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.