Fused glass dish created by Rosemary Scurfield.
Rosemary Scurfield is an emerging artist from River Heights.
She was one of a handful of local artists chosen once again by St. Peters Anglican Church on Elm Street to take part in their recent exhibit of emerging artists.
This exhibit and sale is an annual event for the church and a fundraising vehicle for both the church and upcoming members of the art community.
This year’s show ran over the course of a weekend towards the end of April and featured more than 20 local artists working in a variety of different media such as oils, watercolours, photography, sculpture and jewelry.
Scurfield’s medium however is fused glass, also known as glass slumping. It’s a two-step process used to join various pieces of glass together by fusing them at high temperatures in a kiln, then a second firing to slump them to shape over a mould.
And the results are very attractive and colourful bowls, dishes and vases that are both functional and delightful to look at.
Scurfield has been creating glass pieces for more than 20 years now, having first taken stained glass courses from Lois Loewen at Prairie Stained Glass.
One of Rosemary Scurfield’s colourful bowls.
Over the years she has produced window panels, lamps, suncatchers and mosaic tiles, but for the last five years her focus has been on fused glass. She explained how she loves the way light plays upon the colours and textures of glass and enjoys the endless creative possibilities afforded by working with a kiln. Her love of nature is reflected in a lot of her pieces.
A retired pre-school teacher, she worked for twenty years with special needs children at the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD). Scurfield grew up on Carpathia Road and has spent her whole life living in River Heights. Yet she tells me she had no interest in art during her high school years at Kelvin. It became both a passion and a talent during later life for her.
But Rosemary Scurfield is not the only artist in her Oxford Street household as her husband Bob also has an artistic flair. An accomplished painter he had a recent exhibition in New York City.
Together they have shown their various pieces at summer showings in Victoria Beach where they are cottagers.
When not being creative in her home studio Rosemary enjoys travelling, cooking, playing tennis and working in her husband’s Human Resource consulting business. She also likes spending summers at the cottage with family and friends.
If you missed the St. Peters exhibition you can also find Scurfield’s work on sale at Gallery Lacosse on Lilac Street.
