Above: quilter Judy Cole chats with Kennisis Lake cottager Darren Poncelet on Sunday July 10 at Shirlee Weeks’s location on the Art on the Dock tour. This was the first year Poncelet did the tour which he called 
Right: Ian and Lisa Reston came to visit Studio 2 on Art on the Dock via Sea-doo. They cottage on Kennisis Lake and have been checking out artwork by water. 
Shirlee Weeks, left, had a lot of friends join her at Kennisis Lake’s Art on the Dock on Sunday, July 10. The two-day studio tour connected neighbours and exposed the community to the breadth of arts and crafts created on Kennisis Lake. Joining Weeks at her home were Judy Cole, second from left, Mia Corey and Tricia Bormanis. The women are all quilters. On offer at Studio 1, which saw about 200 people in the first day, were bags, purses, pillow cases, table runners, place mats, quilts, knitting and much more. The women are part of the local quilters’ guild. 
ight: Quilted work at the home of Shirlee Weeks at Kennisis Lake. The dolphin pattern work by Judy Cole in the foreground was created using trapunto, an Italian method of stuffing the work, which creates increased texture in the piece. 
Keith Rydberg was busy carving during Art on the Dock. The event featured 19 locations with many artists per location and could be accessed by car or by boat in most cases. Hundreds of shoppers came by during the weekend to check out work done by area artists and artisans. Rydberg is a retired banker who took up carving when he had to travel for work. It was between watching TV or carving … guess which he chose. 
Keith Higgins was a guest artist at Shelley Beach’s location on the Kennisis Lake Art on the Dock tour. Higgins lives in London, Ont., and is a friend of the Beach family. Retired in 2010, Higgins started creating birdhouses in his spare time. The birdhouses he makes are decorated with colourful stones and shells he finds either in Ontario or on his visits to Mexico. The birdhouses are suitable for finches and sparrows and are handsome even without a bird inside. According to the brochure, many of his birdhouses include driftwood from Kennisis Lake. 
Above: quilter Judy Cole chats with Kennisis Lake cottager Darren Poncelet on Sunday, July 10 at Shirlee Weeks’s location on the Art on the Dock tour. This was the first year Poncelet did the tour, which he called 
Oakwood artist Ian Ball is a graphic designer and watercolour painter. Ball said the tour has allowed him to meet his neighbours, some of which came by canoe and boat, others by car. A few people came from other lakes or towns entirely for the tour. Ball has a studio called I-Ball on Highway 7 in Oakwood and also participates in artist initiatives in the Haliburton Highlands. His work captures area’s rural nature including buildings, landscapes and animals. Besides his paintings from large to tiny, he also created and sold buttons and fridge magnets with his art. Ball is on the Victoria County Studio Tour – Kawartha Lakes on Sept. 24 and 25 and Oct. 1 and 2. 
Bob Cole has been creating totem poles for at least 10 years. During Kennisis Lake Art on the Dock on Sunday, July 10, he was working on his family pole, which includes an animal for each child and grandchild. He let his family choose the animal to represent him and they selected the bear, which symbolizes strength, humility and respect. Cole has three different totem poles at his home and will create them on commission. He also hosts totem pole carving courses at his studio each summer. 
Shelley Beach shows visitors how she created the teacup pattern on a piece of pottery by carving a mould. Beach is constantly innovating with her work, which is mostly watercolours. “That’s what keeps me interested in it,” she says. Many of her paintings depict the local landscapes. On display on Sunday were several with local connections including one painted from the West Shore, another inspired by the Minden flood and Lake of Many Winds, of Kennisis. The multi-award-winning artist had a bustling studio on Sunday, July 10, the second day of Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners’ Association Art on the Dock. Beach is originally from Pickering and has had a place on Kennisis since 1993. She has lived fulltime in the Highlands for the last eight years. She also showed visitors the watercolours she has created using a less absorbent paper, which allows the paint to bubble and slide along the surface. From left, visitors Jayson and Jim Dale, Beach’s daughter Lindsay Beach Lapos and Shelley Beach.
By Jenn Watt
Published by July 12 2016
The Kennisis Lake Art on the Dock on Sunday July 10.
