It’s that time of year again! My fibre group is having their annual sale this weekend and I hope to see everyone there. I’ve been busy prepping for the last few weeks and I’m almost certain everything will be ready for set-up on Friday. This is the first year that we’ll be open for sales on Friday evening and during the day on Saturday. Should be fun!
Recently I had the privilege of attending an exhibition tour conducted by Naomi Potter titled “Colour Chart”. It took place at the Esker Foundation in Calgary, where the current exhibitions are titled Jack Bush: In Studio, and Colleen Heslin: Needles and Pins. These exhibitions work incredibly well together. As much as I enjoyed the work when first arriving at the gallery, my appreciation grew as we learned more and more about these two artists. I can’t wait to go see it again! These exhibitions run until May 8, so if you are anywhere in the Calgary area – you have no excuse to miss them.
If you have never visited the Esker Foundation – what the heck are you waiting for? Rather than repeat myself about how incredible this place is, please check out my post Amazing Calgary Art Experience. Seriously people, what do I have to do to convince you? How about this – admission and underground parking are free. Got it? Now get going.
Here are a few photos of Colleen Heslin’s work. Colleen works with fabrics which she has dyed (linens and cottons) and sewn together to form her wonderful works of art. You must see them to appreciate them.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you get out to see this show. You’ll thank me for it.
So many things going on that I hardly know where to begin. I’ve been working on cleaning and sorting in my studio. I know that’s not anything new, but I feel that I have purpose right now because the Ujamaa Grandma annual sale is coming and I want to round up lots of donations. Mostly I’ve been working on books because I have an enormous collection which I obviously need to edit. I started with the largest studio bookcase – 6 shelves, each about 4 ½’ long. Trust me – that’s a lot of books. I flipped through each and every one of them, deciding which ones I didn’t need any more. Some books are out dated, some topics are no longer relevant to my work, and some just seemed redundant. These are just a few of the donations:
The best part of the process was finding books that I’d forgotten about – information and inspiration I can use right here at my fingertips! I totally re-organized all the books that I’m keeping. You can tell because I have post-it notes stuck on all the shelves, reminding me of the new arrangement. You can read about the Ujamaa Grandma sale here. I’ve covered a past sale here and here. This year the sale takes place April 15th and 16th at Woodcliff United Church, Calgary.
Another project I’ve been working on is a small art quilt for an upcoming exhibition of SAQA – Studio Art Quilt Associates. This exhibition includes work by local members of this international organization. The theme for the show is “Road Trip”. I’ve seen a few of the submissions and it’s going to be a great show. We’re opening with a “meet the artist” event on April 17 from 2 till 4 at the Fish Creek Library. My submission is called “Side View” for obvious reasons.
This piece was a lot of fun to make, though of course it took loads more time than I’d imagined. Story of my life.
Part of my cleaning process involves reclaiming the studio counter tops. I’m sure I’ve seen them before, just not for a really long time. Some piles of stuff keep getting moved around, but now I’m trying to deal with various items making up these piles. My oldest daughter had asked me to make napkins out of the linen table runner that I had printed for her wedding (almost 2 years ago…) and I did it!
My other time consuming project is the design and stitching of the perfect “printer’s apron”. Sounds simple enough, right? An apron is an apron after all. But for a printer to be happy, the apron must meet several criteria, and I want mine to be perfect. No photos on this project yet, as I want it finished before I share. Let’s just say that if I were to sell the one I’m working on right now, it would have to be priced over $5oo to cover my time and materials. Guess I’ll have to get that trimmed down a bit. I don’t intend to mass produce the aprons, but I would like to find a happy medium – something special for those who appreciate the best.
I just realized that I can preview my post in various formats – computer, tablet and phone. I must research how to adjust it for the smaller formats… but not today. That’s it for March as I’m heading off to my studio to do some printing. Hope I haven’t forgotten how!
Or as I like to say – better late than never! I’ve been suffering with what I thought was the flu, which developed into bronchitis, and seems to be acting like a cold now. Whatever it is – I’m fed up with it. I have very little energy and a periodic cough that has people treating me like I have the plague. For the most part I have been staying home, resting, drinking fluids and all that jazz. Even though I know this sort of thing has to run it’s course, I wish it would pick up the pace.
When I do have any energy, I have been doing some busy work in the studio. I’m sewing little elements that will go together to create something larger. I’m not sure exactly what that will be, but I hope to have lots of “bits” to work with. We’ll see. I was curious as to exactly how many little elements I’ve been working on, so I did a count the other day. I have just over 1,000. Now I understand why it feels like this is a never ending project.
As you can see in the last picture of “finished” bits, there are numerous rows of stitching on each bit. I have a couple of ideas about how I’m going to use these, but time will tell what will work best. I’ll let you know.
I’m also taking an online course called Creative Strength Training with Jane Dunnewold. We’re on week 3 and it’s been very interesting so far. Lots of things to think about when I have the energy to focus. I’m sure my art practice will be enhanced by this work. Better get back to work before I need a nap.
