Next Articulation Series of work

Two summers ago, while travelling, I knit lots of rectangles in a log cabin quilt technique.

Last summer, while working in a temporary studio in the Tulista Art Gallery, I washed and blocked them all. 

Next step I joined the rectangles, cut them into strips then rejoined the strips.

Then re-cut and rejoined the pieces again.
I am making views of the Canadian prairies from the air - a patchwork of different field crops.

Fibres@The Hill

Yesterday, we (Vancouver Island Surface Design Association) hung an exhibition in the new Art Gallery at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre, Victoria
This is what we started with

What the space will look like for the next month
Here is a quick look around the walls...

...filled with over 60 works (minus the ladder)

A most interesting collection of contemporary textile art

The exhibition opened today, November 2nd and closes November 29th
The Gallery is open the same hours as the community centre with an artist in attendance daily from 10:30 am until 5:00 pm
The opening is Friday, November 4th, 6:00 to 8:00 pm, with many of the 18 artists planning on attending

Do come by and let us know what you think
Ask the artist in attendance lots of questions - we like to talk about our work

Progress

With this work i am exploring the relationship between hemoglobin and chlorophyll.
 Their molecules are the same except for the presence of iron or magnesium in their centres.

I decided to show these centres with red and green buttons.

My years of collecting buttons has paid off because I found enough buttons of the right colour and shape to do the job.

The 1st buttons are sewn on.

I decide the buttons are successfully conveying the idea of the different colours produced by the different elements in the centre of each molecule.....

...so i continue sewing...

Moving A Work Along

Remember this work made from a collection of domestic linens dyed red and green...

...strip-pieced and cut a number of times...

...and how the colours where the same as what popped up in garden in spring?

After an incubation period, this is what has happened to it.
I have shaped it to refer to the human form, a tree and an animal hide put on the wall.
Now what?

More Hemoglobin and Chlorophyll

I've done some more strip piecing

This time with the seams on the right side and joined using a serger, which gives quite a different look.

This is my view out the studio window at the moment.

I think it is influencing my work.

Chlorophyll and Hemoglobin

In my degree studies I am exploring the connection between red cells in human blood and chlorophyll in plants.
I dyed many different household linens in greens and reds: pillow cases with embroidery, tea towels, bed sheets, napkins, table cloths.
I used a Val Campbell-Harding method to randomly strip-piece the different cloths.

After one cut and sewing the strips back together again.

After 2 cuts and sewing the strips back together again.

Now i am hand stitching the flow of blood and chlorophyll in running stitch (had to be that stitch)
You can barely see the stitching in this image because i have just started. I am playing a version of the PAC Man game - whenever I bump into the other colour i have to change direction and 'run' only on the same colour as the thread in the needle.
This image has funny looking labels in it because this was the work i took to the Martha Cole workshop in Gloria's studio. Martha gave us lots of different question sheets to answer while looking at our own work pinned up on the wall.
I had had a week with Martha while doing the artist residency with Articulation in Banff. We did similar exercises in a lot more depth and a lot more of them. That is when I learnt to recognise my 'style'.
It was most interesting to repeat some of the exercises several years later to see how my work has developed and changed. i noticed i feel differently about my work now too.
It was well worth taking the time out to just look at what i make.

More Student Work at Victoria College of Art

Strip Piecing Project

My Mark Making With Machine class at Victoria College of Art had a great showing of their work in the studio this week.
The project was to use their dyed and printed fabrics to make a ground in their own colour palette.

It was called, 'The Project of One Thousand Decisions' because every step of the way they had to stop and make a conscious decision about how they would proceed.

It was so interesting to see how each textile was so different and reflected each owner's style when working with textile and stitch.

It was a rewarding project when class members were able to learn from others' results as well as their own.

Strip Woven Blanket

A friend gave me this lovely blanket. She has a much larger one displayed on a wall and it looks magnificent.
We are both curious to find out any information about this style of blanket.
It is woven in long strips then sewn together. The fibre is coarse, like goat hair.

The yellow and red colours here are woven in.....

...while the spots of colour are stitched in after the weaving is done.

The back shows the carrying of the thread as each area is stitched.
The stitched areas appear to be worked in a much softer fibre, like wool.

Does anyone recognise this style of weaving and can tell us anything about it?

New Work for the Maltwood

This past week I have been working on a new work for Articulation's up coming exhibition in the University of Victoria's Maltwood Gallery. The ideas for this work have been developing for quite awhile, ever since Articulation did a study week on Vancouver Island in September 2007. All members are now in their studios focusing on producing their responses to what they saw in the rain forests.

This week I spent a number of hours mixing and painting squares of gouache until I came up with a colour scheme that supports the concept I want to express.

Next step was to sort through my fabrics to find those in the right hues, values and intensities that I had defined in paint. I then cut out strips in random lengths. Having this wide assortment of fabric types is an important part of the work.

All the while I was sorting the strips into piles for different parts of the work I was rejecting strips that I didn't think would work.

Next I strip-pieced the pieces into long lengths then I couched different yarns onto the strips into random organic flowing shapes.

There is lots more to be done but this is a good start on this large work. I'll keep you posted on its progress.

In the meantime, check out Articulation's blog to see how other members' work is progressing and to find out more about our study week that inspired the work http://articulationtextilegroup.blogspot.com/