Articulated Materials: Bridging Waters

Finally the opening of our first Canadian showing of the exhibit that toured England in 2012! And it is so much more... as we have been able to add pieces to it.

The show opens at THE CRE8ERY GALLERY in Winnipeg, Manitoba today, May 10th.

The name Articulated Materials is from the name of the two groups: ARTICULATION, the Canadian art group represented by fibre artists from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick; and MATERIAL GIRLS, the British fibre art group based around London UK.

Bridging Waters refers to the two iconic bodies of waters that each group studied in their own country: the Thames River and the Bay of Fundy.

Here is the poster I designed using an image of Ingrid Lincoln's work.

IF you are attending the Embroiderers' Association of Canada national conference called "Seminar 2013" (40th anniversary) then take in this show as part of the gallery tours.

We have two other galleries booked for this exhibit in 2013 in British Columbia and New Brunswick...

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Yes, another World Heritage Site!
In past years I have created pieces based upon these Canadian UNESCO sites: the Rocky Mountain Parks in Alberta + L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland + Haida Gwaii (SGand Gwaay) in British Columbia + Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta + Quebec City in Quebec...

My latest interest is JOGGINS FOSSIL CLIFFS in Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy.

Employing a technique I have used in other series, I am drawing with free machine embroidery stitch on archival tissue paper.

Piece #1 is fish fossils...

Close up - tea dyed, waxed, black thread...

Piece #2 is the Ammonite shell...
Starting phase - draw and colour

Close up of the stitching...

And the final pieces framed...

I can't wait to present them to the public and hear their comments on them!

Keepsake Pouches

These are necklaces I make with a needle and thread (Irish linen that is waxed to hold the shape). The stitch is called "nalbinding" and is one of the oldest stitches used by mankind (it predates knitting by centuries). The actual bag is 2" x 3" and is made with over 2000 stitches. Then I decorate them with buttons, beads or charms, make an adjustable neck cord with either a leather thong, or braided linen, and then add semi-precious stones or gems inside them.

These are the ones I currently have in stock (they tend to disappear quickly, so I don't usually have time to even post them on Etsy.) They will be available at the Calyx sale on Sunday.

And here they are packed for the show...

Preparation time for Calyx...

Now the stitching is done, it is time for framing, mounting, stretching, labelling...

My studio with every surface covered: 

Canvas work getting stretched to square the corners:

My helper-elf in charge of screwing the art into the frames:

Individual pins mounted together as a series:

Then add labels to the backs with my business card and price details. A never ending process, and the countdown is on...

CALYX is coming!

And what, pray tell, is the deadline???

Another spring, another Calyx sale!

A juried art show and sale where 30 different artists show separately on each day.

I am only there on SUNDAY, April 21st...

I still have a lot of silk scarves that I dyed last summer at the cabin in the woods. Here is a group shot of some of them.

The first are natural dyes for softer "go with all skin tone" colours.

The second are commercial dyes that get brilliant colourways.

The third are cotton flannel scarves made from men's shirts.

Plus I will have jewellery, hand made books, matted gelatin monoprints, and lots of wall art.

All of my art is TEXTILE based, whether it is paper, natural fibres - animal (silk or wool) or plant (cotton, rayon), synthetic fibres - nylon, polyester (all the better for burning!) and all with a component of STITCH.

Heavy Metals!

In-between the hand stitching, I would swivel my chair around to my sewing machine and work on a few other pieces (okay, 5 of them.)

One of them is being done in metallic threads (always a challenge to get flowing smoothly through all the threadings on the machine) but I am really enjoying how it is coming together and approaching my vision of it.

In the beginning -
a piece of printed gray velvet that I coloured blocks of gold, copper and silver onto...

then I started adding layers of threads...
(I did actually start with a layer of hand stitching between all the colourblocks.)

and layers and layers...

The gold is done:

the silver is halfway:

and the copper is on the first layer:

Still working away (and missing a lot of the gorgeous spring weather outside) but deadlines are calling!

Velvet on Canvas

One thing that is taking up all my waking hours, on the hand stitching side, are these lovely 6" x 8" squares. A piece of velvet, in various shapes, has been appliqued on painted canvas and then hand stitching in hand-dyed threads (silk or wool or cotton) covers the sides.

But you would not believe how many HOURS went into each of those little pieces!

March already!

MARCH already!
How did that happen?

It's not as though I am not busy, I just haven't taken time to post about all the wonderful new pieces I am working on.

(I do love to work towards a deadline!)

I am currently working on 10 new pieces for the April Calyx Distinctive Show and Sale and another 3 for May's first showing of Articulated Material: Bridging Waters which is starting its cross-Canada tour for 2013 in Winnipeg. See the side bar for other future locations and events.

Here is a sneak peak...
More to come.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 May you enjoy life's journey every step of the way...

Calyx art... 3

Matching the scarves by using some of the same plants for monoprints, I also have unframed prints available for the Saturday sale.

The mat size is 14" x 18", gelatin prints of plant material from Bergen in the Alberta foothills.

detail

detail

I will also have my necklaces, a 3" long pouch that I make with 2000 stitches then decorate with beads and charms, and fill with semi-precious stones.