review by Joan daly

Sculpture review praised A thank you to John Bryden for the well written review of the excellent exhibit of sculpture by Mavis Ehlert at the Hamilton Art Gallery. Having seen the exquisite showing of works once, I would like to find the time to return to see it again. There is too much to see and absorb in one visit. If I could make a wish, it would be that those people responsible for the selection of major works of sculpture for municipal buildings and businesses, for example, the new Stelco Towers, will find time to visit this beautiful exhibit. Joan Daly Burlington

mavis ehlert - an introduction to sculpture

MAVIS EHLERT – AN INTRODUCTION TO SCULPTURE There are many methods and materials used in the making of a piece of sculpture, and these I shall list for you. However, the most important ingredients are the desire and inspiration without which one cannot get started. Having a mental vision of what one wishes to create the next step is to decide on a suitable material in which to bring it into three-dimensional form. Materials are all around us. Look about the home and observe the material in which things are made. I see: A saucepan – metal – welded or poured Cupboard – wood – carved or built up Bucket – plastic – poured into mold Shade – Fibreglass – layered with epoxy into a mold Repaired china – epoxy – potters wheel Windowpanes – glass – bonded, blown or poured Walls – plaster – cast and chipped or poured Basket – straw – woven Gloves – rubber – poured liquid Handbag – leather – softened and pressed into a mold or stitched Mugs and pots – clay – fired or cast Books – paper – papier-mache Blankets – wool – woven Clothes – fabric – stitched or glued Windowsill – cement – cast poured into mold All these materials may be used to create sculptures. What you use depends on the durability or finish you require. My choice is clay. With it I feel free and creative. I feel, marvelously, that I can make anything with it. Even a house! Well, bricks anyway. I like to feel shapes forming through my fingertips. However, having Modeled my sculpture in soft clay, it still has to be made permanent. To do this I can either fire it in a kiln, Or make a mold from it and cast it in one of the above casting materials. The ideal permanent material is Bronze which is a mixture of copper, tin, lead and zinc. I have my casting done at a foundry - expensive but beautiful. Finish or patina is important. Personally I think a natural finish is most effective, leaving the fired clay as It comes out of the kiln. Bronzes can be coloured and waxed according to taste. When all steps are Completed, a base may be made, again choosing a material to harmonize with the sculpture. Marble, wood, Plexiglas, or cement are some possibilities. When all these processes come together, a good piece of sculpture is achieved.

Housewife with a creative flair is a rare bird

Burlington Gazette Thursday, April 12, 1973 Housewife with a creative flair is a rare bird By Mary Orde Burlington Arts guild member Mavis Ehlert is probably unique among housewives. In addition to running a home and looking after a family, she is a fulltime sculptor and therefore possibly as rare as the White plaster birds that she creates. Her studio takes up most of the small garden at her home and is the setting for her work filled production days. For the last ten years she has scheduled herself a nine to five routine, devoted to sculpture. When it isn’t possible, she fits it in during the afternoon and evening. “After all, I’d be working those hours if I had a job outside the home,” she says. When her three children were still small, Mrs. Ehlert’s creations were scaled down to fit the time available. She did small Figures from Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows and the occasional larger sculptured head. But with less family responsibility, she gradually extended her scope and range, and now she is well known for human figures, Including children. She is interested in abstraction and producing that work on a large scale. She made a series of bird forms in plaster and fiberglass. These were featured in her recent one-man show at Hamilton Art Gallery. Most significant tribute to Mavis Ehlert’s standing in the community as an artist and sculptor of note. The bird forms were an inspiration that evolved from a Walt Disney show. “It began as a dramatic moment in the story when a long lost dove returned to its mate.” She made small plaster maquettes of two doves and gradually the idea became more abstract and enlarged in scope. The bird forms are graceful, curving flowing abstract compositions with interesting hollows and holes emphasizing interplay between light and shadow. Some birds are so large that three people are needed to move them. Some can be broken down for transportation. The size does not make the birds forbidding. Mavis Ehlert’s cats enjoy curling up in the shelter of the platform of the larger birds. Such lack of reverence for art does not upset Mavis. A quiet and unassuming person, she accepts philosophically that her own fascination with form and composition is not shared as yet with the wider public which now exists for the colour and excitement of painting. But she believes awareness and appreciation is growing towards sculpture. “I’d like to see more sculpture in public buildings,” she said. “Most buildings desperately need something three dimensional to offset the starkness.” So when a public board or group decides on a piece of sculpture as a permanent feature of a building, she is delighted. For instance, a charming young girl of bronze rests on a rock outside the Ancaster Public Library. “There is a story about that rock.” Mavis explains. “The organizers decided that a large rock was needed to be a pedestal for the figure. Various lakes and beaches from out of the area were discussed as possible sources of a suitable rock. But the bulldozers were already at work excavating for the site of the library. The next morning after my discussion with the committee, the machines turned up a lovely big boulder, which turned out to be exactly suitable.” The Ancaster Library bronze was a 1967 centennial gift purchased by the garden club.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen

