Heather Ferguson – Author and Poet

As the writer of this column, I have trained a spotlight on many area artisans, showcasing the best talents of our region. I take this opportunity to humbly illuminate my own accomplishments which have recently taken the form of the acceptance of two of my own books by the Ralph Pickard Bell Library at Mount Allison University. A volume of poetry titled “The View from my Armchair: Echoes of the Caribbean” and a collection of ten essays titled “Cold Fire: The Illusion of Reality” have been acquired by the university as reference material for a third-year course on Caribbean Literature taught by Dr. Terrence L. Craig. Invited to lecture at his class recently, this has been a proud honour indeed.

These works examine the plight of the first generation immigrant to Canada, exploring themes of nostalgia, cultural mores, and a diversity of experiences both at home and abroad. For example, how delightful for the author/poet to happen on a game of cricket in Halifax as illustrated in the lines:

The Cricketers
The sun arcs
High over clock tower
At Citadel Hill
In Halifax
Dispelling the morning mists
That hover over the harbour
And as I skirt the hill
At Rainie Street
Behold!
Early morning cricketers
On the green
Their whites against
The fresh-mown field
The graceful arc of the ball
Exploding with a crack
Against the bat –
And I
Momentarily transfixed
I’m transported
To afternoon on the Savannah
The Northern Range cradling the city
As on the green
Cricketers dance their languid ballet
Fluid movements
Slow and studied
Yet graceful and easy
As if done to some unheard music
Its players in that universal game
That transcends cultures
That last gasp
Of empire
That colonial calling card called cricket.

or to highlight the plight of the homeless in a large city in the paragraph:

I met a homeless man once.... He approached me on Queen Street in downtown Toronto. Queen Street where all the weird people hang out – the disenfranchised, the homeless, the unwanted, the unwashed. I’d seen them in doorways, huddled in blankets even in the sweltering heat, hugging the few possessions they owned.... He approached me with an unsteady gait, tentatively, tenuously, hesitatingly, haltingly – but he approached me.... There was an aristocracy about him – a sense of standing apart in complete freedom from the ordinary cares of the rest of us, of not being beholden to anyone else but himself, a law only unto himself, an existence on a separate plane.... How freeing, until hunger tugged at the gut or cold snapped at the bare fingers or naked toes. Yet, who was he? What was his story? What was the tragedy in his life which brought him to this level of existence?... Yet here we were both at once proletariat and aristocracy, true proletarians with an aristocracy of spirit – here was the nobility of spirit shining through circumstance.

These works portray the mental tightrope any first-time immigrant to Canada must walk as he or she is flung between the land of his or her birth and an adopted homeland. Coloured vignettes of island life juxtaposed with quaint Canadiana are ribbons woven throughout these works which are just a small part of an inventory of works that make up six books including two children’s books.

The reader is no doubt quite familiar with my commercial work, which not only appears in this column, but also elsewhere at the Know Moncton online publication. As well, I have provided freelance work for the Times & Transcript newspaper in the advertising department for the past eight years. Two major national magazine publications as well as contributions to client websites round out my work portfolio. For more information on my work, do not hesitate to contact me at 387-8218 or e-mail me at wrf@nb.sympatico.ca. You will find in me a passion for the written word which is the driving force behind a writing life.

Copper Creations

One of the joys of exploring local Farmers Markets is discovering treasures that are off the beaten track. Such a delightful discovery was coming across artist in metal Scott Aiken. His table at the Marché Moncton Market holds gallery quality pieces of his artwork rendered in copper. With the eye of a botanist and the talent of a seasoned craftsmen, Scott’s floral arrangements are true to life and beautifully arranged in clay dishes or on rustic driftwood. The results are breathtaking! Lilies, daisies, bullrushes, grasses, mushrooms, and even a dragonfly are some of the designs drawn from nature. Perfect for the home or office, it’s the choice centrepiece or accent for the person who has everything, the connoisseur of fine art, or the avid gardener, or nature lover. Scott also fashions wonderful accent mirrors and lovely garden archways and arbours from steel with vine-like designs encrusted with metal leaves.

Scott Aiken came to this medium quite by chance. He initially trained as a sheet metal worker at a local community college where one of his class projects involved creating a rose from metal. While he did not enter sheet metalworks as a trade, he took away a talent and passion for creating unique, true-to-life renditions of the natural world in copper. Delicate, ethereal, yet accurate, Scott’s impressions of local flora can hold its own against the finest artworks of our region.

Scott Aiken’s table at the market also features lovely jewellery created by his young daughter, Molly, age 12. Exhibiting a sophistication and eye for farm, colour, composition, and beauty far beyond her years, Molly’s creations utilize copper wire and semi-precious tones in pieces to be the crowning touch to any outfit.

For more information, contact Scott at 386-5895 or visit the market where you will be amazed at the skill and craftsmanship of his wonderful pieces.