An open house display of Jeff Harbower鈥檚 contemporary figurative sculpture will be held Saturday, Feb. 4 from 1-4 p.m. at 8269 North Island Hwy in Black Creek.
The Los Angeles Times once sent a reporter to Quatsino Sound to interview a U.S. draft dodger living in a remote part of B.C. Harbower and his wife Jo Swallow were thrilled to be in Canada, avoiding the nightmare of the Vietnam War.
They lived like pioneers, with no running water, an outhouse, and a woodstove for heat and cooking. Harbower logged, fished commercially, built furniture and worked in boat yards. He skippered a Fisheries patrol vessel, and handed out parking tickets for the City of Vancouver. His wife was a successful weaver turning out a variety of products on her loom.
Harbower works in a folk-art tradition, and uses the skill and craftsmanship he learned as a boat builder and furniture maker. Although primarily a woodcarver, he uses whatever materials are at hand. His sculptures are political and satirical with a wry sense of humour.
