Column by Stephen Cooke
I have a huge fondness for the phrase “cabin fever”, and its more extreme cousin, “shack wacky,” which got a healthy workout during the spring and summer of 2020, for reasons that nobody has to explain.
More traditionally, they’re saved for those times when inclement weather and inhospitable outdoor conditions require you to stay indoors, and their effect can increase exponentially when paired with the effects of something like salty fog or a tap-dancing squirrel on our famously skittish power grid.
Robyn’s Nest Events, the organizer of the Cabin Fever Concert Series taking place at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre’s Shannon Studio this winter hopes to alleviate some of those “shed shivers” (OK, I’ll stop with the synonyms) over four family-friendly Saturday nights in February and March, with a talented roster of artists sharing songs and stories.
Cape Breton singer-songwriter Steve MacIntyre also happens to be the founder of Robyn’s Nest, and he has assembled a crack team of familiar faces and emerging talent that will make it hard to miss any of these bi-weekly shows, starting on Saturday, Feb. 10 with Island folk fixture Aaron MacDonald and Bay St. Lawrence native Jesse Cox.
On Feb. 24, it’s a roots-n-blues-themed evening with East Coast Blues Society “Maritimes-to-Memphis Blues Challenge” winner Jon Hines, soulful storyteller Joe H. Henry and Nova Scotian retro roots rock favourite Willie Stratton taking the Shannon Studio stage.
Powerful women artists fill the lineup on March 9, with Isabella Samson, the duo Hearts of Kin and Evelyn MacRae, while the series wraps up on March 23 with master entertainers Buddy MacDonald, Jordan Musycsyn, and Arichat’s own Robert Bouchard.
Mark your calendars, and take note that tickets are now on sale through the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre website, at phcivic.com, for $20 each, or in limited quantities at the door for $25 on day-of-show.
While we’re on the topic of the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, its J. Franklin Wright Gallery recently opened the exhibit by Amherst artist Deanne Fitzpatrick, whose medium is the tactile textile world of rug hooking.
It’s titled Finding Your Way Through the Deep, featuring the colourful, detailed tapestries that come from a creator with an adventurous eye for the natural world, and who recently became one of the newest Nova Scotians to join the Order of Canada.
“I really believe rug hooking changes people, being creative changes people,” says the exhibit’s description by Fitzpatrick, who also runs a studio and store at home in Amherst. “I love making art and helping people make theirs.”
Fitzpatrick’s work captures the textures of nature and life itself with a unique sense of hope and playfulness that comes through in the placement of each fibre and is well worth a visit to see in person.
Finding Your Way Through the Deep runs to March 12. The J. Franklin Wright Gallery is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more details, visit the gallery’s Facebook page.