Professor Kerry Mason Speaks About Emily Carr at the Gathering at the Edge

Professor Kerry Mason and world authority on all things Emily Carr gives a presentation to the Gatherers about the artist's sketches, paintings, textiles and pottery.

I have the job of introducing Kerry

Sheila Wex, BC + Yukon representative for SDA and Barbara McCaffrey, Gathering at the Edge committee member.

Everyone was captivated by the way Kerry talked about the BC artist Emily Carr. 

In a post-event survey, people were asked, 'What did you like about the Event (the 3-day Gathering)?'

"Loved the lecture about Emily Carr,"

"Learning about Emily Carr. Such a wonderful talk!"

"Everything was so well thought out in detail but my very favourite was the Emily Carr 

presentation by Dr. Kerry Mason."

Gathering at the Edge - A Surface Design Association BC + Yukon Event, April 1 - 3, 2016

Gathering at the Edge committee members woman the registration desk in the Holiday Inn Express & Suites lobby.

Barbara McCaffery, Lesley Turner, Laura Feeleus. Susan Purney-Mark signs in.

Gatherers: Katie Stein Sather and Jennifer Love

'Gathering at the Edge' is a three-day event in conjunction with the national touring exhibition, 'Edge of the Forest,' where SDA BC + Yukon members will come together to create connection and build community.' Quote from the program.

Lori Mudrie, Elserine Sprenger, and Hugo Sprenger register in the hotel.

Many of the Gatherers stay in the hotel over the event.

Sheila Wex, the BC + Yukon representative for SDA, welcomes people to the Gathering during the celebration dinner held in the Coastal Offices Conference Room, next to the hotel.

It is a time to put faces to familiar names, to make new friendships and to renew old ones.

A common passion for fibre links and bonds everyone in the room and there is a spirit of celebration.

Special thanks to Judi McLeod for taking these photographs and continuing to document the whole event.

'Edge of the Forest' exhibition - Surface Design Association (SDA) Canada

 'Edge of the Forest' exhibition and 'Gathering at the Edge' event committee.

L to R- Gina Dingwell, Barbara McCaffrey, Lesley Turner, Laura Feeleus

After touring across Canada the 'Edge of the Forest' juried textile exhibition arrives on Vancouver Island to be hosted by the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association.

Here it is loaded up and ready to be taken to the Coast Collective's new gallery in Colwood.

Barbara and Laura

Every work was made to a specified size which made the collection a breeze to hang once Laura had done the math to fit in all the works so they were evenly spaced while filling all of the gallery's walls.

Barbara and Lesley

With the show hung we are ready for the public opening on 26th March 2016

Barbara was responsible for the food and beverages catering and the floral arrangements. She did a wonderful job.

And they came...

Lesley, Laura, Barbara

Here we are looking very pleased with ourselves after successfully hanging the exhibition and attracting the public to the opening event.
Many thanks to Judi McLeod for documenting the events with her camera.

Edge of the Forest Exhibition Arrives in Victoria, Canadian Surface Design Association

After working its way from Newfoundland and across Canada to places in between, the 'Edge of the Forest' exhibition has arrived on the west coast. 

Actually, the 54 works in 2 shipping crates arrived on the island a month or so ago and I have kept them in storage until today when they were loaded into the car to be taken to Coast Collective's new gallery in Colwood.

Barb McCaffrey - Hanging Team Member

The first task was to measure all of the hanging walls and do a bit of math to work out how to fit in all of the works without gaps, squishing or have work left over.

We laid white sheets on the floor then laid each work down as we unpacked the boxes.

Laura Feeleus - Hanging Team Member

Next, we moved works around to find the best arrangement for each wall.

We tried lots of different combinations until there was a consensus.

I think I am checking the lighting.

The view from one entrance door with labels up but lighting still to be adjusted.

The view from the internal entrance.

Anni Hunt's work beside the text panel.

This Surface Design Association exhibition by Canadian members is to open in the Coast Collective's new gallery in Colwood, just out of Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

It opens on March 23rd and there will be 2 receptions during the duration of the exhibition.

The first reception, on March 26th from 2 pm to 4 pm, celebrates the arrival and display of the current work by Canadian textile and fibre artists.

The second reception is private because it is part of the 3-day 'Gathering at the Edge' event where over 40 BC members of the Surface Design Association will come together to share and build their community. 18 of the 26 BC artists whose work is in the exhibition will be attending this reception.

I do hope if you live in this part of the world or are visiting at this time you can come and see the exhibition, attend one of the receptions and talk to the artists about their work.

