What is my Passion?

As I approach the next semester & last module of Level 1 of the BA(Hons) Stitched Textiles programme that I have immersed myself in, I am being asked to think about what I want to be when I grow up, oops, I mean- when I graduate. My level 2 tutor is making me think about the combination of modules I want to take and I am finding this thinking is hard work.
It has made me think about all of those young people I repeatedly ask what they want to do with their lives. I must now publicly apologise to all of them for asking, so casually, such a hard question just to satisfy my curiosity.
I have read that when adults ask younger people 'what do you want to be when you grow up', what they are really looking for is ideas for themselves.
What I really mean when I ask the question is, 'what is your passion?' 'Have you found your passion yet?' and that is what my tutor is now asking me to identify.
'What is my passion?

BA (Hons) Embroidered Textiles

You haven't heard from me for a while because I dropped off the planet to finish this semester's module of work before Christmas. It was all about learning to do research. The final assignment was to write a 3,000 word illustrated essay. I chose to write about the interests of middle class women during the Regency period in England. I focused on the first 30 years of the nineteenth century, the Jane Austen period. I found the whole exercise so interesting.

I have now shipped my work to my tutor in England and I am in catch-up mode with all of the things I have neglected this passed month.

The image above is an illustration I used in my essay. It is an engarving of a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence of a Regency woman.

Lesley Turner's Art Gallery

I have added a public web album of some of my work you can access by clicking on the address to the right.
You can click on the map to find the geographical location that inspired each work.
I will continue to add details about each work in the captions.

Sea Ice Melt, Arctic Series, Silent Auction Donation

'Sea Ice Melt' is a work from my Arctic series where I looked at the delicate nature of the environment. It is my response to aerial photographs of the edge of the sea ice as the Northern Hemisphere experiences longer hours of sunlight.
I have donated it to an on-line auction Calgary Academy is organising. It is part of a fund raiser organised by the Calgary Academy Parents Association called 'Big kids Helping Little Kids', running from November 1st to November 17th 2007.

Opus BA (Hons) New Module

I am in the second year of a BA (Hons) in Embroidered Textiles with the Opus School of Textile Arts. This semester I am working on a very interesting module where I look at embroidery in its social context. I find out what was going on when a specific type or style of embroidery was being done.

These passed two weeks I have been studying Dutch paintings from the seventeenth century to understand the world leading linen industry in the country at the time. Artist Jacob van Ruisdael is famous for his Dutch landscapes. What I have found most interesting about his work, apart from his magnificent skies, is how many of his paintings show flax/linen in various stages of production. One can see grassy fields covered in hundreds of meters of linen cloth going through the bleaching process.

rainforest study

Deep in the rainforest, paints and paper set up on a fallen log ready to record what I can see.

Fauna and

flora in the rain forest.

Rainforest Study

Each year the fiber art group I belong to, Articulation, goes to a special place in Canada to do a study. This year we went to Vancouver Island to do a study of the rainforest. We all came away with books full of sketches, many photographs and lots of ideas for new works. We now need to book a gallery to show these works in about 2 years.

Strut your Stuff

On Friday September 31st, the first annual exhibition by the students and graduates of University of Calgary Continuing Education's Certificate in Visual Design was installed in the Mezzanine Gallery of the University Theatre.
On Monday September 10th an Artists' Reception was attended by by many of the artists, their family and friends and members of the faculty.
It is an exciting inaugural event that is getting a lot of attention from campus students and theatre attendees.
I entered 3 works from my Arctic body of work. The lighting in the gallery is excellent and there is plenty of space for each work to breathe in.

Dying Days

Results of the first day dying cottons and linen with Procion MX, using Ann Johnson's low immersion method.

Exhibition of Work at Nectar Desserts

Lesley and Donna Clement will have an exhibition of their work in Nectar desserts, the new cafe in Inglewood, Calgary. The exhibition will be up from August 1st until August 31st. http://www.nectardesserts.com

Dying Days

Lesley and Donna took advantage of the heat wave in Calgary and spent 5 days dying cottons. The first 2 days were spent dying pale backgrounds then they thickened the dyes with sodium alginate and painted the next layers of dye on the cloth. They worked their way through the techniques in Ann Johnston's book 'Color by Design'.

A Taste of the Festival, Banff Centre

Lesley will be in Banff in the East Lobby of the Eric Harvey Theatre along with other members of Articulation from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday July 7th. Selected works from the Meta Incognita exhibition that relate directly to the opera Frobisher are presently hanging in the east lobby of the theatre. Five members of Articulation will be in attendance to talk about the works.

For more information go to the Banff Centre website, http://www.banffcentre.ca/bsaf/2007/taste/

Dying Day

Lesley and Donna Clement had fun dying everything wool, silk and nylon using Gaywool dyes. Lesley is now using the results in her study of East Indian embroidery techniques for her Opus studies.

Banff Summer Festival

Act 2, Scene 8

This image is of a detail of one of Lesley's works in the Meta Incognita body of work. The magenta knot is Anna, the heroine of the opera Frobisher, when she has decided to give up following her dream and is lying on an ice flow waiting to die.

The Banff Summer Festival web site has more information about Articulation's Meta Incognita exhibition in the foyer of the Eric Harvey Theatre,http://www.banffcentre.ca/bsaf/2007/frobisher/

28th Banff Midsummer Ball

'Nothing But Ice and Mystery'

Lesley has donated this work to the 28th Banff Midsummer Ball Silent Auction, July 20 - 22, 2007. The ball is one of the many activities on during the Summer Festival in Banff, Alberta.
'Nothing But Ice and Mystery' is a direct reference to the new opera 'Frobisher' that will have three performances in The Banff Centre during the festival.

http://www.banffcentre.ca/bsaf/2007/frobisher/