Sculptures draw on nature and myth-making

LISA QUEEN

April 8, 2008

Art lovers can now take home a little piece of Scarborough's Guild Inn history.

The eldest daughter of Elizabeth Fraser Williamson, a former Guild Inn artist-in-residence who lived from 1914 to 2000, is selling 16 castings of her mother's works of art.

"The bronze sculptures available for sale are a sampling of realistic, semi-abstract and abstract pieces drawn from nature, myth-making and the human spirit," said Sara Williamson, who is executor of her mother's estate.

"All the pieces can be easily moved from boardroom to coffee table to window ledge to patio to garden alcove. (My mother) set a limited number of editions for bronze casts. The molds being used for the casts are still in good shape but they do have a limited life. So this really is a special opportunity for art lovers to make a purchase."

Meanwhile, an exhibit of her mother's work will be held from April 16 to May 6 at the Scarborough Civic centre.

Elizabeth Fraser Williamson was born in Vancouver and grew up in Ottawa, where she completed a four-year course at the Ottawa Fine Art College in 1937.

In 1941, she married David Williamson and together they had three children, Fraser, Sara and Julia.

She worked in the village of North Gower, just south of Ottawa, until her marriage ended in 1970.

At that point, Elizabeth Fraser Williamson became an artist-in-residence at the Guild Inn at the invitation of art patron Spencer Clark, who had built a renowned artists colony known as the Guild of All Arts at his Scarborough home.

She lived on the inn's grounds in a cottage and made the historic log cabin her studio, said Sara Williamson, adding her mother taught extensively and also gave classes at Scarborough's Cedar Ridge Centre from 1970 to 1984.

"She was born with awareness of the transforming beauty in life," she said. "She came to the Guild Inn with a conviction that her mission was to make appreciation of sculpture accessible to the public."

Her mother held special memories of her time at the Guild Inn.

"It was a period electric with creativity," Sara Williamson said.

"The woods, the lake, the bluffs nourished her imagination. Guests at the Guild Inn would stop by the cottage gallery where she lived and she would invite them to look around, feel the sculptures and hear the story that was within each piece."

In 1995, the same year she left her log cabin to move to a retirement home, Elizabeth Fraser Williamson was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the former city of Scarborough.

A collection of 182 of her sculptures went to the Lebovic Gallery in Scarborough, later incorporated into the City of Toronto's art collection.

A book and two films have documented Elizabeth Fraser Williamson's art contributions.

The sculpture castings now being sold by Sara Williamson range in size from 7x13.3 centimetres to 29.2x54.6 centimetres. Prices start at $600 and go up to $7,300.

Each sculpture base will carry Elizabeth Fraser Williamson's signature, the year the original piece was created, the edition number and "posthumous" written on it.

The deadline for orders in June 28 but could end earlier depending on demand.

For more information, contact Sara Williamson via e-mail at snhw@baytel.net.