I recently heard that what grabs people's interest is a story rather than lists of, for example, the products McQuay Click & Clay offers. So instead of saying that the 2009 Scenic Manitoulin Calendar has twelve beautiful photos of Manitoulin Island, here is one story about how it was made. For more on the photography, please click here .
To make the calendars, I take photos of scenes that offer a glimpse of what is so attractive about Manitoulin. Last March we had a few days of thaw, then suddenly for Easter the temperatures fell below freezing with no snow, which is unusual. The lakes suddenly became natural skating rinks! I put on my curling shoes and walked out onto Lake Mindemoya, where four young fellows were tossing a puck around. Would they mind if I took their photo? Not at all! In that case, would they mind moving their game over to another spot where a red barn would be in the background? I thought that might be pushing it, but they readily skated over and I eventually caught up in my curling shoes. They didn't have much of a game after I arrived, because I kept asking them to stay within the camera range while I snapped away. They didn't mind having their photo the newspaper or the calendar, and it turned out that I know their parents. Mindemoya is not very big. Eventually the camera's memory chip became full, which was fortunate because they said they had to go home for their Easter dinner. The photo appears in the calendar as February, which seems a much more plausible time for outdoor hockey than Easter Weekend!
Pottery Items...Or You Can Make Your Own!
Handmade pottery is both attractive and useful. And each piece is unique. Click here to see high-fired stoneware pottery handmade by Jan McQuay with a little help from her friends.
You can make your own pottery at the Farmers' Markets on a portable wheel, or make several items in a two or three-hour session at the McQuay Click & Clay studio. Making a clay bowl on the wheel takes only 15 - 20 minutes, with some assistance. Young children can also have fun making pinch pot animals. $16 at the Farmers' Market if pick-up or delivery is on Manitoulin Island. There's an extra charge for off-Island deliveries or mailing. Pottery-making is also a feature at the Central Manitoulin Pioneer Museum on Monday afternoons in the summer and at some other special events. Instruction is also available at the McQuay Click & Clay studio in Mindemoya. Click here for contact information.
Psst...Scenic Manitoulin is Northern Ontario's best-kept secret, but you can get a glimpse of its charm by clicking here for a slide show of photos showing Manitoulin through the changing seasons. Slide show scenes can be ordered as framed photos. If you haven't seen the slide show for awhile, check it out for some new photos.
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Arik Theijsmeijer and Jan McQuay
