Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
EGANVILLE – The Bonnechere Valley Inspired Tour celebrated its third year the weekend of Aug. 2 and 3. Billed as more than a studio tour, the tour around the township showcases the art, history and culture of the area.
Artists set up at 13 locations throughout the municipality, with several hosting three to five vendors. Vendors included artists, craftspeople and farmers. Organizers also included the Doors of Eganville and the Bonnechere Valley Barn Quilt Trail as part of the experience.
Barn quilts are large painted representations of traditional quilts. Some may also be customized with a whimsical feature that is relevant to the location or owner of the painting, such as a pet. The Doors of Eganville project is a beautification effort to spruce up doors of businesses around the town and provide an opportunity for visitors to wander through the streets taking in the doors and what else Eganville has to offer. Artists are paid to paint a door.
Laurel Cook, an artist and one of the Inspired organizers, said she and some other local artists who had created some local points of interest for the Bonnechere Museum began talking about other ways to showcase the creativity in the area.
“There’s a lot and it’s kind of hidden,” she said. They wanted the event to be more than just a way for local artisans to sell their work. “We believe that the creative people in this township … are a powerful force to improve our community.”
They began with the barn quilt trail and the door trail projects. They’ve added a local food guide map, “because our mandate is to foster a healthy, creative and culturally rich community.” The overarching objective is sustainability and good stewardship of local resources. With the door project, “we’re not just painting doors, we’re actually painting our community, our stories,” Cook said. Artists have painted 13 doors currently and they hope to have 20 finished by end of summer. There are soon to be 30 barn quilts on the quilt trail.
About two dozen vendors took part in the first year, the second year they had about 30 and 40 for 2025. The event opened Saturday morning with a welcome address and Indigenous smudge ceremony.
Viewers may find painter Kathy Haycock’s work familiar. That is because, in part, her father Maurice Haycock – also a painter – was a friend and contemporary of A. Y. Jackson who was a member of the Group of Seven. Some of her work shows a similar style to that of Jackson and other Group of Seven members.
“I grew up with their paintings surrounding me at home,” she said.
Haycock began painting in 1998, after both her father and Jackson had died. Initially she worked outdoors or plein air on her full-size paintings. She now has a studio where she can work. While she still does larger works outside, many of her large pieces are created from smaller paintings she does in the field.
“Now I do more large paintings inside but my initial inspiration, for even a larger painting, is having painted a smaller one outside,” Haycock explained.
Her work is heavily influenced by the outdoors of the region. Several favourite places she can walk to from her studio. “I like to drive up into the mountains, like the Opeongo hills and Madawaska hills and Algonquin Park,” as well as the Laurentians in Quebec. She particularly likes scenes that have flow and motion. “I like that lots of motion and rhythm.” Reflections in water are another favourite theme.
robert@thevalleygazette.ca
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