By Jill Chapman
Just
as Lang brings rural history to life, Kathy Hope creates works of art for sale
that re-purpose items in new and exciting ways to give them an invigorated
spirit and fresh look.
Read
below as Kathy shares a bit about herself in this segment of ‘meet the maker’,
focusing on artisans with pieces in our Museum Shop.
How
long have you lived in Keene? Are you from this area?
Kathy: My family moved from Lakefield to
Keene in 1962 and I have been in the local area ever since as my husband is
also from the Keene area.
Where
is your favourite place (or places of inspiration) in Peterborough County?
Kathy: As long as I can remember, my father
collected antiques of one kind or another and haunted auctions, fence lines,
barns ~ just about where ever there was a rusty piece of equipment to be
found. I feel like I have just carried on from there as my favorite haunts are
farm auctions in the local area, driving the backroads looking for rustic
pictures to take or that odd fabulous find in a fence bottom and just generally
loving the country life.
You can always find my husband and I at the Father’s Day
Smoke and Steam Show at Lang Pioneer Village with a display of a gas engine,
John Deere Bicycle and numerous other vintage pieces.
In fact, in my younger days you could quite often find me
swimming at Hope Mill (which used to be run by my husband’s Great Uncle) or at
the pier and beach at the Lang Grist Mill.
What
got you started independently creating articles?
Kathy: I was trying to come up with a
somewhat different idea for a birthday gift and remembered seeing a sign made
with rusty tools on barn board at a shop somewhere (can’t remember where) &
thought “well, I have all kinds of board and rusty wrenches ~ why not attempt a
name sign” and things just progressed from there.
What
is your inspiration? or… What are you inspired by?
Kathy: I just love rusty goodness! If I see
something that I love, whether I know what I will do with it or not, I just
have to have it. I may collect things that sit for a couple years, before
I find just the perfect creations that it can be used for. That usually comes
with my house decorating as well. Whenever I hear someone say "oh my, I
just love that but I’m just not sure where I would put it", my first reaction
is, "well, if you love it, buy it….it will find the space it was meant for!"
What is your favourite material to
work with?
Kathy: I use mostly barn board, but also pallet wood or
pieces of wood from different farm machinery ss the base and any type of
article from rusty wrenches, insulators, gadgets, vintage jewellery
combine to make the word or creation. Also vintage window frames, doors,
chicken wire are often utilized as well.
How
long have you been creating pieces for sale?
Kathy: I have been creating
items since June of 2013 for sale.
Where do you generally sell your
pieces?
Kathy: I have a Facebook page
- www.facebook.com/ritzyrust and a small booth at Cedar Lane Home
and Garden in Lakefield. Taylor’s
Country Store in Bailieboro buys creations from me and of course the Gift
Shop at Lang Pioneer Village. I host an Open House out of our garage a couple
times a year with pieces for sale as well. One of these Open Houses last winter
featured a photographer who you could book with and have your family photos
taken in our “One Horse Open Sleigh”.
Do you have a home studio? Where do
you create?
Kathy: I started off using our
Garden Shed that we built in the spring of 2013 as my supply storage and work
studio, but I soon out-grew the space for the storage of items I have on hand
so recently have been utilizing the unfinished space in our basement.
 |
| Kathy's Shed Studio |
Some examples of Kathy’s
Pieces:
Drop
by 10-4pm Monday to Friday until December 17th to see
Kathy’s work and other great giftware. We thank Kathy for
taking part in our spotlight interview, and for bringing her inspired work to
the Lang Pioneer Village Museum Shop!
Jill Chapman is the Visitor Experience Coordinator at Lang Pioneer Village Museum. She has been a member of the Lang team since May of 2012. Jill is a passionate advocate for education, the arts and fitness. When not at work, Jill might be found running through the North Cavan foothills or on one of the County’s rotary trails.