Circumnavigation: West Coast Vancouver Island

By the time we were on the west coast my knitting had grown much longer.

And I was working my way through the pile of stowed books. They included a few about and by Emily Carr because this was the country she traveled through and worked in.

Kerry Mason Dodd's book 'Sunlight in the Shadows. The Landscape of Emily Carr' is full of photographs of places Emily visited. It gave us clues as to where Emily visited and we were able to stop at a few of those places.

Emily Carr, Indian Church', 1927, oil on canvas, 108.6 x 68.9cm. Art Gallery fo Ontario.

photographed from Sharyn Rohlfsen Udall's 'Carr, O'Keeffe, Kahlo. Places of their Own.'

Emily Carr did sketches for this painting when she visited Friendly Cove, Nootka Island.

We anchored in Friendly Cove, puttered ashore and went in search of the church. We learnt from the resident warden that particular church burnt down in 1954. The above church was built as a replacement 2 years later on a new site further towards the point. It is now a museum for the local First Nations band's collection of artefacts.

Also in Friendly Cove is the Nootka Light Station.

Emily Carr sketched the light station buildings during a later visit, in 1929. 

I found this image in Doris Shadbolt's 'The Sketchbooks of Emily Carr. Seven Journeys.' 

Reading about Emily Carr, Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Khalo, 3 artists with intense connections to nature and long attachments to specific places, helped me during the month at sea to look longer and deeper at the water, land and sky that is home and a source of inspiration for my work. As a result, I have a sketchbook of ideas to work with.

Articulation Study Session in Victoria - Day 3

Articulation members at work; Lesley Turner, Donna Clement, Ingrid Lincoln, Leann Clifford, in the inner harbour. The Empress Hotel is in the background.

First appointment was a morning visit to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria http://aggv.ca/ to see 'Kimono: Japanese Culture in its Art Form' with many magnificent kimonos revealing the complex codes and etiquette of garments in Japanese culture. Articulation member Shannon Wardroper shared some of her extensive knowledge of Japanese culture to give others a better understanding of the exhibits.

A 2nd exhibit 'From Geisha to Diva: The Kimomo of Ichimara'  is a collection of personal effects of one of the most famous geishas, Ichimara. 

Next were visits to the Fort street auction houses Lunds http://lunds.com/ and Kilshaws http://www.kilshaws.com/ to see if there were any maritime history artifacts that may be useful to acquire. There were none this week but it was fun looking.

There was a long wait in the line-up to get into the popular Blue Fox for a late lunch.

Next was a visit to the Royal BC Museum to see the current 'Vikings' exhibition and a search through the museum's other rooms for maritime history-related displays (no cameras allowed).

The Victoria International Chalk Art Festival is on. A large chalk drawing is being made on the floor of the museum. The distorted perspective makes it look 3D.

A walk back along the inner harbour, past the Empress hotel...

...and a variety of street theatre acts.

SALTS sail boats (floating schools) in the setting sun with the Robert Bateman Museum (Originally the Steamship Company building) next to the legislature buildings, across the harbour.

It was a day focused on getting a deeper understanding of the importance of the sea in the development of Victoria from a shallow place to pull up a canoe to an urban centre.

Articulation 2014 Study Session in Victoria

Each year Articulation does study in a special place in Canada.

This year they are in Victoria researching the maritime history of the west coast of Canada.

Donna climbing up the stairs from the waterfront to the street full of old warehouses, hotels and shops.

Into The Maritime Museum, up in their iron elevator - the oldest working elevator in Canada...

...to the 3rd floor library and archives.

Donna and Leann doing research.

Lunch break at Venus Sophia's Tearoom and Vegetarian Eatery with retro afternoon tea served along side delicious light meals.

Venus Sophia's is in Chinatown, the oldest china town in North America. 

While in Chinatown, Articulation visited Ground Zero Print Studio www.groundzeroprint.com/  owned by Victoria Edgarr and Alain Costaz.

