's work is One Of A Kind. sal" ALL Annuals - Alyssum to Zinnias. WE 59¢ GROW THEM ALL ....... box []] ALL?" Vegetables: Cabbage, Cauliflower, Sprouts, Onions, Peppers, Leeks, Lettuce, 59¢ Broccoli, etc. ............... box sALL" Tomatoes: Early Girl, Glamour, Bonnie Best, Roma, Beet Eater, ¢ Beef Steak, Tiny Tim, Sweet 100's ........ box BUY DIRECT FROM THE GROWER ano SAVE ALL ss ALL® ¢ rot J Tota es a 59 kg. ss ALL? ALL ry Bee, ¢ rot rina. BQF scALL? ALL Geraniums 4" pot Red, White, Has: i 15% or varigated ........ ALL FLOWERING 10" 2,000 to choose from .... HANGING BASKET h = 6.99 SOIL - PEAT - DUTCH SETS INDIVIDUAL POTS - Melons, Herbs, Parsley, Cucumbers, Watermelons, Fuschia, Ivy, Geraniums, Dracena, Bulbs, Peonies, Bleeding Heart, Flowering Shrubs, Evergreens, etc FRESH PRODUCE NOW AVAILABLE! Corn, Strawberries, etc. SHOP RAIN or SHINE in our 7 GREENHOUSES Allan Underhill Flowers & Greenhouses 220 Ma.n St. North, Uxbridge OPEN EVERY DAY Sun. to Fri. ... 9am. - 7 p.m. Sat. 9 am. - 6 p.m. 852-6395 or 852-6283 TTI --_--~ Convergence 86, a very big deal It's what you might call a very big deal. Convergence '86 is a landmark for Canadian weavers, including. a tight-knit group from the Port Perry area, and no one is more excited about/it than Cochrane Street weaver Fran Solar. She'll be among some 2,000 people taking part in Convergence '86, the seventh biennial conference of the Handweavers Guild of America. It's the first time the Guild has ever stepped foot out of the United States for its conference and Cana- dians have been planning for the event, to be held at the Toronto Con- vention Centre July 17th to the 20th, for more than three years. Hosted primarily by the Ontario Craft Council and the Ontario Hand- weavers and Spinners Association, Convergence '86 will actually con- tinue longer than the specified three days with fibre-oriented workshops going on before and after. Marilyn Baker of Kent Street, Port Perry, will be teaching at one of the workshops, explaining the art of Qiviut. Fran Solar and another local weaver, Dini Page, will be tak- ing part in the workshops, not teaching. Fran says there are so many workshops to choose from, she had a tough time deciding which ones to take. Workshops -aren't the only acitivities going on at Convergence '86 either. More than 200 suppliers of weaving equipment will be displaying their wares and fashion shows from exhibitors all over Toronto are guaranteed to dazzle. What's more, the Convention Cen- tre isn't the only showplace of the woven craft. More than 50 galleries across the province will feature their own displays in conjunction with the conference, including Scugog Memorial Public Library. Sponsored by the Scugog Shores Fibre Artists, of which Fran Solar is a member, the display features a wide variety of handwoven samples, and will continue until July 31st. FOS FR A RanT =| L.L.B.O. CAESAREA PHONE 986-5684 Friday & Saturday, July 18 & 19 HSSTREANMLINE? Coming Next Week ... "HUNDRED PROOF" RENT 7A & WATER PORT PERRY SAVE ROTOTILLERS LAWN MOWERS GENERATORS COMPRESSORS DOLLIES SCAFFOLDS HEAVY EQUIPMENT PUMPS GLASSES A GAMES TABLES PARTY TENT TRAILERS TRAVEL TRAILERS BOX TRAILERS * AND MORE ...