A lovely day at a sale...

The pop-up art show known as Calyx is over for another year. I set up my clothing racks and hung the shirts and oversized scarves on it. I also had the table beside, and my regular sized scarves on a rack by it.

Lots of people were really taken with the EcoPrinting and I was very happy with the reception the process received and comments I heard. Thanks to everyone for shopping local and supporting YYC artists. I have two more sales at the end of November:

Contextural Christmas Artisan Sale - SATURDAY - November 19
10am - 6pm

Christ Church Elbow Park
3602-8th Street SW CALGARY

 

click for info

and
Christmas Market Sale - SAT/SUN - November 26/27
11am - 5pm
TBA - details are being finalized
NW CALGARY

Pillows, pillows, pillows!

While I was dyeing with neighbourhood plant material last fall for my clothing line (see earlier posts) I would also throw some upholstery fabrics in that I had been gifted. First I culled the pile for only natural fibres (100% silk, linen, cotton were the most common) and added them to various simmering pots.

I have spent the past month making pillows - boy, are they a lot of work!

The sizes range from 14"x14" up to 20"x20". The silk has the most amazing shimmer and the patterning on some are great. I am very happy with how they turned out. And finally got outside today (on our 27c day) to do some photography. Here they are...

Here are most of them lined up for front and back pics:

Wrap around - 2 different silks front and back:

100% silk bolster:

Cotton printed front with black cotton back for contrast:

Close ups of two patterned silks:

CALYX DISTINCTIVE ART - SHOW AND SALE

It's that time again!

I will be showing on SATURDAY, April 23th only.

This is a juried art show and sale where 30 different artists show separately on each day!

I have many different types of silk scarves that I dye over the summer.
Plus I will have jewellery (brooches and necklaces) 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.

I will also have some eco-printed pillows made from silk, linen, or cotton upholstery fabrics I dyed with my clothing last fall.

ECO Printed Upcycled Clothing 2

Eco Printed up-cycled clothing.

This has a once-a-year production time for me. I will not be making any more pieces until next fall when the leaves turn once again.

But now I have a large variety of pieces, ranging from sleeveless shirts, long sleeve blouses, jackets, pullover sweaters, skirts, oversize blouses. The natural fabrics range from merino wool, linen (flax), silk, cashmere, cotton (and pima cotton), rayon (viscose), modal, tencel, wool - either plant or animal based. Sizes range from XS to XL.

Photos of some more pieces:

Cotton top / linen skirt:

Cotton:

This green silk one is sold.

100% silk:

These two are both sold - to the same person!

100% silk:

100% mohair:

ECO Printing 1

So very excited with what I have been working on for the past couple months, here is the big reveal - Eco Printing on natural fibres (silk, wool, cotton, linen) using plant materials from around the neighbourhood. Here is a wool-Tencel blend, large scarf, done with onions skins, oak leaves, eucalyptus. It sold within the first ten minutes of my sale last weekend.

Here is a cotton-modal shawl scarf printed with Smokebush leaves.

CALYX time again - 30th annual

I will be showing on SATURDAY, October 24th only.

This is a juried art show and sale where 30 different artists show separately on each day!

I have many different types of silk scarves that I dye over the summer.
Plus I will have jewellery (brooches and necklaces) 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.

Post CALYX

Great day at CALYX, talking to lots of people, selling lots of art, and having a wonderful time reconnecting with fellow artists! Thanks to everyone for coming out!

I will be adding items to my ETSY shop but it will probably take a month for that to happen - will keep you posted.

CALYX 3 - silk scarves

I also have Eco Dyed silk scarves (sun dyed with plant material from my garden)...

 

And Silk Devore scarves with a rayon top layer for extra shimmer...

And silk scarves that were monoprinted with leaves and feathers...

Heliotrope update

My cousin came through town this spring and while looking through my art, fell in love with one of my favourite pieces! I had made it last spring for the Calyx sale.

I am glad to say it now has a new home in Vancouver BC and I was even lucky enough to visit and see it in situ. It looks lovely in its new surroundings!

"Heliotrope"

Thanks for your patronage, Tricia!

CALYX 2

For this particular Calyx I have been working on making precious little pieces of art that can be tucked into a birthday card... or hung between doorways... or given as a small gift... or...

I made three different 'fabrics' in blue, red and green by combining various fibres such as silks, chiffons, tulles and fuse them together into many layers. I cover the entire piece with machine embroidery and burn it to reveal different colours. I then add hand stitching and embellishments, then add a handmade cord around the edge to finish the piece.

The progression...

Closeups of some of the thirty-six I made:

And some scale for size comparison!

Articulated Materials: Bridging Waters is opening in The Maritimes!

Articulation, a Canadian exhibiting art group working with textiles and fibre as a fine art medium, takes traditional fiber art techniques in new and contemporary directions. Since 2004 they have organised annual study sessions to unique places in Canada, which serve to unify the resulting individual bodies of work when shown in their group exhibitions across Canada.

