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“It’s the first time I’ve had a solo show in ���߲ݴ�ýat all,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been here for 15 years.”

It is available for viewing during cinema hours, upstairs at

Montgomery has been a part of the ���߲ݴ�ýStudio Tour and won “best in show” at Art on the Street twice, and had been the independent curator of the ART@eBar themed group shows since 2016. He brought together eight solo or group features and 13 “Celebrations of the Seasons” shows in the Greenroom, represented more than 300 artists and 2,500 pieces of art.

He said this show will be his last show in this space.

“Swan Song” features 18 works of his own, including one comprised of four separate pieces, “Drawers of Perception.”

“The drawers are probably from the ’40s, from a dumpster dive, after a house was gutted and torn down here. They’re from Guelph,” Montgomery said. “Some of the materials, like the linoleum, came out of houses in Vancouver.”

The drawers are filled with different items, some collected, some found. A tiny unopened can of turnips is there from 1938, which was in the back of a garage at an abandoned house, a dog tag from 1954, and a bent candlesnuffer that came to Canada from England with his great-grandmother.

“In this case, there’s no story. Sometimes it’s just fun stuff,” he said.

Montgomery is a natural collector; he harvests and takes apart old items to make them into something new. He said it’s a bit of a curse because everything is beautiful and useful to him.

“One of the things I find so intriguing is that we build these things, we surround ourselves with things, and then off they go again. We love our throwaway culture,” said Montgomery.

Most of the items he is interested in have a long history. He doesn’t use many newly made toys, objects or materials. This means they have a story themselves, as well as a significance to someone.

Other pieces have a certain feeling as well as a story, like one he considers to be his only “landscape” in the show, a work called “Worth the Wait.”

“It’s all about island living and Manitoulin Island, the ferry waits and that kind of thing,” said Montgomery.

He loves to create memory boxes and does them on commission for others as well as for himself. He will take gathered antique objects, even broken pieces of things, or ripped material, photographs, jewelry, toys, and transform them into a captivating display.

If you don’t have your own pieces, you can share themes, colours, memories, various favourite things as ideas for him, and he will start from there.

“It’s trying to keep these memories alive. In my case, my memories, but I have family memories, my imagined stories that I want to tell, and I do it for other people for birthdays and weddings and things like that,” he said. “I love to say that I tell stories with stuff.”

Montgomery’s layered, textured works and sculptures and collections often include wearable pieces of created jewelry as well. His wearables, made from vintage materials, are all one of a kind.

“I try not to do faux finishing or anything; I love stuff as I find it,” he said.

Montgomery said he has worked with many mediums and materials. He plans to keep creating memory boxes, jewelry and wearable pieces, and really digging into his work.

He has spent time travelling, lived for 15 years in British Columbia, and has a great deal of varied experience in the arts. Although, as another of his pieces says, “Not All Those Who Wander are Lost.”

Montgomery said he uses his technical background as a graphic artist, jeweller, glass artist and gallery curator as well as his instinct and eye to create his works.

“I consider myself a decorative artist,” he said. “I’m quite happy to make a piece that matches your sofa, if that makes you happy.”

But he said telling stories is a way of connecting everyone together. For people to see his work and interact with it as well as each other is a reward in itself. He hopes people will come to the show and think about what they see and the possibilities for their own stuff.

“Swan Song” will be at the Greenroom until March 8 for public viewing. The artist can be found on Instagram . His work can also be seen at . To contact him directly, please write to memoryboxer@gmail.com.

Would you like your work to be featured in the ���߲ݴ�ýMercury Tribune? Do you have a story to tell? Please contact jstruthers@metroland.com.