EASTON-Few inhabited places on earth are as forbidding as where the Inuit live in the extreme north of Canada: a treeless land of sunless, minus-60 winters and cold muddy summers. This may seem like a world totally alien to people on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, but these two very different areas share some things in common. They’re parts of the same flyway. The Inuits’ Canada geese are Maryland’s Canada geese.
This fall, diners at Easton’s popular Out of the Fire restaurant can get a glimpse into that fiercely cold world with the hanging of a number of examples of Inuit graphic art, including many Inuit depictions of wildlife.
These Inuit graphics are a relatively new art form. For centuries, the Inuit people lived nomadic lives and their only art was small, easily transported hand-held carvings. After World War II, that nomadic life was ending and the Canadian government wanted to make it possible for the Inuit to live on their own lands in new communities. The government hired John Houston, a Canadian who had studied print-making in Japan, to promote art creation as a livelihood among the Inuit.
The result of his work can be seen in the prints at Out of the Fire, many of them stone cuts – prints made when paper is pressed onto carved slabs of flat stone.
Out of the Fire is noted for its focus on innovative pizzas and more elaborate dishes from local and sustainable sources. The owner, Amy Haines, cultivates relationships with area farms, dairies, apiaries and other local businesses. Her support was recently recognized when she was awarded Horn Point Laboratory’s first Chesapeake Champion Environmental award. Her community involvement includes making her restaurant a showcase for art. Out of the Fire features rotating exhibits of art spanning a variety of styles. The current exhibit is the first to feature Inuit art.
The prints, all of which are for sale, come from Bailey Major Art, a locally based online gallery owned by Jane Bailey that specializes in Inuit graphics. In addition to showing Inuit life, legends and Arctic wildlife, Bailey said, the way these images are handled is unique. “Much of it depicts reality in a very different way from what we’re used to in the European tradition of art. For example, some prints depict the inside and the outside of an igloo simultaneously. Or show a scene from different perspectives at the same time.”
Out of the Fire, at 22 Goldsborough Street in the heart of Easton, is open for lunch Tuesday to Saturday, 11:30 to 2 p.m., and open for dinner Tuesday to Thursday 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations are available at 410-770-4777.
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