Sea Threads in Motion

It is such a thrill to see my work pop up here and there. I have just found my Funiculi Funicula for Art Hits the Wall, Mary Black Gallery, on the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design website

http://www.craft-design.ns.ca/mbg_past_shows.html

A month ago when I joined VANS (Visual Arts Nova Scotia) I found it in one of their newletters. Currently it is the Art Hits the Wall show at the Rossignol Cultural Center in Liverpool, NS until the end of August.

It is wonderful to get 'noticed'!

With all the visitors I have had this summer I have had a chance to take a big break from the studio. I am really happy with the past year. When I decided a year ago last March that I was going to enter five exhibitions I had no idea that they would open so many doors for me. Living in Cyprus those three years previous to my move back to Canada gave me lots of time to play and experiment and learn. It was time to get serious and start some substantial work.

All five pieces I designed and created were accepted and two even won awards. One of those 'A Lovely Place to Live - in an Apple Blossom' has won another award. I made several smaller quilts in between the larger ones because the ideas just kept coming. A major turning point for me was the trunk show I did for Mariners Quilt Guild this past spring. There were several moments when I would just scan across the audience of about 40 ladies and all of them were smiling. Big lovely smiles. That just gave me goosebumps. And confirmed that it was time to come out of the cocoon.

I have decided to continue with the larger exhibition pieces. They are the ones that gave me the most joy. The challenge of the design, choosing the materials and the techniques. The final embellishments. It is all like a dance full of color and texture. And passion.  There is no doubt that I am very passionate about working with textiles. This is what I do.

I illustrated these three pieces while I lived in Bosnia for a year, from 2002 to 2003. I have in my mind's eye the colors and the approach but I've never really had the impetus to just get at it. I have a large art quilt on my wall that is still incomplete and I am itching to get back to. But an opportunity has surfaced where I may be able to work with these illustrations.

SAQA has a call for entry: A Sense of Direction: Sightlines. I am hoping this is what they are looking for but I am

going to work on these pieces regardless if I am accepted or not. What struck me the most about my feelings being surrounded by a city (Sarajevo) in ruins and a distrustfull people was the fact that the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992 - 95 was among three faith groups: Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Serbian Orthodox.

The war involved three ethnic groups: Bosnians, Croatians and Serbians. Observers would remark that the three sides were of the same race, spoke the same language, and were distinguished only by their religion in which few even believed. Hard to make sense of what happened there but in these working drawings I have in mind to make an effort to unify them all once again. To hold them in the same place and give honor to all three.

And to especially honor all those who died in such a senseless waste of humanity.

 

I have incorporated all three religions in each drawing. The muslim mosques and grave markings. The ancient stecci, large carved square stones, are a symbol of Bosnia. In Sarajevo near Bascarjia within a one block radius there are a roman catholic and a greek orthodox church, a muslim mosque and a jewish synagogue. Even though the Jews were not targeted in the war I have included the Star of David.

'Sightlines' is about a horizon line that runs through the artwork, arriving and exiting at a certain point. This is a very exciting challenge to me and I can see that maybe it is the horizon line I create that is going to unify these three drawings. 

I think one of the hardest things as a textile artist, or any artist for that matter where you are working with lots of different materials and techniques, etc. - is to keep a record of all that you are producing. I bought a new camera this summer so that I wouldn't have to struggle all day to get an acceptable photo to send off for consideration into exhibitions. Not only are we artisans but now we have to be skilled photographers!!

This piece in particular was very difficult to shoot. Since moving to the east coast of Canada I have discovered that the weather is the most popular topic of conversation - mainly due to the foggy wet days. So here I have created Misty Sea, (30.5cm x 30.5 cm) trying to capture that foggy mist that gives everything a ghost like appearance. Yet where you stand, the foreground is so intense and clear.

 

The difficulty in shooting is the mix of matte type fabrics against ones with a sheen (the overlay).

 

Seriously, I would rather be in my studio making another one for the time it took me to shoot this pic to best illustrate the different fabrics. !!

to continue on with my small quilts from the past year: I had an art attack one day this past spring. What would minimal imagery look like with a focal point of high texture? The result was these two pieces, both 11 in. x 14 in. (not including the frame)

 These are mostly batik fabrics. I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be. But I've had some lovely comments on these two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gull Play worked better for me as far as the texture and the stark imagery of the birds. I intended for focal point imagery to be a simple line drawing. On looking closer you find a lovely little surprise of texture created by thread, beads, stone, etc.

 

Garden Whispers is a contemporary approach to quilting - fusing modern with traditional techniques. This was a personal challenge set by myself to evoke an emotional response to a floral composition focusing on texture as opposed to color.

It is 40 cm x 40 cm. Materials: cotton, tule, cheesecloth; beads, various yarns and threads; hand and machine embroidery and quilting. The main border fabric is from Japan. It was sent back with my quilt The Joy of Anne that was on tour there last year. In the mailing parcel were six swatches of Japan cotton fabrics.. such lovely little treasures.

