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Click here to try the Beauty from Ashes Quiz STUDIO SERVICES Beauty from Ashes Studio Services 2007/07 "Beauty from Ashes is a statement of the purpose and context of Ms. Mae's artistic, creative and life endeavours, seeking out that which is discarded or considered of no value and either creating something of beauty from it or finding alternative uses for it." This includes: transforming discarded materials into works of beauty creating art discovering your hidden gifts STUDIO FOCUS IS MOVING TO FACILITATION OF CREATIVE ACTIVITIES SUCH AS Design and coordination of larger individual or group projects Consulting: Do you have a project you need assistance with? From art projects to visioning exercises. We can help. Design and Consulting: Working wtih you to design and oversee the completion of your individual/group project Workshops: We come to you for half day, full day or weekend workshops Restoring the Voice of My Body: A new individualized consulting program for women looking to make positive changes in their lifestyle is currently in development and will soon be available. The following workshops are being offered in 2005/06 Bookings should be made as early as possible, but at least 8 months in advance is recommended. Brochure available soon. Workshops can be adapted for various ages and needs and focussed on sacred or secular approaches. Bubbles and Balloons: the Art of Being Joyful - how to rediscover and retain our ability to feel joyful Can't Stand Still: The Voice of My Body: expressing the life of our spirit using movement & dance Keha Kool (School of the body): a workshop with a focus on how our bodies work and relax Bubbling Over: Releasing Our Creative Selves: a fun set of workshops in which participants try various expressions of creativity - can be adapted for any age group Our Mother: Expressing the Lord's Prayer in movment Workshops under consideration for future development 2006/07 Beyond Words: experiencing different ways to be in the presence of the Sacred, without words Lighten UP: a workshop on the meaning of light in our lives Freeing the Spirit: a three workshop series of movement, movement meditations and rhythms Reflected Beauty: a workshop series suitable for weekends with a focus on finding beauty around/within. We welcome your ideas for workshops you need and can design something that will be fun, creative and meet your individual/organizational goals. Please feel free to contact the studio with your ideas. Back to Top

Services

BRIEF HISTORY Ms. Mae is a well-known Estonian textile artist, whose earliest exhibits turned leftover and discarded fabrics into works of art, expanded the use of traditional quilting techniques and created "soft sculpture" pieces, that were 3 dimensional. This work has embraced both secular and liturgical themes. Her first solo exhibit in 1974, entitled "Beasts" the Toronto Star called "the kind kids like to hang in their bedrooms." In 1978, a major exhibition of her liturgical work took place in the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto and later in Nova Scotia as part of a festival of "Women in the Arts". These banners and soft sculpture pieces reflected Ms. Mae's faith understanding, her concerns for global and gender disparity issues as well as a great sense of playfulness. In 1984, Ms. Mae was invited to exhibit her work at Esto '84 an international conference, as part of "Estonian Women Artists" exhibit. More recently Ms.Mae has been invited to exhibit her mosaic work made from discarded materials in various "Green" Art/Craft shows and sales, as well as to create a ceramic piece for the "Wheel Project" at the Gardiner Museum in 2002. Ms Mae is a member of the Estonian Society of Artists and a regular contributor to their exhibits. Her work includes watercolours inspired by nature, ceramics, mosaics and fabric sculpture. Ms. Mae is also known for her contributions to what she terms physical art. She has performed in activities as wide ranging as rhythmic gymnastics, kabuki theatre and liturgical dance. She has appeared as a guest artist and worship workshop conductor with Ruah, a liturgical dance group. She has performed in rhythmic gymnastics elite and adult elite groups and both performed and taught modern dance. Ms. Mae has conducted many workshops in music and movement, dance and fitness for children and adults. She is a certified fitness trainer, rhythmic gymnastics coach and teacher trainer. Ms. Mae has designed training materials and conducted workshops in many aspects of physical art ranging from yoga to body alignment. Now recovered from a 10 year period of chronic illness and disability, Ms. Mae is looking forward to sharing her experience and expertise once again. Back to Top

