Pathways Exhibition by Vancouver Island Surface Design Association - VISDA

During the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association (VISDA) 'Pathways' exhibition in the Portals Gallery, Duncan, a member sat in the gallery each day.

When it was my turn to sit with the exhibition I had a lovely day. 

When I wasn't talking to visitors I had time to look at every work, then I had knitting to get on with.

'Memories of Place: A Chromatic Narrative,' Sarah McLaren, left.

'Life is s Spiral Pathway, Not a Straight Line,' Donna-Fay Digance, right.

'River' Laura Feeleus, left.

'Deer Trails,' Jean Cockburn, right.

New Work - Geography of Memory, Beginnings

This new work began when the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association put out a call for entry. They were looking for an interpretation of 'Pathways' in a 60" x 12" format.

Sarah McLaren and I had been focused on colour for many months and were both inspired by the colour work of Jean-Philippe and Dominique Lenclos. This couple research the colours typical to a specific place in the world.

New Zealand Forest
Sarah and I have both lived in a number of different places over our lifetimes. We decided to show our memories of those places through colour with each inch of the work representing one year in our lives.

I began by making a life-size sketch then started sampling. My visualisation of this work was so clear my first sample was enough at this stage of my design process to be able to move on to the next step.

I made the base for the ground from a mix of upholstery fabrics heavy enough to support all of the stitching I had in mind.

Next step - deciding on the colour scheme, which was easy because of my strong colour memory of each place I have lived.

Picking the right ground fabrics took a little bit longer even knowing most of them would be covered they still had to be right. 

The base fabrics are bonded to the upholstery fabrics in the right proportions.

Painted bondable webbing ...

...to match each place's colours.

Ironing the painted bondable webbing in place.

Adding snippets of threads, yarns and fabrics to build up the complexity and texture of each section.

Selecting the right coloured nylon scarf from my stash.

Bonding the snippets and nylon scarves in place using parchment paper to stop the iron's sole plate from getting gunked up.

I sprinkled a few granules of 007 Bonding Agent to make sure thicker areas of snippets stuck well. It takes a higher heat setting on the iron to make these granules melt but once they have they stick very well and become invisible.

This is an old and well-used method for building a ground before stitching begins. I learnt this during my City and Guilds days and still go back to it because it is so effective and versatile.

Next step - the stitching. 

Backyard Project: Pattern Language #106 Positive Outdoor Space & #173 Garden Wall

I am making good progress filling the gabion baskets with rounded river rock to make a garden wall defining the edge of the guest patio. 

We are not sure if we will put a board on top to make it a seat or not. If we did it would add another Pattern, #243 Sitting Wall and so strengthen the other patterns.

I had collected up the rounded river rock from various locations around the previous garden and stacked them up along the side of the house. This rock had been brought in to the site by the previous owners. It is not natural to this environment but a permaculture principle is to use what you have. 

I have chosen to use it to make the guest patio a positive outdoor space.

Pattern Language #106 says the problem is 'Outdoor spaces which are merely "left over" between buildings will, in general, not be used.' p. 518.

'There are 2 fundamentally different kinds of outdoor spaces: negative space and positive space. Outdoor space is negative when it is shapeless, the residue left behind when buildings - which are generally viewed as positive - are placed on the land. An outdoor space is positive when it has a distinct and definite shape, as definite as the shape of a room, and when its shape is as important as the shapes of the buildings around it.' p.518.

In the previous post, here, I described how the gabion baskets' stepped form echoes the house shape while defining the edge of the guest patio and enclosing the space. The patio has 2 entrance/exits to give the feeling of sitting in a space which is 'partially enclosed and partly open - not too open, not too enclosed.' p.521. This pattern is particularly important for smaller spaces while they still need to open out to larger spaces. In this case, the patio opens out to the forest.

Pattern Language gives a lot more detail on this important outdoor element and links it back 'to our most primitive instincts.' p.520. where when we are sitting we have a need for protection while at the same time needing a view to seeing what is approaching.

Come spring I will start planting along the outside edges of the gabion baskets transitioning the garden to the Garden Growing Wild pattern #172 - more on that later.

Pattern Language #173 Garden Wall

Problem: 'Gardens and small public parks don't give enough relief from noise unless they are well protected.' p. 806. 

About the only negative of the convenient location of our place is we can hear traffic noise from the nearby highway. We are lessening the impact of highway noise with careful design, plantings, fences and walls. My studio building blocks a lot of the noise from reaching the backyard.

'People need contact with trees and plants and water. In some way, which is hard to express, people are able to be more whole in the presence of nature, are able to go deeper into themselves, and are somehow able to draw sustaining energy from the life of plants and trees and water.' p. 806. Pattern Language goes on to explain how people 'must be shielded from the sight and sound of passing traffic, city noises and buildings. This requires walls, substantial high walls, and dense planting all around the garden' p.806. while still allowing people to be in touch with nature.

The high walls have been built and the intensive planting will continue this spring.

Backyard Project: Designing with the Step Motif and Form

The gabion baskets defining the guest patio edge make a stepped form to echo the  patio paver placement and the house walls.

An image taken during early construction days shows the stepped form of the house envelope.

The stepped line was continued with the shed placement.

I became aware of the stepped motif during a study of the Art Deco design period that happened almost simultaneously throughout many places in the world. It was the first universal design style and used the stepped motif on architecture, garments, interior design, graphic design, product design....