We had my cousin's daughter stay with us for a short time last summer. The house was always full of laughter. It inspired me to create this little piece which was such fun to do.

 It is 31.5cm x 31.5 cm, a simple crazy patchwork of hand dyed and commercial fabrics. Hand embroidery to add embellishements. It is simple. It reminds me that life should be simple- if we could infuse our daily life with laughter and dance.

Finally, some time at the computer. I am loading several pics of textile work I have done in the past year. Just the smaller pieces that were inbetween the more major pieces.

 

Earth Vessels (30 cm x 46.5cm) is a continuation of a series of vessels,

which were up to now three dimensional. This is one of those 'in the back of my mind' ideas where I would like to do some work with the shapes of vessels and create a high contrast of texture. Materials: raw wool, palm tree bark, polished stones, threads; osnaburg cotton backgroud; african batik binding on a recycled wool skirt border. Dry needle felted, hand & machine embroidery.

My friend, Linda in Cyprus, gave me a pair very gaudy silk trousers which became the focal point for these flowers in Fantasy Garden (36.5 x 46.5cm) below. The background is a hand dyed loose weave cotton. I've dry needle felted the fabric into flower petal shapes and leaves. Then added some hand applique and embroidery with various weights of thread. This is all covered with hand dyed silk chiffon then machine and hand embroidered.

 

 

I love the silk chiffon overlay. It slightly mutes the colors and pulls it all together. You can see the texture underneath. And with more texture on top you can't resist to run your hand over it. It won Viewers Choice in the Presidents Challenge 'Out of the Box' for the Mariners Quilt Guild in Dartmouth.

 

I am very excited to report that I am the Quilt Market Manager for the Christmas Craft Village at Exhibition Park in Halifax mid November. I am working for the Darwin Event Group. They have been doing the Christmas Craft Expo at Acadia University in Wolfville for the past 8 years and are the recent (last year) new owners of the show in Halifax.

They are rebranding and changing a lot of the look and feel of the event plus ensuring that ALL crafts are made in Canada and are hand made. No more 'made elsewhere' and all new contemporary, fresh crafts to offer the buyers at Christmas time. Handmade crafts are once again very popular and in demand all over the world.

Here is the scoop:

Great news for quilters in the Maritimes!

 

The First Annual Quilt Market

CHRISTMAS CRAFT VILLAGE 

@ Exhibition Park, Halifax

November 13, 14, 15 - 2009

 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Calling all Quilters           

      Here is a wonderful opportunity for Maritime quilters to sell their handmade quilts to a large audience - three days, over 12,000 visitors last year.

      Christmas Craft Village is creating Quilt Market for Maritime quilt artisans who would otherwise not have a venue to sell their beautiful creations at a time when people are shopping for gifts.

      The vendors at Christmas Craft Village (CCV) are known for offering the finest quality made-by-hand art and craft with over 160 booths of Canadian talent. The CCV Quilt Market is looking for a high standard of quilting both traditional & contemporary bed quilts from crib to queen size and everything in between. Art quilts to hang on a wall are also welcome.

      Only quilts for sale will be accepted. We are looking for quality and variety with no limit to the number of pieces you enter. All quilts must have a four inch sleeve attached for hanging. The widest width accepted for hanging is 120 inches. Small art quilts will be accepted with a minimum width of 18 inches. The quilts may have both hand and machine stitching.

      There is no entry fee but the commission for sold items will be 30%. CCV Quilt Market staff will handle the hanging and the sales. You only need deliver your work to the Halifax Exhibition Park (dates to be confirmed). The application deadline for submissions is October 30th.

      If you are interested in submitting your quilt work for sale to the CCV Quilt Market and would like further information or an application form, please email 

info@darwineventgroup.com

and put in the subject 'Quilt Market'. Please also indicate a rough idea of the number and type of quilts you would submit.

      HO! HO! HO! …. Sew, Sew, Sew!

  

please note that Darwin Event Group staff are on holidays until Aug 8th.         

www.darwineventgroup.com

Toll Free: 1.877.679.7177

 

I am embarassed to admit I did not even know what a Rosette was. But there it was... a big red satin rosette marked with Canadian Quilters Association Award 2009 pinned onto my quilt 'A Lovely Place to Live - In an Apple Blossom'. I was so honored and very humbled by all the attention and picture taking. This was the Mariners Quilt Guild Show and Sale, Sat. June 20, 2009 at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Hall in Dartmouth, NS.

I am showing her again, and she is for sale....

 

Jacqueline Adams from the Mariners Quilt Guild was very kind to send me her collages of pictures she took at my trunk show. I have not been near my computer much the past few months. My mom and then hubby back from Kabul and six weeks just disintegrated. But had lots of fun. Still need a few days to recooperate and will then get serious about updating this blog. Much to put in....

Thank you Jacqueline!