Matthew Farfan

** Continued from "George Foster and Debbie Everett: Sculpting for the Love of It (Part 1)"

Debbie Everett entered George Foster's life a few years ago when the two met in the Eastern Townships. Together ever since, the two only occasionally offer each other advice on what "looks good -- or not" in their work.

Everett at Frederick Amsden House, 2003. (Photo: Matthew Farfan)

SHERBROOKE NATIVE
A native of Sherbrooke, Debbie Everett spent twenty years in Nova Scotia. Like Foster, she had no formal training as an artist. She jokes that the only art courses she ever took were in grade school. In fact, she only discovered that she liked to carve about ten years ago when, while cutting up a tree in her backyard and remembering that there were some old chisels in the garage, she decided to try her hand at sculpture. The primitive eagle that eventually took shape out of a solid block of wood impressed everyone who saw it. So she continued to carve.

SKILL WITH A CHISEL
Debbie Everett soon became very skilled with the chisel. Experimenting both with sculpture in the round and bas-relief, she has since developed a style that is charming and unique. Her pieces are all one-of-a-kind, meticulously hand-carved and painted, and individually numbered. Typical of other folk or naïve art, Everett's work often depicts everyday situations in a modern or old-time setting: an old woman with a cane, a bird-watcher with binoculars, a weaver working at a loom, a blacksmith shoeing a horse, a lawyer playing golf, people playing cards...

Left: Woman With a Basket. (Photo: George Foster)

Right: Card players. (Photo: George Foster)

Many of Everett's pieces are animals in whimsical situations. A few years ago, for example, she carved a chess set (bottom left). The black pieces were dogs, the white pieces cats. Since then, she has carved angels, ornaments, and crèches for the Christmas season, flowers, pets, brides and grooms, a doll's house, even a weather vane. In fact, there is virtually nothing that Debbie Everett cannot carve. She is so talented and patient. And her work is wonderful.

Debbie Everett exhibits at about five craft shows per year. Some years ago she also began showing in galleries. In the 2000 edition of the Eastern Townships Art Competition, she won First Prize in the popular vote among youth category. That was for her first bas-relief, called "Angels in the Park" (top right). That was the year that George Foster won for "Moles in Beer."

Four-foot bas-relief. (Photo: Matthew Farfan)

Of the working relationship she has with George Foster, Everett says that the two occasionally offer each other their opinions. "As far as George's insects are concerned, there's isn't much I can say, since his work is so precise. But sometimes he asks me about the patina, if I like it or not." For his part, Foster sometimes helps Everett prepare a block of wood or a frame for one of her bas-reliefs. "George is really helpful and has a good eye," she says.

"WHIMSICAL WOODS"
Debbie Everett now laughs about that first eagle. "It was terrible," she says. "I still have it at home." Yet today Everett's pieces are far from terrible. In fact, they are works of art revealing tremendous natural talent. Everett, who works part-time as daycare provider in Lennoxville, devotes only a part of her life to carving. "It's just a sideline," she says of the little business she has just started calling "Whimsical Woods." "But it's what I love to do, and people have been so supportive."

Bas-relief. (Photo: George Foster)

George Foster and Debbie Everett will be showing their work in a joint exhibition at the Beaulne Museum in Coaticook. Titled "Treasures of Bronze and Wood," the exhibition runs from May 4 to June 22, 2003. The Beaulne Museum is located at 96 Union Street, Coaticook. For more information, call (819) 849-9519, or click here.


Debbie Everett and George Foster at Frederick Amsden Gallery, 2000.
(Photo: Matthew Farfan)


To see the exhibit at the Beaulne Museum, click here.