A recent study of the Bay of Fundy coastline has generated a new path for Articulation leading to exhibiting internationally with another contemporary fiber arts group, Material Girls, based in London, England, who were inspired by their iconic River Thames. The resulting combined body of work, ARTICULATED MATERIALS: BRIDGING WATERS, consists of one 2D artwork each from ten Material Girls members and ten Articulation members. In addition, each group will have available more works to include in the exhibition while it is touring their respective country.

After a successful three-exhibition tour of London, UK, the work has arrived back in Canada and begins its cross country tour. Starting in Winnipeg it will be hung in time for the National Embroiderers’ Association of Canada’s annual May seminar. The next stop is a gallery on Vancouver Island that looks out over another historically important body of water, the Salish Sea. The work then travels to the Bay of Fundy where it will be exhibited in the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John.

This exhibition will offer unique perspectives on both bodies of water encapsulating the local geological, environmental and social histories. In both groups there are members who have grown up living beside their waterway, while other members have responded as first time visitors to the shoreline. Articulation’s work reflects the experiences of seeing rapidly eroding fossil bearing cliffs, walking on the ocean floor and viewing the history of European settlement through distinctive architecture. Material Girls’ work explores memories of watching rowers competing, locks operating and days spent on the river’s beaches. It will remain for the viewer to make trans-Atlantic connections between places and people with long, interwoven histories.

Artist Talks: Nov 14th @ 1pm, Nov 27th @12pm, and Dec 11th @ 12pm.
Exhibition Schedule: Frazee Gallery, Saint John Art Centre, Saint John NB, November 8, 2013 - January 10, 2014

REEL ARTISTS FILM FESTIVAL

I was very excited to learn that the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) is hosting the Reel Artists Film Festival at the end of this month. Very sad to find out it is on while I am out of town :-(

From their catalogue of films being shown, three jump out as ones I would love to see.

The first is on Friday, March 26 at 9:15 PM - Yayoi Kusama: I Love Me. The description reads: Director Takako Matsumoto takes us into the world of Yayoi Kusama, a polka-dot loving artist recognized internationally. This film captures Kusama's creative process as she completes a series of 50 large monotone drawings. As her work develops, one witnesses the essence of her art as it wells up in the conflict between life, death, and love - sometimes quietly and sometimes just the opposite. Her firm self-confidence and dignified spirit allows viewers to enter Kusama's world, where there is never a dull moment.

Kusama
The Galaxy, 1994


On Saturday, March 27 at 4:30 PM - Takao Tanabe: A Work of Art. The description reads: Takao Tanabe has been an important figure in Canadian art for over 60 years, contributing immensely to landscape traditions in contemporary Canadian paintings. Born in British Columbia in 1926, Tanabe studied in Europe, the United States, and Japan. This film chronicles Tanabe's life from internment on Canadian soil during WWII to beginning painting during the early days of abstract expressionism to working through his current practice. Now in his early '80s, Tanabe is direct and articulate, giving the audience a true sense of the man behind a remarkable body of work.

Tanabe
Low Tide, 1989


And on Sunday, March 28 at 2:30 PM - Chuck Close. The description reads: Chuck Close has been best known as a re-inventor of portraiture. As we hear this articulate and affable man discuss his personal journey, we also watch him create a self portrait. Numerous interviews with his subjects - friends, artists, and family who discuss their own work and life in relation to his - make clear how far this artist has transcended categories like realism, process and abstraction. Throughout, the profound influence Chuck close has had on his generation of art becomes undeniable.

Close
self portrait, 1997

Admission to all films is free.

The movies will be shown in the Stanford Perrott Lecture Hall, ACAD on the Sait campus. 1407 14 Avenue NW, Calgary.

This posting describes only 3 of the 13 films being shown. There are also workshops happening over the week. Go! Go! Be cultured!!!

For the catalogue of the entire festival click here.

Yayoi Kusama

My daughter, who is currently down in New Zealand, just told me about a Japanese artist whose exhibit she took in at the City Gallery in Wellington - the major retrospective, Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years.

I was so impressed with what I saw while exploring her on Google that I just had to share.

Ascension Of Polka Dots On The Trees
2006

Dot's Obsession
2000

Narcissus Garden
1966

The Moment Of Regeneration
2004

Fireflies On The Water
2000

Her name is Yayoi Kusama and a feature documentary is being made about her life - read about it here. Princess of Polka Dots

Hard to miss the running theme - dots! Kusama’s work is a mix of her own psychology, an obsession with dots and her childhood daydreams (and a few hallucinations). She uses this inspiration to create manipulated and altered environments.

Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important artists of her generation. She has twice represented Japan at the Venice Biennale (1966, 1993) – testament to the enduring relevance of her work. Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 and moved to New York in 1958 where she was a pioneering member of the post-war avant-garde. In New York, Kusama had close associations with Joseph Cornell and Donald Judd as well as Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko and Carolee Schneemann. Incorporating performance into her practice, she was active in the New York art scene until 1973 when she moved back to Japan. She is currently living in a mental institute.

Here is the trailer for the movie Polka Dot Princess.

And here are videos of some of her work - Dot's Obsession.