May New Moon

When the new moon appeared this month I visited my 4 trees to see what changes had taken place over the previous month.
Douglas-fir needles have grown longer.

Maple leaves have grown from buds to over twice the size of my hand - in 1 month!

Caterpillars are feeding on the new leaves.

New Cedar scales now have rust-orange tips.

Opps, I forgot to take pictures of  white flowers the Arbutus is dropping.
But here are the new irises I planted last September - so lush with lots of symmetries giving them a complex beauty.

Current Threads III: Re-Surfacing

I was very pleased with the installation of my 'Women's Work' in the Slide Gallery at VISA.
The freshly-painted, white, wood walls accentuated the composted table cloth's colour.
The symmetry of the window frame complemented the symmetry of the table setting.
Traditional 'women's work' placed inside contrasted with the contemporary, public graffiti outside the window.
When this work was shown in the Whyte Museum, Banff, I had it set as an afternoon tea table. For this installation I set it as a family dinner table and I think it works much better this way.  

Here are some general shots of the gallery

 

I do hope you can get to the gallery to see the works before it closes at 5:00pm on May 28th.
It is a showcase of the most recent work of some of the islands' Surface Design Assoc members.
Annual survey shows such as this continue to demonstrate the wide scope of the textile/fibre arts.

Current Threads III - Hanging

Here is the Hanging Crew for the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association Current Threads III: Re-Surfacing exhibition in the Slide gallery at Vancouver Island School of Art.
Morag Orr-Stevens, me, Margie Preninger, Gillian Smith

Margie and I had installations that took several hours to install.

Morag and Gillian worked so well together they had 2 walls hung in under an hour.

The exhibition opened on May 16 and closes May 28th
Hours 9 to 5, Monday to Saturday

Spring In Victoria

Springtime in Victoria is all about gardens springing to life and gardening.
The Buchart gardens, a national treasure, in April. 

We have had lots of company this past month and visited the Buchart Gardens 3 times. They have been different each time.

 

Plants grow everywhere at this time of year, when the rain still falls regulary and before the hot dry summer.

I am out in our garden most days, inspired by Toby Hememway's book.

Tree Cutting and Pruning

The other week Devin arrived to cut down 2 trees with root rot. 

I spent most of the morning watching him cut down the 1st tree.
He climbed up the tree with a chain saw, engine on, hanging from his waist belt...

...and cut off branches as he climbed up. 

He cut off the top section...

...then worked his way back down the tree cutting off the trunk in sections.

I had been worried about the whole tree being cut and falling on my new garden. I had no idea this is how a tree is cut down.

Devin then shredded all of the branches so we have a pile of mulch for the gardens.
Next we have to get in a splitter to spilt the log sections so they will dry and be ready for our fireplace in a couple of years.
It was a most interesting day.

Happy Mothers' Day Mum

My mother has a new computer - her first 

So I am showing her what our garden looks like today.

When she stayed with us she spent many hours in the garden 

 

 

Alliums are about to be the next bloom in my cut flower garden

Happy Mothers' Day, Mum

Installation Progress

Reluctantly, I have altered the bed sheets. Each sheet will hang from a wooden beam threaded through the top hem. The hem pocket needed to be wider to accommodate the beam.  

Also, the hem fabric is so fragile in its decayed state I doubt it would support the whole sheet for long. I opened up the hem and reinforced it with interfacing and sewed it back making it larger.

It was exciting to go to cabinet maker Chris Mead's workshop to see the frame he has made.

We got a lesson on how to assemble the frame without damaging any of the joints or fastenings.

I made a list of all of the tools I need to take to London with me. 

 

Chris holding up the assembled frame, without the bedsheets.

Are you going to be in London in June?

If you are going to be in London in June you might like to catch this grad show.
There will be the work of 10 students, 3 Canadians: Ingrid Lincoln, Judy Martin & me, Monika Brueckner from Germany, and from the UK: Val Cross, Vikki Jenkins, Marilyn Hall, Denise Jones,  Jean Kirk and Caroline Hibbs

BA (Hons) Embroidered Textiles

Graduate Show 2012

The Grove Atrium Gallery
Hendon Campus, Middlesex University
NW4 4BT UK

Wednesday 20th June 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th June 10:00 - 4:00 pm

For directions and map go to www.mdx.ac.uk