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12 • The Columbia Valley Pioneer December 22, 2006 Got the winter blah’s? Check out our great tanning packages. MERRY ERRY CHRISTMAS HRISTMAS from the management and staff of Valley Hair Styling 342-6355 (phone for appointment) 1313 7th Ave., Invermere, BC Garrett’s Baked Goods Presenting Loaves • Cookies • Muf� ns Tarts • Cakes 5 girl DJ’s from Nelson & Vancouver 1:00 a.m. Mexican Apples Open until 4:00 a.m. To Place Your Baking Order Garrett Brash 342-6746 Lots of drink specials and giveaways Tickets at Door $ 20 00 or call Shelly at 341-7333 Leslie and her twin create sculptures from molten glass By Sandra Kelly Special to The Pioneer It’s a funny thing. This past year I have been privileged to interview many local artists for The Pioneer. And yet it was only last week that I realized just how much talent resides in the Columbia Valley. It hit home when I was Christmas shopping at the Village Arts Coop. In no rush, I took the time to read the tag attached to each item in the shop. So many artists, so much good work. The valley is a gold mine of gifted people. One of those people is Leslie Rowe-Israelson. Both Leslie and her identical twin sister Melanie Rowe-Prosser have earned international acclaim. Their breathtaking sculptures (made of kiln-cast glass) have been exhibited in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and they have won numerous awards. Originally from Victoria, the twins studied glass art together, fell in love with the Rockies together, and actually worked together for 15 years, in Jasper. Leslie moved to Invermere in 1998, Glass artist Leslie Rowe-Israelson and Melanie now lives in Chilliwack. But they still share an inspired moniker: Twin Vision Glass. Older sister Megan Parks, of Surrey, is also a glass artist—a talented bead worker. “She calls herself The Other One,” Leslie says with a smile. Last spring, the trio had a window show at Village Arts called Three Sisters Journey in Glass. Continued on Page 13 All the very best to you and yours during the Holiday Season! 342-9268
December 22, 2006 The Columbia Valley Pioneer • 13 Village Arts provides venue for local talent Continued from Page 12 All three will attest that glass isn’t the easiest of materials to work with. It takes patience to become adept at kiln casting, fusing and lampwork. There are mishaps, and experiments that fail. Leslie’s studio contains three kilns and countless sheets of glass. Her techniques include fusing, casting, cutting, polishing, engraving and painting. She sculpts her three-dimensional glass works in a medium such as clay or wax, and then moulds them with polyurethane. The empty mould is filled with pieces of glass and fired in a kiln for ten days. Each piece is unique. Leslie and Melanie got most of their training at the renowned Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle. They are invited back every spring, to teach. The sisters will further attest that technical knowhow is useless without artistic vision. Much of Leslie’s work venerates the mountains and forests she loves. But some of her most interesting pieces—the kind that get you thinking—are inspired by the complex and ever-changing lives of women. Last summer the sculpture titled Inside Myself took first prize at the B.C. Glass Art Association juried glass show in Vancouver. “It’s about the journey we women take through life,” Leslie says of the stunning sculpture. “It’s about Estate Lots For Sale 2.5 Acres + Starting at $330,000 Only 3 left in phase one The sunny side of the Valley’s new prestigious gated community near Windermere. ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS FOR PHASE TWO the roads we travel and the need we all have to look inward.” Another non-functional sculpture (an ornamental as opposed to practical work) took second prize at the international juried glass show in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Leslie is so prolific she can’t recall the sculpture’s title. Twins and trios are a recurring theme in her work—a deeply personal metaphor. The fused glass panel titled Three Sisters, which hangs proudly in her house, pays homage both to the mountains of the same name and to her beloved sisters. Summer 2007 is shaping up to be a heady time for Leslie. She and potter Alice Hale, mixed-media artist Lynne Grillmair and bronze sculptor Pat Luders are set to mount an ambitious four-woman show at Pynelogs Cultural Centre. “We have submitted our concept,” says Leslie, referring to the recent call for entries. “We hope it will be accepted. I am thrilled by the prospect of working with these talented women. We’re all well traveled. We’ve all got things to share. It will be great.” The show, called Integration Collaboration, will be “all about textures.” Leslie anticipates contributing 15 pieces to the show. That’s a busy year. And, she and Melanie have been invited to teach Inquiries Welcome ELKHORN RANCH next August at the world-renowned Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. “It was such an honour to be asked. It’s exciting for both of us.” In the meantime, she is completing a commissioned work and helping, as always, to arrange the displays at Village Arts. She is one of 57 artists in the co-op. “It’s an amazing group of people, and we’re always looking for new local artists.” Village Arts was founded in 1983 by a group of local artists and crafts people, as a permanent marketplace for high-quality work. It is a non-profit organization supported through a commission structure. It relies on volunteers, including a board of directors and the folks who staff the store. Which brings me to a suggestion. I’ve had a lifelong policy of buying from local artists. It’s a good policy. If you’re still Christmas shopping, drop by Village Arts this holiday season. Visit all the galleries and shops that sell the work of valley artists, and take some of that work away with you. Artists show us the beauty of our surroundings in ways we couldn’t have imagined. They give form to our cherished customs and traditions. The work they leave behind tells future generations not only what we did but what it meant to us. (250) 342-0617
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 3/Issue 51 Your Weekly Source
Page 3 and 4: December 22, 2006 Christmas Bureau
Page 5 and 6: December 22, 2006 The Columbia Vall
Page 7 and 8: December 22, 2006 Dear Editor: LETT
Page 9 and 10: Encore WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE CO
Page 11: December 22 , 2006 Toby Th eatre
Page 15 and 16: December 22, 2006 My best Christmas
Page 17 and 18: December 22, 2006 Invermere man gui
Page 19 and 20: December 22, 2006 By Harold Hazelaa
Page 21 and 22: December 22, 2006 My holiday includ
Page 23 and 24: December 22, 2006 Residential and C
Page 25 and 26: December 22, 2006 Wanted: new fire
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TheColumbia Valley - Columbia Valley Pioneer

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