Letterheads

Murray MacDonald is a Letterhead. He lives and breathes sign making. Murray’s studio is a century old church he’s converted into his home as well as his work space. If you feel like dropping in on Murray to see his work (and maybe even pick up a custom, hand crafted sign for your home, boat or cottage), his studio (Old Time Signs) is located at 529 3rd Avenue South.

Imagine a world wide group of people , over 10,000 strong, that communicates on a regular basis, has meetings that are held throughout North America, in Australia, the U.K., Greece, Thailand... has an extremely active website, a slick and well-produced magazine, and yet has no formal organization, no offices, officers or administrative functions. That's Letterheads, a motley collection of signpainters, woodcarvers, muralists, pinstripers, airbrush artists, in fact, just about any form of visual communication that is not electronic or on film. Most of these artists do some form of hand work, and although many, if not most, have graduated to computers for designing and much of the production, it's pretty hard to get a computer to pinstripe a motorcycle tank, or paint a mural, or carve an eagle, or...well, you get the idea.

Letterhead "meets" are a form of communication between these artists that puts it on a personal, face to face basis. They can consist of two 'Heads getting together on a Saturday or 500 attending an "International". They paint, they carve, they do murals, they TALK! It's really astounding to see the body of work 25 or 30 people can produce in a weekend, all the while talking, doing workshops, watching demos of some arcane craft, playing music...yes, many 'Heads are also musicians, seems to go with the job. The communities where these meets are held are always the beneficiaries of the event, because there is always an effort to "give back" to the host town.

This summer, on July 14, 15 and 16, Kenora will be host to" Letterheads on the Lake", with 30 or 40 participants coming from all across Canada and the U.S. The meet will be held in a tent beside the Blue Heron on 1st Ave S., and the major project will be a mural depicting the early days of the Kenora Fish Market, which, by absolutely no coincidence at all, is the building that now houses the Blue Heron! The mural will be painted on a scaffold in the tent, and then hung on the lakeside of the Blue Heron. There will also be projects involving gold leafing, carving and angel gilding, which is liquid gold and silver...the real stuff. And of course, the Panel Jam, in which individuals do their own thing, producing "panels", usually centered around the theme of the meet. This meet will be hosted by Debbie and Murray MacDonald of OldTime Signs, and the mural project is being headed by Kelley Morrell, a talented local artist whose work can be seen in other murals around town.. All the work is being donated by the artists, and it is hoped that there will be an auction of panels, with the proceeds going to a local charity. The public is invited to come and see some real old fashioned craftsmanship at work, talk to the artists and learn a little more about why we call ourselves the "Keepers of Our Craft".