Playing with a new type of art...

I have been experimenting with a new working format for pieces in the upcoming Saskatchewan exhibition based upon our study session in southern Saskatchewan back in 2008. The working title for the show is Dreaming Patterns: Stitching Memories and everyone will be making pieces the same 12" x 24" size.

My new technique is a mixed media collage with a lot of machine and hand stitching on a stiff background. The entire piece is then painted white and layered, layered, layered with transparent acrylics to come up with a colour scheme. Machine and hand stitching is added on top with various other embellishments (could be beading, tags, collage.)

These were my experimental pieces about 8" x 18" which I was selling at the previous Calyx show.

Called Serenity, this one has paper beads, french knots filling burlap squares, and 

seed stitch acting as a filling stitch.

This one is called Peace and has gilding, lace, tags, and brads.

Saskatchewan Prairies, Farmers and Wheatfields

Articulation is heading to Saskatchewan for its yearly study session and annual AGM. Each year we gather from across the country (British Columbia to New Brunswick) for one week to study a Canadian ecosystem and produce a future exhibition based upon our photographs, sketches, on-site and remote research, and resulting original designs done by each of us.

Initial brainstorming to jump start the creativity includes....
farming
machinery
buildings
grains
crops/fields
wild flowers/ grasses
animals
open skies

For more info on the Prairie ecosystem, check out the Canadian Diversity Web Site hosted by McGill University at:
canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/ecozones/prairies/prairies

And the "Prairie Sky" was voted one of the Seven Wonders of Canada.
www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/wonder_prairie_skies
Watch the film on this CBC page to see some awesome skies in various seasons, at sunset, and during storms.

So, this blog will be quiet for the next little while as I attempt to get a start on our latest topic for study.

Previous topics and places we visited for the Articulation group include:
2004 - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta - we created an exhibition on the Canadian Badlands.
2005 - Cold Lake, Alberta to study northern lights and ice formations - this became the basis of our exhibition on Martin Frobisher and his quest for the NW passage which was shown in Calgary and Banff, Alberta and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
2006 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - we are currently working on upcoming shows with designs based upon the architecture of the heritage buildings in the downtown area.
2007 - Vancouver Island, British Columbia - we are currently working on an upcoming show on the rainforest ecosystem of the Pacific NW.
2008 - Regina, Saskatchewan - Prairie landscapes.

The Articulation textile art group is made of Canadian 'City and Guild of London' classmates Miriam Birkenthal, Donna Clement, Leann Clifford, Gloria Daly, Wendy Klotz, Ingrid Lincoln, Linda MacKay, Vickie Newington, ReBecca Paterson, and Lesley Turner.