'Seeing' Things

Maple Cloth 

Cedar Cloth

Arbutus Cloth

Douglas-fir Cloth
An idea i explored with this work is seeing as a gendered issue and a cultural issue.
I placed small elements from each tree under its cloth to lure the male inside the structure, knowing he focuses on details from long distance. The female eye is rewarded with the details of these elements once she is inside the structure.
The western viewer has had it ingrained in them to not touch art and to accept it's right place within a frame, behind glass, behind a barrier, or across a space. This work challenges the viewer to go inside the work for a more sensory experience, enticed into the structure by the familiarity of having been between sheets for hours most days of their lives.

Stitching What I See

During fall and I was entranced by the Maple's colours.

 

 

 

I decided to stitch the colours I saw.

More Student Work

Dana

Sarah

Garland

Kati
You will be able to see these projects and more of the students' work at the Victoria College of Art Student Christmas Show - December 16, 7:00 -9:00 & 17, 1:00 - 4:30

Negative Space

James
Victoria College of Art Textile Arts students' experiments with negative space.

Esther

Sarah

Sue Mei
There are lots of examples here of well considered use of design elements.

Diana Bliss - 2011 JC Graduate

Post card images of Diana Bliss' graduate exhibition work, called 'Transversing the Surface (a series of walks along the River Dee in Cheshire)'.

From her artist statement: 'My work is dominated by a sense of place and by exploring Landscape through the rhythms and mark making of stitch and paint, the works can be seen as panoramic or under close inspection.'

New JC BA(Hons) Graduates 2011

Ingrid Lincoln and I have just returned from the private view of this year's graduates of the Julia Caprara School of Stitched Textiles BA(Hons) degree programme exhibition in Redchurch Gallery, London.

6 students had a selection of their final work displayed in the gallery.

Viny Smit, Principal of the school, welcomed everyone.

Alice Kettle gave the address to the graduates.

Congratulations to all the graduates: Barbara  J West, Wendy Harris Williams, Diana Bliss, Diana Halbert, Valerie Huggins, Chris Spencer

I'm sorry I can't show you images of the wonderful work - photography was not allowed.

Honeymoon Bay Retreat

A group of us stitchers went away on a weekend retreat to Honeymoon Bay on Cowichan Lake.
Fresh snow fell on the mountains so we were well wrapped for our daily walks.

The resort had a newly planted labyrinth.

We had a large room to work in with excellent light and the dining room was only a few steps away.
Much was accomplished.
We will definitely be going back.

Mark Making With Thread

The first Fine Arts Textiles course is nearly finished. We started with 2 basic hand stitches then spent 2 full days a week for 5 weeks exploring the qualities of many variables possible with these 2 stitches. And we barely scratched the surface.

Throughout the course different students often shared an area of expertise which added so much to the whole learning experience for everyone. Here Barbara Gilbert demonstrates to the class.

On Monday we spent time getting work 'hanging ready' then mounted samples and 2D projects on boards.....

... in preparation for the Victoria College of Art Christmas Show, www.vca.ca.
The last class is Friday. In the morning the students will work together to install an exhibition of their work and they will return in the evening in their role as docents while the college is full of guests invited to come and celebrate the students' work.
In the Textile Studio space there will also be demonstrations of stitching, fabric painting and felting.
The learning will continue for the students throughout the weekend as they practice talking about their work. They provide a personal connection with the work that many viewers look for.

Self Applique

The students in the 'Mark Making with Stitch' class at Victoria College of Art may have looked and sounded as though they were just playing with a pile of textiles but they were in fact working.

They assembled a collection of different fabrics with potential for the Self Applique technique.
They collected samples of shot weave....

... considered the reverse side....

...and experimented with patterns.
Then they made samples using their own painted cotton.
They all decided it was a technique with great potential.

Exploring Negative Space

More explorations of opening up the textile with stitch from Victoria College of Art students.