As customers walk into the doors of Cafe 349 they are met with the aromas of baked goods and the day’s specials. But what makes the space cozy is seeing the town’s art exhibited on their walls year after year.
This month, the Cafe is featuring a collection of photographs by local artist Heidi Ardern. Her art will be displayed at the Cafe until March 7. The collection of photos starts in the fall and then takes you through all the seasons. It depicts different nature sights from Clarendon and Thorne.
The title “What dreams may come” was inspired by a line from Hamlet, Ardern noted that it is about taking time out of work and responsibilities and enjoying the nuances of life. She said it’s about slowing down and taking in the beauty of the things around you.
“If you stop and you have five minutes to watch the sunset, there’s all these natural miracles happening every day that you can get refreshed from, but just enjoy that moment and escape from the whole pandemic and the world and everything,” she explained.
Ardern graduated from the Algonquin College Photography program and she went on to work at a photo processing company in her early twenties. After it closed down, she bought it from the owners in 2003 and opened the first ever one hour photo processing shop in Shawville when things were still running on film.
She went on to do some teaching at the Pontiac High School and currently works at Blue Heron Landscaping.
Born and raised in Shawville, Ardern never really stopped photography but highlighted that with a full time job and working seven days a week, doing photography as a career was tough. But said while laughing, “I drive my son crazy because every day on the way to school, I’ll be like we should stop and take a picture of that.”
After a horrible fire at her job burned her personal laptop that carried all her work, “I would say that was kind of like a push to go back to re-create,” said Ardern.
Cafe 349 has always been a community place, owner Ruth Hahn noted that it’s a great way to showcase local work other than at a gallery and it’s great for business as it brings people in.
The Pontiac Artist association, who look after the different art exhibits at the cafe, reached out to Ardern and asked if she wanted to display her art there. Since the idea had been in the back of her mind for a few years, she jumped at the opportunity, noted Ardern.
THE EQUITY talked to two residents of the Pontiac who were having coffee and catching up and they said coming into the cafe and seeing the talent this community brings is always a delight.
“I’m just thrilled that it’s local,” said Bonnie Beveridge, from Bristol. When asked which one was her favourite, she pointed at the one that captures a view of the trees from a lower angle giving the photo a fresh perspective and said she was intrigued by it.
Betty Chamberlain, from Norway Bay, who teaches an art class herself, pointed out she loved the detail around the photos. “I like the fact that she put autumn flowers on that autumn scene, all around the frame. She put them inside the frame against the picture.”
When asked which was her favorite, Ardern began to explain it was one she took when she was 11 years old, a photo of two apple blossoms with the sunset in the background. She noted it was possibly shot on a 110 millimeter film with a disposable camera. Recognizing it may not be the greatest picture quality, it still had sentimental value to Ardern. “I put that one in there just because it’s been one of my favourites forever,” she said.
When walking around looking at the photographs, residents will notice that she includes excerpts from poems, some of them written by her grandmother and some lines from Shakespeare. “I look at the pictures and it’s like a line of poetry or a quote comes into my head and then it’s kind of forever linked,” explained Ardern.
Her art is about capturing a moment and so Ardern explained it’s always about having a camera on you and capturing a spectacular moment as it happens. She uses either her Nikon or her phone to shoot her photos.
Her goal is to be back in a darkroom and teaching photography. For her being in a darkroom is more of an art form “because everything you do affects the outcome” she pointed out. She also loves being able to inspire the kids and see some of them graduate and do it as a career, “it is double the reward.”
She recalled when she first started teaching through a program put together by the Pontiac Artist Association, and there was an 11 year old boy who wanted to take the class but due to an age limit they had to make an exception for him. Years later Ardern said she saw that he went on and became a professional photographer. “He was 11 and he was so incredible,” she exclaimed.
She loves to teach kids and for her,“ it’s just to get the kids to believe in themselves,” she said.
“What dreams may come”, is on display until March 7 at Cafe 349.
