Ann Grundy: Creating Fantasies

By Doreen Jung. Abbotsford mask maker and fiber artist, Ann Grundy loves to create fantasies. Her world is filled with mystery, romance, and celebration. Ann creates life sized characters and papier-mache masks. She arranges her work in scenes and themed settings. Her works of art are designed to tell stories and they captivate their viewers.
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Ann has been crafting papier-mache masks for over 10 years. Having trained in the Venetian Carnival style of mask making, she focuses on the details. “Baroque, Italian, and Venetian work is all about detail,” says Grundy who admits that she loves the details.
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After a career of creating professional window displays, Ann loves working with fabrics and creating settings for her masks and her characters. She enjoys incorporating unusual elements into her art. Ann has created beautiful gowns with satin, lace, and velvet.
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She has also created stunning outfits with packaging material trimmed with ruffles made from coffee filters and muffin liners. Ann is always on the lookout for new ideas and she finds them in pictures, magazines, and in the colors and textures that she encounters.
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Many of the faces and figures that Ann creates are adorned with filigree and decorative papers. She will tear up sheets of musical notes to embellish the faces of her characters.
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One of her favorite characters is the jester.
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She also loves to create animals with paper mache, faux fur, and wool.
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She infuses each of her works with a unique character and special charm.
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Opi Po is one of Ann’s recent creations. “He is a character from a story that I am working on,” says Ann. His is the son of Gabriella, a costume designer, and Christopher, an actor.
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Opi Po is playing the flute and his love of music is seen in the notes around his eye. Ann hunted for interesting materials to create his costume and accessories.
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Opi Po’s flute is made from an old wooden hanger that belonged to Ann’s mother.
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After painting the hanger, Ann found wooden buttons and knobs to create the flute and a crystal beaded fringe for a flight of fancy.
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Ann feels that one of the best parts of her art is the journey. Finding the materials, hunting down the fabric, and discovering the right colors; it is all very exciting according to Ann.
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“I love themes,” says Ann. “When you know the look that you want, you can put it all together. It is a fantasy and I love getting the WOW factor.”
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Margaret Ellis Blackburn
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Headwear by Margaret Blackburn. Photo by Doreen Jung.

Trained and working in the fashion industry for over 30 years, Margaret Ellis Blackburn’s focus in the last 10 years has been in “Art to Wear” headwear. She explores style, shape, texture, and pattern as elements in one-of-a-kind hats. Combining these elements in unique ways has enabled her to develop her Headlines Headgear.
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Having studied Commercial Art and Couture Fashion Design, Margaret has worked with Vancouver fashion designers to produce exclusive hats for their collections. She was a guest fashion designer at Vancouver Design Week and her work has been featured in newspapers, magazines and television programs. Margaret is currently an instructor in the Fashion Design Program at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared 09/15/2011

Cover Photo: Opi Po and Ann Grundy. Photo by Doreen Jung
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Editor’s Note: Doreen Jung is a member of the Abbotsford Arts Council and former Arts Administrator. Her columns appear here regularly.