Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 40

4C EDMONTON JOURNAL. Saturday. December 28. 1974 A iSLxiAPu I i FUJI Road Below Bundle has a "hushed, mellow quality'' Banff Park Band, one of Clyde's later pictures, has "a kind of heady, heavy afternoon fragrance and intimacy that is pleasant and unforced. Tribu te to a great teacher and artist Retrospective showing can be a terrible thing By RON MacGREGGB shows something of that rootless-ness.

He flirts with styles that have their origins in cubism, dynamism, expressionsim. Occasionally, success: Banff Park Band, for example, has a kind of heady, heavy afternoon fragrance and intimacy that is pleasant and unforced. Others are less so. In fact, it seems to have taken the increased leisure time that resulted from retirement to bring Glyde back to the solid, honest work that marks his early landscapes. It is good to see the assurance in Jiggers, three statuesque young women dangling jigging lines over the edge of a wharf, their relaxed attitudes contrasting with the taut verticals of the lines they hold.

He has earned that retirement, and one would hope that it will be a long and productive one. Art education in Alberta owes H. G. Glyde a lot. For this reason too, allegorical works like Crucifixion and Peace fail to arouse more than a passing shrug.

Yet there was a time, obviously more patriotic than the present, when allegories on peace were enthusiastically received. Whether for good or ill, Camus, Vennegut, Catch 22 and Lacombe, Lucien have done an effective job of demolishing that. One last point needs to be made about Glyde's career. The role of the artist as teacher is difficult to sustain, because teaching demands that the teacher immerse himself in the various problems of his students, rather than seek to solve those which he has set for himself. By extending himself to cope with the several directions taken by others, he runs the risk of losing his own.

Glyde's work in the 50s and '60s times forget that they are themselves prisoners of the present, and of the values by which it is characterized. That an artist keeps on working is a tacit admission that he has not yet found what he seeks. His individual works are expressions of how he felt about something at one particular time, not absolute statements. Some hold up, and some do not. In the Glyde show, the viewer will no doubt feel closer to some of the works than to others.

I would imagine that many of the landscapes will be well reviewed: Glyde composed these skilfully, orchestrating material from careful pencil sketches into complex undulating rhymes that inevitably invite comparison with the work of A. Y. Jackson, an old friend of Glyde's. Road Below Rundle has that Art review several Second World War paintings on show. These have the curiously impersonal quality so common in war art: the enigmatic troops, the solemn spectators, the trance-like actions, the Pisanello-like stillness of the scene all contribute to an air of unreality that removes these events completely from our day-to-day experience.

Here, Glyde's training as a mur-alist works against him. There is a rather uncomfortable theatricality about his figures, most noticeable in the victims, that academic mural form demanded but which the obscenities of My Lai and Belfast eloquently contradict. When you die in your dungarees, you don't much care about doing it gracefully. hushed, mellow quality typical of settlements that have (however temporarily) exchanged the strident trappings of progress for the tranquil passivity of things as they are. In the cool breezinesa of Early Morning, Canmore, and- in the acres of space compressed into a tiny sketch of two horsemen in Coulee Country.

Glyde explores the lyrical side of Alberta. No less interesting is his treatment of the grimier face of the province. Imperial Wildcat No. 3, set in a scummy, drab, snowdrift-ed void from which earth ridges heave like blackened ribs, looks like an industrial Somme. This exhibition is very much a chronicle of the Alberta that was.

Lethbridge, Canmore, Vegreville of yesteryear are featured; as is Edmonton, before the high-rises, when the Macdonald Hotel still domintat-ed the skyline. This building forms part of the background for one of Few names in Alberta's art history command as much respect as that of Henry George Glyde. His record as a teacher in this province extends over 40 years, and even in retirement he has maintained contact with neophyte painters, through a number of summer schools taught at the Banff Centre. It is therefore only fitting that Edmonton, his home for many years, should host a retrospective exhibition of his work. The Edmonton Art Gallery has assumed this responsibility, and Clyde's paintings will be on show there till Jan.

