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.

Things Textiley in Greece: Fibres and Fabrics - Old and New

Goats on the road, every afternoon - milking time. 

The huge variety of goat cheeses and other dairy products was a gourmet's delight while travelling around Greece. Each village seems to have its own bacterial cultures producing distinctively different cheeses. It was the same with the many different fermented drinks. The fermented honey mead drink served warm on a cold rainy day was my favourite.

I was reminded of how standardized and limited the range of the bulk of commercially available food has become in North America.

Goat meat dishes were on the menu in most places and in the antique shops, I saw many goat hair textiles, often combined with wool. I suspect the goat has been a key item in the Greek economy for centuries.

The oldest textile in Greece has been found in the Church of Saint Sophia.

These ribbons were made between the 2nd half of the 14th century and up to the 1st half of the 16th century. Using gilded silver threads and metal beads they were woven on a tablet loom and embroidered in satin stitch.

Processing Silk

Local silk production went on during the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods - 320AD to the 1800s.

Notice the elegant Kelpht guard watching over the work.

'Metaxi present and past'

A new textile installation. The title plays with the 2 meanings of metaxi - 'silk' and 'between'.

It refers to the "unknown princess" whose clothing and hair was found when her grave in the church of Saint Sophia was excavated. 

Currently on display in the Museum of Mystras are her silk undergarment and her silk outer garment, remnants of her leather shoes and her hair still tied up and decorated in a variety of silk laces. These silk garments plus the history of silk production was the inspiration for this contemporary art installation. 'The 3D arrangement of yarns form linear patterns and reshapes the structure of the dress, reconstructing an immaterial and ethereal female figure.'

'By using yarn as a raw material, the weaving of a cultural bridge is achieved. A bridge that connects notionally the historical weaving position of women in the development of history and cultural meaning through a colourful path between past and present.'

The history of Greek textiles is long and interwoven with every aspect their culture.

SCAD Fiber Department Tour continues

The Sewing Machine Studio

Students learn to work with electronic, digitised machines...

...and old-school machines for sewing, knitting, embroidery and serging.

The Weaving Studio

I have very limited knowledge on looms but could see the room was filled with many different types - small and large. The largest one in the back is the only such machine in North America - having come from Scandinavia. 

The Surface Design Studio

I have never seen a cleaner surface design room. It was simple and perfectly set up. The above image shows only one side of one of the rooms.

The screen cleaning set up is quite unique. They have worked within the limits of an old building basement to come up with a simple solution.

The SCAD tour was an exciting start to the Textile Society of America's Symposium 2016.

Teasels - a cloth worker's tool.

This year's teasel harvest

I refreshed the teasels at the front door. 

This is my shingle.

elserine is a weaver. 

During a Vancouver Island Surface Design Assoc meeting elserine demonstrated how the teasel was/is used to full woven or knit garments to make them soft. Gently stroking the cloth with a tied teasel bundle raises the nap. Commercially they have been replaced by steel combs but some woolen workers continue to prefer to use teasels because they are kinder to the cloth, the teasel hook breaking when meeting resistance and so avoiding damage to the fibers.

In parts of the USA, the teasel is considered noxious because it out-competes native plants. I have noticed teasels grow where soil has been disturbed and damaged so I consider them 'band-aid' plants. They have long tap roots capable of bringing minerals up from lower soil levels to the surface and they produce a lot of stem and leaves which are useful for the 'chop and drop' permaculture method of soil building. As the plant material decays, it releases organic matter and minerals into the soil making them available for other plants.

In our garden, I believe the teasel will serve its purpose until soil conditions improve and the plant is no longer suited to the site and its seeds, with a two-year viability, will no longer germinate. 

'Know Your Place - Ideas In Art Form' Exhibition at Tulista Gallery, Sidney, Vancouver Island

Sherley Gordon Edey has invited 7 other artists working in different media to exhibit their work with her photography while exploring the many layers of meaning in the statement

'Know Your Place'

Sherley presents her work in a wide variety of formats, including video and keeps the viewer looking for the story. Often several different stories will emerge from one collection.

The artists who have joined her: Colleen Golumbia, Norma Lofthouse, Dale MacEwan, Terry Murray, Pamela Truscott-White, Lesley Turner, Jean Weller, tell their stories about knowing their place through their own media: clay, wood, baste fibres, fabric.

It all makes for a most stimulating exploration of the theme.

Section/Township/Range

Starting nearly 150 years ago twelve percent of the earth’s land mass was divided up by a straight line grid system, a system now deeply ingrained in western Canadian rural culture. A hierarchy of roads and fence lines mark the boundaries of land ownership. Land parcels have been passed from one generation to the next and continue to be bought and sold. The boundaries of one’s place are still defined by those original Dominion Land Survey lines now deeply etched into the landscape.

This is my contribution to the exhibition. 

Throughout history, many people have been told where their place is, whether a surveyed plot of land, a designated reservation, a placed they fled to or a legally enforced place of incarceration. 

Some have a long family history of living in one place with the passing of each generation reinforcing their feeling of belonging.

Others travel and respond intuitively to their surroundings sometimes arriving and knowing this is where they belong.

As a geographer, I explored one's connection with the land. The other artists explored very different 'Know Your Place' associations. 

I do hope you can make it to the exhibition and see the works for yourself.

