Welcome to Imagine That!

artwork by Imagine That! member - Margot Page

Imagine That! is an artisan-run co-operative store in Duncan in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, B.C.

John Agg

Imagine that! Artisans' Designs pays tribute during the month of May 2012, to a recently deceased but well-known Vancouver Island artist and enamellist, John Agg.

artwork by John Agg

John was born in Whitby Ontario in 1928. He took his art training at Northern Secondary School and became what was known in the business then as a Commercial Artist. He was the Art Director of Ontario Ladies' College before moving to Toronto where he spent all his time painting.

In 1961 John and his wife Helen, a potter and painter, moved to Terra Cotta, Ont. They set up Country Gallery where they could live, work, exhibit and sell their own artworks. At this time John learned the craft of Copper Enamelling. It was unique at this time to live a lifestyle where they could concentrate on their own productivity. They held numerous one-man shows.

In 1976 John and Helen moved to Vancouver Island, and built a log home on the seashore of Qualicum Bay. Here they set up the AGG WORKS Gallery featuring paintings, prints and enamels. John collaborated in carving and decorating Helen's pottery. Theirs were coastal themes.

Long before the new inland route was built, many recall their charming little Gallery on the old Island Highway near Qualicum Bay. Agg Works closed in 2000 but they continued to live in Qualicum Bay. John died in 2011.

Helen has kindly donated all John's studio supplies to Margot Page, a local enamellist.

Margot Page

Vase by Margot Page

The first Anniversary of the Japan earthquake and tsunami has come. The stunning devastation is imprinted in our minds...

I recall April 5, 1985. It is Good Friday and my partner and I have just sailed into Japan on our own sailboat. It is 3 years since we sailed from Ontario..and now we are in Oita, about to clear Customs in Japan, for the first time.

By the time we cast off from Kushiro in July, we will have shared heart-warming friendships and learned their customs.We will have sailed from Kyushu to Hokkaido, followed the ceremonies of Sakura, the cherry blossom season as we went northward..

We will have bathed in their onsen, and been entertained by their hospitality. We will have experienced a typhoon on our own boat, and felt the earth shake from quakes, as we walk the streets..

We know when we go back the hospitality will still be there, in those little villages, and tiny seaports.

My enamelled artwork is inspired by the tiny Geisha I saw on the streets of Tokyo. Proceeds of my sales from the May window, will be sent to Japan via: Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

Sandra Greenaway

Kimono by Sandra Greenaway

The pieced kimono were made in the spirit of the Japanese quilting method called yosegire, which means "to sew together". Yosegire originated in the 16th century, but sewing together bits of precious fabrics into garments dates back long before that.

The kimono were made from left-over pieces of fabric from earlier projects. By sewing them together, we can prolong the fabric's life. A patchwork garment expresses to the recipient the hope for a long life.