For more info on the exhibition and details about every work visit the website Edge of the Forest

Exhibition: Current Threads by Vancouver Island Surface Design Association

The annual Vancouver Island Surface Design Association exhibition Current Threads 2015 is travelling after its showing in Duncan last year.

Jessie Taylor-Dodds' gallery South Shore Gallery, in Sooke, is hosting the exhibition.

This is a great chance to view this juried collection of recent work by VISDA members.

Many of the artists will be at the Opening Reception.

Do hope you can make it.

'Forest Flowers 3' in VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry Exhibition

"Forest Flowers 3"

Here is my entry in the VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry exhibition.

Triptychs were accepted as long as each panel fit the specified size.

The first step in the making process was to dye a well worn bed sheet with a number of different coloured earth dyes.

Small torn squares of cloth were wrapped around different sized beans and secured.

The bundles were dyed with earth dyes.

Stitching on these squares became my portable sewing project for a couple of weeks.

Two more bed sheets were dyed with earth dyes.

Different fabric paint colours were trialed on the first bed sheet.

Another layer was added with motifs screen printed with fabric paint.

The hand stitched squares were pinned then moved around to find the right placement.

The three bed sheets were torn into strips, layered and the small squares pinned on the top sheet again. 

I decided it needed more squares.

Once their placement was confirmed the small squares were hand stitched in place.

It was a most enjoyable project to work on.

"Forest Flowers 3" is about the role mycorrhizal fungi play in the wellbeing of a forest ecosystem. 

The screen printed motifs are drawings of computer generated models of the fungi's growth patterns.  

Mushrooms are the fungi's flowers and they are the stitched and appliqued pieces of cloth.

The viewpoint is one where the viewer is in the soil looking up, much like an earthworm's view of the world. The idea is we humans need to shift our way of seeing the natural world if we are to become less invasive and destructive.

VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry

I want to make another post about the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association's current exhibition because every work is such an excellent example of  the many techniques fibre artist's have to work with.

The above detail is Linda Elias's "Beet Harvest" where she used actual beets and leaves on a Gelli-plate to print on the cotton fabric and she added a layer of stamping. She backed the cotton with a hand woven wool cloth and machine stitched into the layers before adding hand stitching and beading.

Linda's expression of the excitement in bringing in a plentiful harvest moved someone because they bought the work even before the official opening. Congratulations Linda.

Lori Mudrie's "Thistles and Lace" (detail) has to be seen to be fully appreciated. This work is much fresher and softer looking than what you see in this poor image. What you are looking at are all fibres and fine thread. She needle felted a variety of different rovings blending the colours in a painterly way then she incorporated hand and machine stitching to catch the characteristic forms of thistles and Queen Anne's Lace.

Laura Feeleus's "Conservatory" (detail) shows a number of the different ways stitches can be used to attach items to a ground. On the right are dried rose petals trapped under hand-dyed silk. On the left is a vintage lace doily held in place with a layer of sheer silk and french knots. Elsewhere on the work are tree seeds and stones held in place by hand stitches.

Christine Fawcett's "Dawn's Delight" (detail) shows raised surfaces using a number of different techniques: furrowing, Kantha, and spot applique. Silk taffeta was dyed with avocado skins and eucalyptus bark using natural dyeing techniques.

Jo Ann Allan's "Medieval Garden" (detail) has many historical textile references going back to the European Middle Ages. It is also a showcase of exquisitely worked hand stitches, techniques that have been practiced for centuries: Hardanger, blackwork, casalguidi raised embroidery.  In other areas of the work, there are machine embroidered slips, a contemporary take on an Elizabethan technique for applying heavily embroidered pieces to a ground. The old and new have also been combined with a traditional linen ground fabric and an area of hand-made silk fusion fabric.

Jo Ann is the co-ordinator of this exhibition and has done an excellent job in organising the details and communicating them and the deadlines to all of the artists. The theme is gardens and Jo Ann began by sending members a 3-page list of ideas related to this theme which I am sure was a great source of inspiration for many of the works in this exhibition.

The exhibition is on for another week, ending November 10th.

I do hope you can go and see this exhibition if you haven't already done so.

New Work - 'Forest Flowers'

I am working on a new work for a Surface Design Association exhibition. It involves a number of different steps and techniques.

Random dyeing the ground cloth.

All of the fabric is worn bed sheets.

Dyeing for an all-over mottled colour.

Another sheet dyed to get a more randomly patterned effect.

Sampling different fabric paints to screen print motifs onto the dyed ground.

Resist dyeing. I tied different sized seeds in the centre of torn squares of cloth. 

The tied thread acted as a resist when dyed.

Hand stitching the resist dyed squares.

I keep track of time spent making the work.