VISDA Current Threads 2017 Exhibition in Ladysmith BC

The annual Vancouver Island Surface Design Association Currents Threads exhibition will open on April 15 and run until April 30, 2017.

This year the group is returning to the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery, Ladysmith. 

All of the work will have been completed in the last 3 years and has not been shown in any Current Threads exhibition before.

We are anticipating another successful exhibition with many visitors.

The Artist Reception is on April 22, from 2:00 until 4:00 pm. I do hope many of you can attend to enjoy the work and talk to the artists in attendance.

Artists will be sitting the gallery every day from 11 am until 4 pm.

During Ladysmith's Spring Art Tour on April 21st until 23rd, the gallery hours are extended from 10 am until 5 pm.

This annual exhibition is a survey of the most recent work by fibre artists who live on Vancouver Island and many of the smaller offshore islands.

You are all invited to attend.

Yukon Cryosphere II, Hydrosphere - Work Continues

Working with slippery synthetic sheers I can't keep the large pieces of fabric under control. Solution - hang them on the wall and take down as needed.

My current problem is to find a method for making a soft material appear hard. 

I have made tapered tubes. They need weights in the bottom to keep all lines vertical, the way water falls and freezes.  I considered lead fishing weights but couldn't find any small enough and they would all have to be painted white.

Solution - Beads. I cleaned out my white bead stash then scoured all thrift stores in a 20-mile radius. I sorted them by size and made 3 different soup mixes.

The beads are successfully doing the job of weighing down the points but now the tubes don't look substantial enough. I have decided to stuff each tube with fine interfacing. It took a long time and was hard on my hands.

To give my hands a break I started making the flowing water panels - cheesecloth dry-felted onto flat sheer tubes.

I am laying out the flowing water panels to see if I had enough of them and enough variety in length and width.

In the meantime, in the back of my mind, I am working on how to hang these individual tubes and panels. Percolation time, again.

Vancouver Island Surface Design Association's 'Current Threads 2016' exhibition at Tulista Gallery, Sidney

Laura Feeleus 'Heartfelt'

VISDA's annual exhibition is on at CACSP's Tulista Gallery in Sidney.

Works by Lori Mudrie, Terry Phillips, Donna-Fay Digance

The exhibition is on until Sunday 4:00 pm July 31st.

Works by Barb McCaffery, Margie Preninger

There will be an Artists' Reception on Saturday 2 to 4 pm July 23rd.

Works by Bryony Dunsmore, Sarah McLaren, Jo Ann Allen

Many of the artists will be in attendance. It will be a great opportunity to talk to them about their work. 

Works by Sarah Mclaren, Morag Orr-Stevens,

As this is an annual event for VISDA we are already working on our 2017 exhibition.

Jo Ann Allan 'Song of the Earth' 

Any work a member finishes between now and the date of the next exhibition is eligible to be shown.

We are working on several exciting ideas for next year's venue.

Textile Treasures Exhibition - Mark Makers at Tulista Gallery, Sidney

The Mark Makers are exhibiting again!

Here is a peek at what they have produced over the past couple of years.

This is the view as one walks into the gallery - wearable art and 2D and 3D wet felt.

To the right are the results of a challenge to produce interpretations of the Melford Messenger Bag with a focus on upcycling, recycling and embellishment.

To the left - 2 different ways of working on top of a printed image.

Wet felted wall hanging, upcycled jacquard linen table cloth transformed into a blouse, embellished bags. 

Exploring the water and sky themes.

Upcycled pillows, soft sculptures and wearable art.

Hand and machine stitched framed wall pieces.

Art dolls, soft sculpture, wet felted forms.

Wet felted hats, scarf, bag, neck art.

Hand and machine 2D and 3D fibre art.

The alcove has a display of old traditional, handmade textiles from the 5 continents. They illustrate the history, techniques and skill mastery behind the Mark Makers' work.

This is just a taste of what is on display at the Tulista Gallery in Sidney, until May 1st.

There will be artists in attendance every day to answer your questions and to tell you the stories.

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

'Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry' Has Been Installed

Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry has been installed at South Shore Gallery, Sooke.

Here is the view as you walk into the Back Gallery.

The back wall

The lights haven't been adjusted yet but it was time to leave after spending all day installing the work.

The artists worked with the size restriction of 12" wide x 60" or 72" long.

The idea was to give a picket fence feel to the installation.

It appears to be currently a popular format to work in.

The artists also worked with a garden theme which they interpreted freely and widely.

There's my triptych on the left. 

Forest Flowers is about fungal flowering and fruiting bodies found in the forest.

It will be fun to meet up with lots of the artists at the opening reception, tomorrow, Saturday, March 5th, 1 - 3 pm,

Articulation & Material Girls in Saint John Arts Centre

'Articulated Materials: Bridging Waters' is open in the Frazee Gallery in the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John, New Brunswick. This is one of 5 galleries in the building and what a beautiful building.

ReBecca Paterson, who lives in New Brunswick, was responsible for getting the exhibit into this beautiful space and she has done all of the work needed to mount the work. She will be giving artist talks in the gallery over the next 2 months.
Congratulations, ReBecca, on a job well done.

In this 3rd Canadian showing of work about the Bay of Fundy and the River Thames the viewer has to work a bit harder to place each work in its geographical location - if that is important to them - because both bodies of work have been combined. In the previous 2 exhibitions they were hung separately. It is interesting to see the differences.

ReBecca made a large 3D installation. Viewers are encouraged to touch the tactile, felted barnacles - an unusual feature of an art exhibition, already being enjoyed by viewers on opening night. 

 

 

 

The exhibition is on until January 10th, 2014.
If you are travelling through New Brunswick sometime over the next 2 months do drop in to see the work.
And please let your maritime family and friends know the exhibition is on.

2013 SDA Conference

Naiomi Wanjiku Gakunga standing in front of her work in the Russell Hill Rogers Gallery on the Navarro Campus, after giving a moving presentation about her life as an artist and the importance of storytelling in her culture and her work.

In the same gallery Michael James had a solo exhibition,'Organising Nature`.
This work is titled `The Idea of Matter`, 2010.
He prints digitally manipulated images onto cotton, dyes cloth, machine pieces and machine quilts.

À System of Classification` 2009
Michael was also one of the featured speakers. He spoke of his personal experiences with life and art over his forty-year career. It was one of the highlights of the conference.

Some students had made these felt flowers.

They kept appearing and disappearing in different garden beds around the campus.