Ancaster girl, Diane

Christie Conservation Area

Mavis Ehlert 1922-2007

Mavis Ehlert 1922-2007
Mavis Ehlert made many contributions to the Hamilton community.
Mavis was the only Hamilton artist out of 91 other artists to exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1967. She was valued by the Artisan Guild of Hamilton and the Sculpture Society of Canada.
Mavis Ehlert was recognized at the First Awards Banquet in 1980. Hamilton-Wentworth Creative Arts and CKOC radio nominated Mavis Ehlert as one of the top Sculptors in the Excellence to the Arts search. She was presented with a plaque for her Contribution to the Artistic Community by CJJD radio, (now known as CHAM, CKOC) and CREATIVE ARTS.
Ancaster residents are proud of the Ancaster Girl named Dianne, Ehlert's sculpture that sits on a boulder outside the library. The statue was bought by the Ancaster and Hilltop Garden Clubs and donated for the Ancaster Centennial in 1967.
Mavis made a beaver to be given to Kaga, Japan when the city was twinned with Dundas, Ontario in 1968. The Hamilton Club of Hamilton, On. bought a bronze reclining figure of a woman for their permanent collection. She taught sculpture and ceramics at the Jewish Community Centre and Central Secondary School. She learned commercial art and sculpture at St. Martin's School of Art and the Chelsea School of Art.
Mavis was a serious artist and a homemaker. She lived in a cozy modest home in Westdale, Hamilton from 1955 with her husband Stanley and three children: Juliet, Nick, and James. She has three grandchildren: Ben, Jason and Clara Mae and a great grandchild named Trinity. At the Ehlert home, you can find the images of former Mayor of Hamilton Vic Copps, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Glenn Gould the piano player, and Pauline Johnson and Joseph Brant. She also sculptured the Bay City Rollers, a popular seventies band from Scotland.
Mavis Ehlert made a sculpture of Gwen Metcalf for International Woman's Year in 1975. Gwen, the former Curator of Dundurn Castle, exclaimed "For once someone captured me with my mouth shut."
Mavis helped promote downtown Hamilton:
She designed and constructed Elmer the Safety Elephant for the Hamilton Police safety division. She made a giant snowman for Hamilton ’s winter carnival and two giant rabbits named Downy and Towny to help promote downtown Hamilton .
She was known in Burlington: Mavis created a head to remember local hockey coach Reginald Hennessy. His widow Kamara applauded Mavis Ehlert's accomplishment, "She really captured him, even the flare of his nostrils and jutting chin." That same sculpture was stolen from Burlington Central Arena and has never been recovered.
There was a significant showing of Mavis Ehlert's fine work at the Hamilton Art Gallery for Hamilton’s 125th birthday celebration on June 12, 1971. Her sculpture was one of the highlights! Ehlert’s terra cotta sculpture entitled “Oil slick,” depicted a seabird plastered with oil, which is dying of suffocation. The bird was a startling departure from the careful studies of people for which Mavis is known. This freely worked piece of art has the pathos and real feeling that is sometimes missing in her other art. One man commented, “That’s what I feel. In my imagination, that’s how I see it.” Journalist, John Bryden, believed that the Sculpture by Mavis Ehlert was the top attraction at the Hamilton Art Gallery in January 1973. "Mrs. Ehlert is a true sculptor who attempts to animate using the subtle dramatic beauty of human form which brings the clay to life." Bryden wrote.
Mavis has her own way of looking at birds.
Mavis Ehlert gave life to the bird spirit using bronze, fibre glass, plaster, cement fondue, rubber, clay, and terra cotta. The birds symbolize love and appeal to our fascination with wings and flying. Journalist, Linda Crabtree said "Her bird forms are sensitive portraits of motherhood."
Mavis helped promote art in Hamilton. The first art festival in Gore Park was in 1968. “Hamilton’s big enough to support an artist colony but the people are not aware that there is one,” said Mavis Ehlert the sculptor. “We need this, especially in Gore Park. Up to now one only saw the very old and the very young here. But look what this has done!” she pointed to the crowd. “Normally, Hamilton artists and craftsmen are invited to show their goods in cities and towns around Hamilton but never in Hamilton,” Mavis explained. “It is about time we were given an opportunity here!” Her studio is lined with heads, unclothed figures and a breastfeeding mother. The bronze figures honour femininity and the gift of life.
She made life like statues of her sons, daughter, granddaughter, the boy-next-door, and her daughter-in-law. The heads of Jamie and Jennie sparkle with innocence.
The Weightlifter is evidence that Mavis was influenced Rodin. Fairy tale characters and Dancers look as if they could start dancing. The Spirit of Life opens her arms to the sun. Mavis loved beauty and individuality.
She explained, "We have enough ugliness in our lives without putting it into our art." She liked to sketch people at the beach.
Ehlert’s free form pottery is not shaped with potter’s wheel. "Why do pots have to be perfectly circular? A pot can be functional and a piece of sculpture at the same time.”