History

MOSAICS In 1995/96 while recovering from the major impact of a car accident, Ms. Mae began using discarded/found materials to create mosaics. This was a skill she retrieved from her childhood. Because of her designs with reused materials, Ms. Mae was asked to participate in a number of Green Gift Sales from 1997-1999. These sales were a project of the Toronto Environmental Alliance, bringing together artists and crafts people who worked in recycled and reused materials to provide environmentally friendly alternatives for Christmas shopping. These sales were showcased on television, being unique to that time. Ms. Mae's mosaic work has also been displayed at a number of Earth Day celebrations held by various Environmental Groups around the GTA. Her work has included everything from candlelights and mosaic pins to interior design pieces. She continues to work on commissions, with a special interest in creating unique artwork from found objects and her own ceramics. In 2001, she named her studio Beauty from Ashes to convey the sense of hope she feels at what can be done with very little and to encompass the broad base of materials she works with, ranging from fabric hangings, liturgical banners to ceramics, watercolour and mosaics. This sense of hope sustained her throughout a 10 year period of illness. In March of 2004 Ms. Mae experienced a miracle of God's healing. This experience now permeates her creative and artistic as well as faith outlook. Back to Top

Mosaics

GALLERY A Gallery and Store of Ms. Mae's works will be coming soon. Back to Top

Gallery

AMAZING GRACE Ms. Mae's most valued soft sculpture piece entitled "Amazing Grace" is a 4 piece liturgical banner that was commissioned for the chapel of Tyndale University College and Seminary. The 4 pieces are completely interchangeable, providing 16 possible combinations. This work was designed by Ms. Mae who worked with more than 30 volunteers over a two and a half-year period to complete it in 1993 in time for an arts conference at the college. This piece, complex both in content and construction, made entirely in silk, includes embroidered sections, two silk paintings and is embellished with thousands of glass beads. A brochure is available for those interested in more details. The work can be viewed on site by calling Tyndale to check when the chapel is available for viewing the banners. "Amazing Grace" was selected for inclusion in "Glowing Colours" the second Ontario exhibit of Liturgical Art, held at St. James' Anglican Church in Orillia in 2002. The title "Amazing Grace" is both a description of the context of the completion of this challenging work, and Ms. Mae's own life, in which God has taken the "ashes" of various difficult experiences and turned them into beauty through His/Her grace. Back to Top

Banners

KANNEL PROJECT Recently Ms. Mae has joined her brother Tom of Mae Productions Inc. to develop the "Kannel Project" an undertaking to restore and record Finno-Ugric music/musicians, beginning with recording the life history and music of an Estonian folk musician, Alfred Kuus. Kuus is a master musician who is known throughout the northern European countries for his playing of the "Kannel" or psaltery, a multi-string instrument. This led to the creation of a new company "Behind the Sauna Studios" working on not for profit principles to ensure that otherwise lost materials could be saved. More information can be found at www.behindthesaunastudios.com. For the "Dancing Kannel Tantsib" CD, an historical reel to reel tape was restored and digitally remastered, to produce a recording of timeless interest and value. The tape was crumbling even as it was being remastered and would otherwise have been lost. Alfred Kuus still played in international concerts at the age of 80. His musicianship has inspired many of the current generation of kannel players, including Ms. Mae, who was Kuus' student. The next step was the production of a video called 'Living Treasures', that was shown at the Psaltery Symposium held in Toronto, June 2004. In collaboration with the Estonian Ethnographic Society of Canada, partial funding was obtained from Eesti Sihtkapital to tape the life history and music of Alfred Kuus. Ms. Mae and her brother Tom are now seeking to secure sufficient funding to produce an interactive DVD on the life and music of this remarkable man This project will create a lasting record of his life and work, a work of beauty, that would otherwise have turned to ashes. Future projects that would highlight the forgotten cultures of the Baltic nations are currently in consideration. Back to Top

Music Projects

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS BACKGROUND Ms. Mae has both created and implemented a range of programs for children. These have included physical activities such as music and movement, kindergym, aquatics and Killer Windsurfing Camp held at the family cottage on Lake Couchiching. She has also been been active in faith based programs such as Scripture Union Holiday Clubs, sunday school special events, puppetry and creative camp activities. In her professional career, Ms Mae's focus has been on providing services and access to "at risk" individuals and families. She worked on development and assessment of services for families experiencing violence. As the executive director of a community based agency, she took on a job no one else wanted, and built an agency with programs, services and support systems for every community member. The agency's mandate was ensuring inclusion for all members of the community by providing full accessibility for those facing cultural, physical, economic or other challenges. The result was a joint venture agreement between her agency and the City of Scarborough in a new community centre, committed to accessibility. Ms. Mae's particular interest was developing comprehensive family support programs for families and children at risk. During this time, together with the director of Family Services, Ms. Mae developed a social skills program "Together We're Friends" based on dramatic play and creative activities. This program was developed in response to a need articulated by families/schools in the area. Back to Top

