Basilique Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

During Articulation's study week in Quebec we visited many churches but this was my favourite.
The Christian religion and the Bible are not big on acknowledging our natural environment.
Saint Anne's is different.

The ceilings are covered in mosaics with small ecological motifs.

I added more 'Tree Of Life' motifs to my collection.

Unlike most Christian churches, females feature prominently.
 A ceiling mosaic: working in the fields during the day, sitting by the fire at night.
There are lots of images of women with birds and flowers.

Dancing with abandon - on a church floor!

The zodiac!
The triangle in the 2D repeating pattern is an ancient female symbol.

A very beautiful, subtle decoration is carved into the ends of the wooden pews.
There is that triangle again, 

Every pew has a different animal or bird and a flower in a triangle.

There must have been several hundred of them.
'Saint Anne's is the oldest pilgrimage site in North America, beginning in 1658 as a shrine to the patron saint of Quebec.'
After several fires the present building was started in 1923.
If you click on the blue name of this post you will see a short video of the interior. Thanks Orangethingy for sharing.

Art in Quebec City

Jean Paul Lemieux, Sketch for "The Ursulines"1951
This work caught my eye because we had spent a morning doing research in the Ursuline Museum.
Evidently the artist spent about 2 years working on this idea for a painting.

It's final form was a big change in style from his earlier works.
He entered it in the 1951 Quebec Art Competition and won 1st prize. It was bought by the art organisation.
In 2011 they also bought the sketch and were able to put the 2 together.
"Finally united, the two pieces provide access to Lemieux's thought processes at a turning point in his career".

We saw a retrospective of Leopold L. Foulem's work, mainly ceramics.
This teapot was my favourite.

Vanessa Yanow, 'Collaborer avec son histoire - Incarnation I', 2008.



It looks as though Vanessa used vintage iron-on transfers to place the motifs on the cloth imitating the embroidered table cloth but here the motifs are not placed in the conventional locations. She then embroidered the motifs in the traditional way using silk thread.
Glass embellishments were added.


The centre of the cushion is a mound of clear glass balls...

...filled with samples of the embroidery thread and transfer patterns used, feathers and pieces of transfer printed cloth.
This cushion was included in a very interesting exhibition of many different works made of glass.

Quebec City - Door Study

Before I arrived in Quebec City I had thought I might do a door study.

And work with the symbolism and conceptual meanings associated with them.

Quebec City's doors are a tourist attraction.

I took the photographs but the ideas didn't flow. So no door study.
After 10 study sessions with Articulation and lots of preparation before each trip, I am still surprised by what catches my attention and the work that results. Each time it has never been what I initially thought I would focus on.

Saints' Relics in Quebec City

Articulation visited many cathedrals, churches and chapels while in Quebec City.
Two were the most memorable for me. One was originally the Petit Seminaire of Quebec's chapel but now a deconsecrated building and incorporated into the Musee De L'Amerique Francophone.
My 1st reaction to the chapel was surprise when we discovered all the wood, marble and granite walls and ceilings are in fact sheet metal painted in the trompe-l'oeil style - a response to the earleir chapel being burnt down.
My 2nd response was to feel a bit creepy and fascinated at the same time.
It was my 1st experience of collected and displayed human body parts - reliqueries.

In amongst the rich gold work on velvet are the skeletal remains of saints.
The chapel has hundreds and hundreds of them.
In spite of feeling a bit repulsed I was drawn in to see how these bits of bone, hair and ashes are attached to the ground with stitch.

This reliquery I liked. I felt someone, or a group, really respected Saint Charles Borromee when they displayed his vestments so carefully then added a large gilt frame.

The work is full of items representing different things as well as pieces of his religious clothing. 

I hope there is a written record of what everything means and which parts of his life different items are referring to.

Old Quebec City Architecture

One of the enjoyable things about a visit to old Quebec City is to look up at the roof lines.

There is a lot of history told in the architecture

 

 

Looking down at the foundations shows stories of the past also.

 

Articulation members spent many hours exploring the streets of old Quebec City.
It will be interesting to see what features come out in their group body of work.

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.