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visual arts by George Affleck A l Emsley: Sculptures From the Heart Al Emsley never intended to become one of the North Shore's most prolific artists. It just kind of happened. When Emsley moved to Edgemont Village in lhe late 1960s, he had been forced into early retirement after the company he worked for was bought out and downsized. As a senior manager in his fifties. Emsley decided not to look for another job. "I didn't want to get back into the rat race." Emsley says, "because even if you win, you are still a rat." He decided to follow Plato's teaching that an unexamined life is nol worth living, so, after a friend told him he "belonged on the West Coast," Emsley, his wife, and his two daughters moved from Ontario. Within a few days of their arrival. Emsley purchased his dream home, which included a detached workshop for the retired manager-cum-artist. He's been busy ever since. "My daughter sent us stickers to help with counting the number of sculptures," Ruth Emsley says, laughing. "I think I got to 160 and gave up. It was too tiring." Al's work sits on the coffee table, hangs from ceilings in the bedrooms, and lies on the television set. But the real surprise is in his workshop -- from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Emsley's art is neatly displayed everywhere in the two-floor space. The reason so much of his work can be found in his home and workshop has everything to do with the fact that Emsley has never sold much of his art. "I've done it because I get pleasure out of it," he says in defence of his inability to cash in on himself. He admits, though, that since he's not sure how long he may live, now might he a good time to sell off some of the stock. Emsley's treatise -- A Reverence for Wood -- states: "Wood has always held a fascination and a challenge as a medium for the three-dimensional art of sculpture. Possessing differences of texture, grain, colour, scent, hardness, weight, and malleability, each piece of wood, once living fibre, often dictates what the completed form will be." In other words. Emsley sees a piece of wood and imagines the finished product. Enlightenment under the Bodhi Bhudda Tree is a perfect R uth Emsley opens the front door even before I knock. I am being welcomed into the Edgemont Village bungalow with gusto. "We don't have too many people coming over to look at Al's art." she says of her 86-year-old husband Albert Emsley's wood sculptures. A l -- nobody calls him Albert -- stands in the hallway to welcome me and asks straight out. "Would you like the 50-cent tour or the one-dollar tour?" "Give me the works." I respond with the contagious enthusiasm. Three hours later, Al's walked me through every nook and cranny of their modest home and shown me more than 200 sculptures. Al Emsley in his studio (left) example. Emsley found a piece of wood that looked like a Bhudda and. with a bit of creativity, put together a work of art with a title that says it all. For the most part, Emsley uses great works of art as his inspiration. A walk around Emsley's home is much like going on a 3D tour of works by Emily Carr. Edvard Munch, and any one of the Group of Seven. In fact, one of his pieces is titled The Group of Seven. The sculpture evokes the feel and look of Arthur Lismar's September Gale Georgian Bay -- Driftwood sculpture, by Al Emsley standing on a rock, seven pine trees bend in a gale force. Emsley's relationship with the Group of Seven also goes beyond intangible inspiration. He knew them personally. As a young man in the 1930s, Emsley went on a quest. His parents had refused to baptize him because the) believed nobody should be inducted into a religious organization until he