Kids Programs

CHILDREN'S PROGRAM TOGETHER WE'RE FRIENDS A Dramatic Play Introduction to Social Skills for Children in Grades 1 and 2 Together We're Friends was piloted in a number of schools as an after school program over a period of approximately 3 years. At the time, it was one of the few non-stigmatizing social skills programs for referred children being community based and open to all. More importantly, program participation was fun. The revised program was published in 1995. It includes family based activities as 'homework' to encourage positive changes in the parents' perceptions of children participating. Many parents found remarkable changes in their children. We believe the interaction between what children learned in the program as well as the impact of the homework on parents was responsible for this. The program is currently being updated. For more information about the program or to purchase a copy contact Ms. Mae at eestireet@rogers.com. Back to Top

Classes

BEAUTY FROM ASHES STUDIO STATEMENT "Beauty from Ashes" is a statement of the purpose and context of Ms. Mae's artistic, creative and life endeavours, seeking out that which is discarded or considered of no value and either creating something of beauty from it or finding alternative uses for it. She had the good fortune to grow up in a family that not only supported the arts, but also encouraged the artistic abilities of each family member. Her mother Leida Saar attended a prestigious "kasitöö" (handwork) institute in Estonia, where she learned everything from spinning and weaving to embroidery and knitting. She also created amazing "wild" gardens wherever the family lived. Ms. Mae's father, Dr. August Mae was one of the first Estonian doctors in Toronto. He found time not only to paint in oils, but also to create wonderful outdoor sculptures made from rocks at their family cottage. One of Ms. Mae's early childhood memories is of the joy of her whole family creating a giant outdoor mosaic table at their family cottage out of broken crockery pieces. This joy in finding alternative and creative uses for what would otherwise be thrown out has been the inspiration of much of her work. In 1992, Ms. Mae was awarded the Canada 125 medal in recognition of her volunteer contributions and her work in the community, ranging from coaching rhythmic gymnastics to teaching Sunday school in one of the Estonian churches in Toronto. As a consultant with the United Way of Toronto's Consulting, Training and Information Services, she was often called on to help volunteer organizations restore their sense of purpose. Her creative activities have encompassed organizational and personal development, artwork, liturgical dance and puppetry. Often such projects are "labours of love", finding the beauty in what would otherwise be discarded. Each of them has only been possible with the commitment and caring of other family and community members. Often the projects bring entire communities together to create something new and beautiful to fill a need, as was the case with both the Tyndale banners and the building of the neighbourhood based community centre. Thus, the term "beauty from ashes" can be used to describe both the inspiration and outcome behind each part of Ms. Mae's varied career, in both art and social services. Back to Top

Studio

LINKS OF INTEREST Kannel related links can be found at Kannel Project http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm prayer beads anglican style http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads/trisagion.htm pretty cool online prayer using the prayer beads http://www.tssf.org/jesus_prayer.htm more prayer info relating to beads http://www.circleofhope.ca/ faith based website set up by one family http://www.imago-arts.on.ca/ faith based website supporting Christians in the arts http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/index.asp/ Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives http://www.kandlekoda.ee/indexen.htmEstonian Kannel Making Workshop http://www.kantelemusic.com/ site about playing and learning kantele http://www.folklore.ee/ Eesti Rahvaluule Estonian folklore site in estonian http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/kanteleplayers/ kantele/kannel players chat group Back to Top

Useful Links

CONTACT REET E-mail Reet at eestireet@rogers.com. Or contact her by snail mail at: Behind the Sauna Studios, 1546 Kingston Road, Unit A-9, Scarborough ON M1N 1R8, Canada. Back to Top

Contacts

Home | Services | History | Mosaics | Gallery | Banners | Music Projects | Kids' Programs | Classes | Studio | Links | Contacts