CACSP Community Arts Centre at Tulista Park, 9565 Fifth Street, Sidney

April 11 - 17, 2016

Monday - Friday 10 - 4, Saturday and Sunday 12 - 4  

VISDA Exhibition 'Garden Tapestry' at Portals, Duncan

Louise Slodoban, 'In An Artist's Garden' 

Photo transfer, procion dyed cloth, mono printing, screen printing, sun prints, machine & hand stitched.

Louise was inspired by a visit to Grant Leier and Nixie Barton's Studio Garden at Yellow Point.

The Vancouver Island Surface Design Association has an exhibition in the Portals gallery in the CVAC Centre of Arts, Culture and Heritage until November 10, 2015.

Georgina Dingwell, 'At Night in the Garden'

Printed surface with silk overlay and stitching.

"This piece is about the way we perceive darkness. The mind can take us to scary places even in the realm of beauty in a garden."

All artists worked within a 12" x 60" or 72" framework so there was uniformity in the size of the works. This serves to unify a wide range of styles, techniques, materials and ideas.

Elserine Sprenger, "karesansui" (dry landscape)

Handwoven, linen, silk, raffia, stones, madder, indigo.

"This piece is woven in a partial double weave structure and symbolises the strength and at the same time the fragility of Mother Nature; the stones that have survived millennia and the linen which so easily deteriorates when exposed to the weather."

 

karesansui (dry landscape), detail

Sarah McLaren, 'Joy'

"Own hand dyed linen/cotton blend fabric, hand appliqued with silk thread, machine quilted, wool batting, binding done by hand. 

Inspired by whimsical floral shapes, open weave linen, a love of colour subtleties and a passion for fabric and stitching, my intention was to design and create a joyful art-quilt garden tapestry."

'Joy,' detail. 

Sorry, the colours are way off in these images of the works. The gallery has the work well lit which makes for difficult photographic conditions.

Sarah beside her work. 

The colours here are closer to reality, but images of textiles never really do them justice. You will have to go to Duncan to see for yourself. 

The exhibition is on until November 10, 2015.

The gallery is open Monday through to Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm.

Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works: Pillow Covers

I have a delicious collection of ethnic and traditional textiles all washed, steamed and waiting to be made into pillow covers.

I must admit one of the most fun parts of the process is working out how to turn the textile into a pillow cover to take advantage of its special qualities.

If there are any identifying marks they get included in the cover. Google searches find information about the textile that I add to the description of the pillow cover.

I pass on as much of the provenance and techniques as I know, detailing it in the description of the item in my Etsy shop. Knowing the stories contained in a textile make it more interesting, more authentic and brings one closer to the maker. I like knowing this sort of info and hope there are others out there who do also.

Lilaberry ArtSea Festival Artist Residency

I worked 8 days straight in my temporary studio next to the front window in Lilaberry Home Decor here. Fifty artists were working, demoing and displaying as one of Sidney's ArtSea Festival events. 

Lilaberry's lovely owner, Chris Stephen, sent me these pics she had been taking during the week.

My time was divided between sharing my work....

...and making the work. 

It was a most productive week on all fronts.

Many of Sidney's residents and visitors experienced an art encounter. The relationship between Sidney's business and arts communities was strengthened. My art practice benefited and I hope Lilaberry benefited too.

Sidney-by-the Sea: Art Happenings

Sidney-by-the-Sea is normally a busy place but over these next 2 weeks it will really be hopping with arts activities organised by the Community Arts Council of the Saanich Peninsula (CACSP).

• ArtSea Festival - Many Sidney shops are hosting 55 artists and their work. Here to see more details. 
• Sidney Fine Arts Show - It is open and on for only 3 more days, until Sunday. Here to see more details.
• ArtSea Gala: Arts in the Schools Fundraiser - A night of music to raise money for art programs in local schools. Here for more details.
• Artisans Christmas Gift Gallery - a show and sale of 53 local artisans' work, in the Tulista Park Gallery. Here for more details.
• Fall Artists Studio Tour - Artists working in the Saanich Peninsula open up their studios to the public. This year 65 artists are involved. Here for more details.

While in Sidney, also check out what is going on in the 2 museums. Both are the places to go if you are interested in Sidney's past. 

The Sidney Museum and Archives currently has a fibre arts exhibition that is well worth a visit. The Deep Cove Spinners and Weavers have an intriguing exhibition called 'Alphabet Soup'. Here for more details. 

There is more going on in Sidney, waiting for you to discover - like the Sculpture Trail along the sea walk.

 On behalf of the CACSP, I encourage you to visit Sidney to take part and enjoy these events.

Cardboard Weaving & Embellishment Workshop, Nanaimo

In conjunction with Vancouver Island SDA's exhibition, Current Threads 2014, in the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Margie Preninger will be running a fibre based, 2-day workshop.

'The workshop will be a hands-on approach to exploring colour, texture, and symbolism.'

'The simple weaving will produce a seamless vessel, which can become a purse or decorative item.
A focus will be on connecting to the heart, and exploring your relationship with the creative process'.

Margie has a BSC from the Fashion Institute of Technology New York so her class will be in good hands.
Tuesdays, January 21 & 28th, 6:30 - 9:30 pm, 2014

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

Handwork 7, Handwork 8

More rescued wool embroideries
I used the 2 in the top left...

...to make 'Handwork 7'

To make 'Handwork 8', I used the one in the top left...

...and part of the one in the top right.

These 3 works will be hung in a gallery tomorrow.
The Vancouver Island Surface Design Association has a month long exhibition in the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre Art Gallery, a new space Victoria artists have started to use.