 1920s dress with silk devore burn-out in a stepped pattern.

This NZ Art Deco period house illustrates the stepped form at its simplest.

The side view shows a stepped roof line.

I carried out some tests on different people using flash cards to find out the minimum number of connected lines needed to be recognised as a stepped motif. Result - 4.

While researching an essay on the Art Deco design period I focused on why the stepped motif appealed at this time and was used so extensively. I found the form and motif seemed to give a feeling of being uplifted and instilled hope. 

With the Backyard Project design, I worked with the vertical and horizontal stepped motif forms in the house architecture by mirroring and echoing them in the garden structures. I don't yet know if there is an uplifting feeling in the garden yet because it is still at a busy stage where I am focused on soil building and planting. Maybe by next summer, I will be able to gauge the feeling in the garden. 

Backyard Project: Gabion Baskets on the Guest Patio

Sammy constructing gabion baskets along the edges of the guest patio.

They arrived as flat panels that he joined with spiralled lengths of steel.

He placed a steel rod across the centre middle of every basket...

 ..twisting the ends to tie them in place.

Previously he had leveled the ground and spread a foundation of coarse sand.

Next step - filling the baskets.

Sammy was very clever putting pieces of broken pavers in the bottom before adding the stones. It is a great way to dispose of waste cement and have it serve a purpose.

Sammy put the first layer of stones in all of the baskets. 

Now it is my turn to fill them to the top. It is the perfect job after spending several hours sitting in front of the computer screeen.

Backyard Project: Winter Activities While Waiting for Warmer Days

The last of the flowers bloomed through late fall.

A pleasant surprise was to see the Russian Tea plant flowering in the cooler late fall weather.

We  kept squirrel-busy cutting and storing firewood a few steps away from the fireplace.

The off-cut, untreated, paint-free construction wood had been cut to fit the fire box. We stacked it in a satisfying pile under the propagation table. With plenty of firewood, we looked forward to the cold weather and sitting in front of a fire.

This winter we had a number of significant snowfalls, something that doesn't happen every year.

The cherry tree while still in full leaf and under the Douglas-fir canopy was sheltered from an early snowfall.

The exposed young medlar tree couldn't cope with the wet snow weight. It and the other fruit trees had to be staked.

We took several trips out to Vancouver Island's west coast to enjoy the wild weather.

And now the soil is stirring and the new growth has started.

It feels like it has been a short winter and the garden is enticing me outside more often these days.

Opening Night - 'Colour: A Personal Response' at Place des Arts, Coquitlam

Sarah and I are so looking forward to the January 12 opening reception for our exhibition 'Colour: A Personal Response' at Places des Arts, 1120 Brunette Ave, Coquitlam. 7 to 9 pm.

Two other exhibitions will be opening the same night:

'Lyrical Expressions', abstract acrylic and oil works by Jane Appleby

'Balance*', abstract fibre works by Mardell Rampton

We are looking forward to meeting up with friends and to connecting with new people.

If you can't make it to the opening we hope you can get in to see the exhibitions sometime over the month they are on - January 12 to February 10th, 2018.

'Colour: A Personal Response' Exhibition is Hung in Place des Arts, Coquitlam

Sarah McLaren and my 'Colour: A Personal Response' exhibition is on the road again.

The day before we loaded up the car...it was really full...

...and caught the first ferry the next morning.

We drove through Vancouver's persistent rain to Place des Arts Art Centre and Music School in Coquitlam. Conveniently there was dry underground parking with an elevator beside the entrance. It didn't take long to unload the car and get the work up to the main floor.

We laid sheets on the ground against all of the walls where our work would be hung. As we unpacked each work we placed it according to our layout plan.

There are 3 galleries in Place des Arts. We had been assigned the light-filled Atrium Gallery, much to our delight because it suits our body of work's concept so well.

Marziya and Jimmy are Place des Arts student volunteers who were ready to do anything needed. Once Sarah and I had decided on putting the 3D parts on plinths under glass, Marziya and Jimmy got to work putting them in position and removing the plexiglass covers.

The took on the challenge to assemble the colour cards on turntables which tested their colour wheel knowledge.

Then they replaced the covers.

The turntables full of colour cards and the framed collection are presented differently this time around because of the nature of the gallery space. The Atrium is a multifunctional largely unsupervised space used for musical events, dinners, a waiting room for parents and siblings while children attend classes, a meeting space... All of the small 3D items need to be protected which makes them no longer interactive but still interesting for people to look at.

Marziya cleans every single mark off the covers.

Challen and Joseph are a volunteer team that has worked together for 2 years hanging all Place des Arts exhibitions according to the Canadian National Art Gallery standards.

And they are good.

They hung every work perfectly and with well-rehearsed speed.

Don't you love the way their t-shirts match the artwork?

View from the upper level as we were about to leave. 

Sarah and I left the staff, Bali, Josephine and Lidia, to spend the rest of the week making and mounting labels, adjusting lighting and setting up the gift shop. Sarah and I return to the galley on Friday for the official opening which is going to be fun - Friday, January 12, 7 - 9 pm.

We reloaded the car with the empty boxes...

...and caught the next ferry back to Victoria.

All of the Place des Arts staff were so helpful and supportive things went smoothly and we were home again by early evening very happy with the way the day had gone. 

Do check out Sarah's blog to get her take on the day here