Have a "Folk Art" Seat

A year or so ago, my Aunt Kitty (Katherine Forrestall, younger sister of our dad, Tom) started to paint chairs around her house. They are deeply fanciful and colorful works of art that I am in Love with. Kitty has an unbelievably beautiful and enormous garden and she gardens all the time in the summer months, but in the winter, this has become her new passion. She has taken painting classes for years in and around the valley. I keep urging my dear Aunt to make enough chairs  to have a show somewhere, as they truly are works of art. 

Curphey Forrestall's latest Theatre work

The third oldest son of the Natalie & Tom Forrestall clan is the multi-talented Curphey Forrestall, who lives and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Curphey has been doing amazing murals and set and scenic painting on movie and theatre production for a number of years. This week he has been working on "Munchipelosa" a traveling children's show in Nova Scotia. Next week another project. He has worked on everything from helping to paint a re-creation of a Viking village for a huge American movie set in Nova Scotia, to murals in stores and on the sides of buildings. With traditional brush-and-paint techniques Curphey creates painted vistas, professional faux-finish, texturing and trompe l’oeil mural installations sing a sophisticated technique of repeated glazing and layering to achieve an evocative sense of depth and luminosity to his work. He is very talented, and can paint quickly--important for contract set work. Although he usually works on sets with others, he has collaborated with his dad, Tom on a couple of large public painted mural projects.

Gallery opening at KS Art Gallery

 September 18th show of his Bill Adams was fantastic. Bill does quirky and interesting drawings and paintings, that are text and interesting graphic work. He became well know for these crazy ball point pen drawings, often of animals, he did for a ball point pen exhibition a few years back. Bill is also a big fan of my son Max, and went so far as to name one crazy cat painting after Max for this show. Here's a photo of the two of them together, in front of the painting "Max".

Monica Forrestall

Dartmouth family dinner

July 2nd in Dartmouth, a big family dinner in the dining room. Frank's wife, Diana's mother was visiting from Wales for the first time in 12 years, and that called for many big, celebratory meals. 

Here Jaimie, Liz, Curphey, Jasmine, Diana, her mom, Jessica, Gwen and Max. Diana's toast "To a full table"...

Tom Forrestall painting with his grandkids at Fred's Hole

Not easy to find, but well worth the hunt, is a local legendary place of peaceful, natural beauty in the woods behind Bear River, Nova Scotia: Fred's Hole. Poetically named NOT, it's famous for cool deep water that kids can jump off of the huge rocks into. Driving up a dirt road in the back woods of Nova Scotia, you come upon this sun dappled tree encircled natural pond in a rushing wide stream, very suddenly on your right. We'd been telling our dad, Tom Forrestall, about this spot for 3 years and FINALLY he made it out there with lots of his family: me, his grandson Max (he's the one racing with the water squirter 1/2 the size of his body on dad's left), my brother Curphey and his daughters, Liz and Jasmine. Dad and I made sketches of the big rocks in the water, while his grandkids drew and ran around, occasionally into the cool water. The pool in the rushing brook was so much higher this year than usual and rushing very strongly because of all the rain in June and early July. Most memorable from our last family visit here, were the hundreds of  iridescent green and blue dragonflies alighting on peoples hats and shirts as well as beautiful butterflies. And they were back! A magical place.
Max Forrestall Schuss and cousin Liz (below right)          Below: Max in Fred's Hole

Max and his uncle Curphey defy the cold water, while grandpa watches.

Dad sketching at Fred's Hole

Tom Forrestall making a watercolor at Fred's Hole.

Max Forrestall Schuss, Millie Webb, Gwen Forrestall at Fred's Hole.

Family time in Nova Scotia Summer 2009

Lots of family time this summer when Monica Forrestall made it home to Nova Scotia for two glorious months. For the first few days of July, our wonderful father, Tom Forrestall, made it out to the Annapolis Valley for a few days. He drove down with me, Monica, and we all had lots of sketching, dinners, visits and relaxed and happy times unfolded. Here, dad was quietly sketching a vase of flowers that he had picked up at the farmers market in Annapolis Royal. Curphey's daughter Jasmine wanted to paint too, and set up a piece of paper next to her grandfather. My son Max immediately wanted to join and soon the dining room at Three Oaks was filled with quiet, focused children painting alongside of their grandfather. It was such a natural and sweet family moment, that unfolded naturally.

above, Tom Forrestall painting with his grandchildren, Jasmine (left), Max (sitting) and Liz (standing on right).

Tom Forrestall's sketch of flowers below, left.