13. A retrospective showing is in some ways a terrible thing. A whole career is laid out. like a fish on a slab, vulnerable to the scrutiny of the viewers who have all the advantages of hindsight, but who some Mordecai Richler to have children's book out soon GARDENING jlijL by Brian Andrews Caring for gift plants Kravitz it's an amalgam of a lot of people," he explained. Duddy's character is based on school children and others he knew while growing up in the ghetto.

St. Urbain Street is also spotlighted in Mr. Richler's most recent novel St. Ur-bain's Horseman, in which Duddy again appears. But time has changed things for both the author and the street of his boyhood.

He now lives in West-mount, the rich Montreal neighborhood which is home of the English-speak The movie of Duddy Kravitz has won international acclaim capturing the Golden Bear award for international films in Berlin this year. Mr. Richler said he tends to "brood" more now about his novels before writing them. What does he think of American influence on Canada? There's too much American ownership of industry, he said, "but I'm not a cultural nationalist." Richler said he is against erecting cultural barriers to protect "mediocre He said he had some sympathy for Canadian publishers, who have a small audience. But not for authors, who.

if they are good, have the entire English-speaking world as their potential audience. write a children's book? "I have five children (aged 6 to 18) and for years I promised I'd write a book for them," he explained. "Finally the promise caught up with me and I wrote the book. I enjoyed it." he said. Mr.

Richler said he is also working on another novel. But he didn't want to talk about it something he said is his normal practice for any book he is writing. But he did say that Duddy. the brash hustler, will probably not make an appearance in the book. Mr.

Richler said he has also being doing a certain amount of journalism "which I enjoy." He recently finished an article for Playboy magazine on Conspiracy Theories after travelling through the U.S. and talking to people on the left and right. By BOB GELMOUR Of The Journal Mordecai Richler, fast becoming Canada's best known novelist, was a Montreal ghetto kid. Just like Duddy Kravitz the brash, hustling likable character he created in his book The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. which has been made into a movie.

Mr. Richler. 44, lived on St. Urbain Street, a tough Jewish working-class neighborhood where he was the son of a junk pedlar and grandson of a rabbi from Poland. Again, just like the $800,000 film set in the Montreal slums of 1948 which follows 18-year-old Duddy as he stops nothing short of murder to con his way to the top.

But there the similarity stops. Duddy's character in no way reflects his own, Mr. Richer said while here recently for the Tommy Banks show. "There is no Duddy Richler Richie Haven's Mixed Bag is just that mixed pieces ing elite. And St.

Urbain Street is no longer a Jewish neighborhood. It's home to Greek and Portuguese, says Mr. Richler, the original residents having moved But the movie, starring 26-year-old Richard Drey-fuss who appeared in American Graffiti, has sparked a big upsurge in sales of Duddy Kravitz. About 75.000 to 80.000 copies sold in Canada this year, said Mr. Richier.

Normal annual sales were about 30.000 a year. And in the United States, where the film has also been distributed by Paramount Pictures, book sales have reached 200,000 paperback copies. So far. the film has grossed upwards of $1.7 million in Canada. "It's rather incredible," says Mr.

Richler, "it's three times as much as any Canadian film grossed." Always busy, the Montreal author has written a children's book which is to be released in the spring. It's a comic novel called Jacob Too-Too Meets The Hooded Fang. Why would the author of best-selling adult novels cates a need for water. By using a combination of two or more test, with a little practice, sound judgments can easily be made. To prolong the blooming or fruiting period, place the plants in the coolest locations possible.

not outdoors.) Make sure they are not in line with the blast of warm air from heating vents and keep them away from all heating pipes, radiators, registers and appliances. Avoid all drafty places, particularly where plants can receive regular generous doses of cold air from front and back doors. Place the plants where they will get plenty of light for a good part of each day. Be sure that leaves are not touching freezing glass windows. Other house plants may or may not be actively growing depending on each particular type.

Follow the checking and watering procedures pre-viosly described but temper the frequency of watering with your observations of the plant's growing stage. In general plants which are not actively producing new stem and leaf growth will require watering less often than those which are actively growing. Place these plants in the light and location conditions which they prefer, which will, of course, depend upon the particular type. As far as keeping flowering gift plants from one year to another is concerned, bear in mind that this is not worth attempting with Jerusalem cherry, chrysanthemum, cineraria, primroses, Christmas Begonias, hyacynth tulip. Although many people try, very few can get a poinsettia to fiower the following year.

