Bill Morton and exhibit "Moral Fibres"

Went to lovely talk at the Nickle Gallery on the University of Calgary campus last week to hear Bill Morton speak on his art (he studied dyeing from the masters in Japan for 15 years) and the chance to see his some of wonderful work.

The current show at the Nickle is called Moral Fibres (see the write up from local FFWD paper) and is described as follows: "Cloth is uniquely associated with life and the expression of intimate and shared values. Drawing on works from the Nickle’s collections, Moral Fibres explores the symbolic and tactile potential of cloth to express goodness, appropriateness, or morality. The exhibition features ethnographic works as well as works by the artists: Dominique Blain, Suzanne Franks, Bill Morten, and Alan Dunning."

Anthea Black writes about Bill's piece in the exhibit in the above noted FFWD article:
"Bill Morton’s Turbulence is a long woven piece constructed with naturally dyed silk, processes the much-revered artist also teaches at the Alberta College of Art and Design. The pure physical labour that goes into dyeing and weaving cloth is displayed in a subtle range of colours that undulates from brown, to blue, purple, red and green. The pattern effect is like camouflage, a dense forest and a heavily worn surface. Morton’s pattern can also be interpreted as brush strokes, deep scrapes and the industrial impressions of a car tread or footprint. This is one of the exhibition’s two references to modernist painting. The other is Alan Dunning’s large hanging “carpet” of leaves. That Turbulence so effortlessly conjures the natural origins of the materials and the technology involved in making it, is a testament to Morton’s mastery of the media."

Urban Textures 6 - Lamp Posts

Turn-of-the-century cast iron metal lamp posts seen in Winnipeg's Exchange District...

Urban Textures 5 - Window Coverings

From Winnipeg's Exchange District, one of Canada's National Historic Sites, here are details of metal coverings over windows...

Urban Textures 4 - Stone Carvings

More photographs from Winnipeg's Exchange district - this time focusing on STONE CARVINGS...

Urban Textures 3 - Doors

The last blog showed Winnipeg's Exchange District and full shots of buildings. Today is about architectural detailing... Starting with DOORS:

Urban Textures 2

Winnipeg surprised us all with its lovely old buildings that haven't been torn down for future development like most of Calgary's core. In Calgary there is movement afoot to save the remaining old buildings but it is too late for a great number of them.

Winnipeg however, has the 20 block Exchange District National Historical Site that contains over 100 turn-of-the-century buildings including massive stone and brick warehouses to elegant terra-cotta clad skyscrapers.





The shipping industry up the Red River from the south started Winnipeg's boom in the mid-1800s but that was a mere stepping stone for the development that the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) brought with its railway lines extending across Canada in the late 1800s and the thousands of settlers that passed through Winnipeg on their way west to claim homesteads.

Winnipeg held titles like - 1905 "fastest growing city of its size in North America"; 1911 "one of the largest rail centres in the world"; "agriculture centre of the country" with over half of the world's wheat sales during the 1920s. At this time financial institutes were lining up on Main Street, turning it into Banker's Row and creating an unrivaled architectural showcase of prosperity. This area also became the entertainment capital of western Canada with opulent theatres and cabarets drawing Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers north.

After being named a National Historical Site in 1997 by the Federal Government, the Exchange District has become Winnipeg's hub of arts and culture, home to art galleries, studios, theatres, festivals and museums.

Winter Has Arrived - At Least For A Couple Of Days

Fall 2008 has been so lovely and gentle. Usually our best Indian Summer here in Southern Alberta sees the leaves being blown off the trees shortly after they change colours (like within hours!) and us living with brown branches for an extended period of time. This year the leaves took their own sweet time changing - this Mountain Ash tree, photographed in first week of October, has lovely shading on it with simultaneous green, orange, and yellow leaves - that combined with the abundance of red berries made for an artistic autumn!





And now look at what has happened!


Woke up this morning to our first snow of the season - that it has taken until the first week of November for this to happen is amazing, and I know there is plenty more coming in the following months. Although with the warming environment we do not usually get the massive amounts of snow until well after Christmas anymore. Looking forward to the new landscapes the coming seasonal changes make, but not the shovelling ahead!

And, as this post's title alludes, temperatures are forecasted to soar this coming week so the fallen moisture will soon disappear into our parched earth.

Urban Textures 1

Well, back to work now that the arm is mostly healed. The exhibition in Edmonton is coming up in the new year so it is time to get working on pieces based upon the historical district in downtown Winnipeg. I am concentrating on old signs painted onto the sides of buildings, so going for the effect of layering, erosion, faded beauty...

At the moment I am pulling out fabrics and threads for colours to work in; checking out techniques to portray the time worn images; and stitches to use in the work. Busy times ahead!