Arline’s Table
I will start and end this story in the café I frequent. Each day, many of us patronize a favoured café. I have found this to be true of people across much of the world. There are reasons for this, and I am currently exploring what drives people to be present in these spaces.
Arline’s Table, The Main Café, Port Hope, 2024
Besides refreshment, one certainty is that many appear to work or create in this environment. This space represents refuge. It is a calming space, allowing one to think and be inspired, all with the optimism to create.
Nearly four decades ago, I attended a photography equipment exhibition in Toronto. As a newly minted business owner, I certainly couldn’t afford much but marvelled over the new and exciting equipment of the day. I met a young lady tending a booth representing herself, her works, and her most fascinating business—a maker and renter of photo props. I hovered around that booth for some time, marvelling at the items she had for rent.
Who knew that someone would and could create hand-modelled FRUIT to rent? Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches and the like, all for rent by the day. All of these perishables would perish under the hot studio lights as a shooter would arrange their scene. For example, if you are considering photographing ice cream, how could you place a bowl or cone in the picture frame to represent something that looks fresh? There is a formula for this using mashed potatoes, but this isn’t where I was going with this. I picked up a postcard of hers, anticipating that I may one day have a client that would require me to rent fruit.
Skip ahead about 20-years. My agency moved to new premises 100 kilometres from Toronto. Soon after tenancy, it was announced that we would get a new neighbour to occupy the top floor. In short order, I had the opportunity to meet the new tenant – a young, blonde lady, full of vigour and, best of all, another creative. Her studio was full of tools, storage bins, and items in various stages of development. Within moments, my mind flipped its internal switch, and I excused myself and headed downstairs to my office. I removed a postcard from the corkboard beside my desk and headed back upstairs. With a cat-like grin, I placed the card onto the woman’s workbench and proclaimed, “This is you.”
Taken aback, she was most surprised that I had this card. She reached into a drawer and pulled a matching postcard from her desk. She made them 20 years prior for the one and only photo exhibition she presented at– the place I had first met Arline Smith. I had been so taken by her craft that I kept the card.
You see, anyone can create the shape of a strawberry, but few even know that a little downward-facing hair exists on the seeds on the outside of a strawberry–check next time you see one. Arline’s strawberries were handcrafted to include each hair, on each seed, on each flavour-filled cell of a berry. Again, every green stem was rendered with high fidelity. Arline had rented the studio upstairs to pursue the prop-making trade, and her other passion was the creation of theatrical miniatures. At the time, she constructed scale models of twentieth-century theatres, complete with animatic figurines, lights and working curtains. These works of art were offered for sale, sought after by collectors and lovers of early theatre.
Arline’s impressive training includes attending the Liverpool College of Art, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, and assisting A-lister actors.
Today, another 20 years later, a colourful and cheery Arline graces us with her uplifting presence at our café of choice, Main in Port Hope. She sits in the same seat we affectionately call Arline’s seat. She works on inspired projects, typically theatrical, and shares her artistic excursions with anyone who listens. If she isn’t there for some reason, an inquiry erupts-where’s Arline? People who sit at Arline’s table invite anonymous inquiry among those who know her, asking themselves, “Do those people know that they’re sitting at Arline’s table”?
Moments like these make for a stimulating place. The people who share this space create, write, work, or simply share their preferred elixir among friends. If you need inspiration, maybe visit your favourite café. Chances are you will find your very own Arline.