It can be done, but takes more effort and care then most people are prepared to provide. In short to enjoy the majority of seasonal plants at their best, your friendly neighborhood flo-- Hope you all had a really fine Christmas and that every wife. mum. sister and girlfriend received a bouquet or plant. If you didn't get one, per-naps the gentlemen gardeners reading this column will take a gentle hint and do the right thing for the New Year.

speaking, gift pjants will probably fall into two broad categories -4 traditional Christmas flowering or fruiting plants such as azalea, poinsettia and Jerusalem cherry, and general houseplants which may flower at other times of the year or which are grown for their attractive foliage and form. The traditional Christmas flowering groups will be mature plants which have been established in their present pots and soil for quite a long time. As a consequence they will have extensive root systems and a jieed for plenty of water. sure to check these kinds of plants daily and witer thoroughly if the soil is tending towards the dry side. Check at the same time each day.

say 9 a.m. to get a bit of standardization irjto your watering procedures. I Four easy tests for a pjant's needs f--r water are: 'l) For a clay pot tap ti)e upper half of the pot with a piece of wood or your khuckles a ringing sound indicates that the soil ball has shrunk away from the sides of the pot and the piant therefore needs watering; a dull, solid sound indicates that the soil water siluation is O.K. '2) For. a plastic pot simply observe whether or not the soil ball has shrunk away from the inside of the pet; the ringing test doesn't work on plastic pots.

3i Lift the pot by the rim with one hand; a pot containing dry soil will be noticeably lighter in weight tljan one with wet soil. Ml Feel the soil surface with the finger tips; unless the soil surface has been ioosencd and crvmbled, a dry surface usually indi bright chunk of musical optimism fits well with Havens style. It's the best cut of the album. Another good one is Havens dusted-off version of the old Buffalo Springfield tune The Loner. Neil Young's song fares well in Havens' style.

Varied as it is. the album is worth a good, long listen. Certainly no heavyweight for Havens or for pop music. Mixed Bag II is just a very enjoyable, album of good music. Enjoyable and refreshing.

By JOE SOBXBEKGER Of The Journal Richie Havens is a rare bird in pop music. In a time when writer-performers are in vogue. Havens isn't writing. He's borrowing. Taking other people's material and synthesizing it into his own unique brand of soulful, folksy, pop music.

The Havens' style is distinctive: gutsy, raw-voiced, vocals strung over repetitious flat-pick strumming of a strangely tuned acoustic guitar. Sometimes the vocal grates on the listener'a ear and occasionally his strumming gets irritating, but often the result of the Havens' synthesis is a pleasant enough, and occasionally beautiful, interpretation of someone else's songs. And the sources he chooses from are diverse, so by keeping things var- Pop records album. Mixed Bag II is just that. A mixed bag of pop music selections.

For Mixed Bag. writers and tunes include Dave Mason's Headkeeper and Paul McCartney Band on the Run. Neither suffer in the transition. Dylan's beautiful folk-love ballad. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, becomes Haven's upbeat, almost funky love tribute.

He trims the 20 minute-plus masterpiece down to a seven minute version, sounding like top-forty tune. For Dylan fanatics, the trimming hurts. How can you tighten-up on the Mona Lisa? But the original poetic power of the song is still there to behold. He doesn't lose the essence of it. Ooh Child.

Stan Vincent's Design Arts January 1975 Grant MacEwan Community College Sundays 5:00 p.m. Join an exciting and expanding program. Do you have an interest in drawing, photography, colour or design? Would you like to train for a career in some branch of applied art? Then perhaps Grant MacEwan Community Co'lcge. Design Arts can help you. WATCH FOR IT On ITV.

Channel 13, Cable 8 Design Arts Jasper Place Campus 10045 156 Street Edmonton Alberta telephone 484-7791 generally the best bets, a fresh, full sound. His new.