The magnificent gated entrance to Chinatown.

A visit to the University of Victoria's down town gallery, Legacy Art Gallery, where they showcase works from their extensive art collection.

A visit to the oldest tea and coffee company in Victoria, Murchie's.

Murchie's continues to blend their own teas and runs a tea room.

That was Articulation's 1st 2 days of research on Victoria's maritime history.

Ursuline Museum, Quebec City

The museum shows different types of embroidery the nuns taught their students.
Hair embroidery was popular in the 19th century to memorialise loved ones.

Samples of different ways of working with hair.

The British tradition of girls making samplers was adopted in France and Quebec.
'At the boarding school, learning this type of embroidery, as with other needlework, aimed to inculcate young girls with qualities specific to their gender: patience, industry, concern for detail, and a taste for the aesthetic.'

These small samples demonstrating dress making skills were made by Eugenie Pouliot, who entered the Ursuline convent on 2 September 1867, at the age of 14. She was a border for 2 years.

Her fine samples demonstrate her ability to make clothes for herself and her future children. 

The nuns appear to have focused on teaching their students skills they could use to earn an income and would be invaluable when running a household.

Articulation Visits the Ursuline Nuns Workshop and School Museum

Articulation's 2013 study session was in Quebec City. One of the highlights of the week was the time spent studying embroderies produced by the Ursuline nuns and their students.

They had specialised in producing heavily embroidered textiles for the Catholic churches and their priests.

Their main techniques were raised gold work and long and short stitch silk and wool thread painting.

'Alter Frontal : Holy Family at Rest', early 1700s.

Wool, silk, Japan gold, Japan silver, gold and silver with plate, purls and spangles on moire silk satin ground; bobbin lace.

Steam Punk in New Zealand

'Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.'
If you are ever in New Zealand I would recommend planning to spend a day in Oamaru, on the east coast of the South Island. One of the many attractions in the city is all of the steampunk action, including this museum.

The museum works with many different arts organisations to hold events throughout the year.

 

Nearby is a steam punk playground...

...for everyone to enjoy.

Steampunk -' tomorrow as it used to be'
www.steampunkoamaru.co.nz

A Day at the ROM

My 1st visit to the Royal Ontario Museum was a most interesting experience.
I got totally engrossed in artifacts displayed in the more traditional vitrines.
(above - woman's 'apron', Brazil)

In the newest area of the museum there are more contemporary display methods.
(Above - early 18th century silk on silk embroidery made to be an apron).

New display methods allow for satisfyingly close inspection of artifacts.
(Gilt and silver threads worked with silk threads).

Supporting images and artifacts cut down on the need for much text and help to place the artifact in context.
(Painting of early 18th century English drawing room where the women wore the heavily embroidered aprons).

However, the enjoyable viewing experience was deflated every time I had to move to another display area within architect Daniel Libeskind's 5 interlocking crystal forms built between 2 older wings of the museum. I found no natural flow from one area to another but I did find many dead ends. The architect's ego seems to have got in the way of meeting human needs within a space.

Yes, that door is on a disturbing angle.
Random lines on the floor appear and disappear making the walls feel insubstantial and temporary.

No, the left door can't be fully opened.
Acute angles are dust traps the cleaners' machines obviously can't get into.
People repeatedly kick unexpected wall protrusions and knock their heads on acutely angled walls then put their hands out for protection. The whole place is building up the patina of  a well used obstacle course.
If large mirrors were added to the walls it could possibly be more successful as a fair-ground type, mirrored, fun house maze. Ooops, that's a bit harsh.

Actually, there was one display area where I felt the jarring, discordant spaced worked. It was the most serious and emotionally intense exhibition - photographs of victims tortured by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, Observance and Memorial, Photographs From S-21, Cambodia.  www.rom.on.ca/cambodia
Check this link and look at the images on the right hand side. The 2nd to bottom one, where the book is open for people to sign. I hit my head while trying to get in a line to sign the book - awkward!