Crossroads, the Grand National coming to Fredericton

SAQA Atlantic member, Kathy Tidswell, is now the Exhibitions Co-Coordinator for the Grand National Exhibition Association.  She has sent us the invitation poster for the next Grand National Show, which will open in Fredericton in 2021 and then tour the country. 

Details can be found on the Grand National website at www.grandnationalfibreartexhibition.com

Works from two of our SAQA Atlantic members, Kathy Tidswell and Deb Plestid, were accepted in the 2019 Grand National.  Perhaps we will see an even larger showing from SAQA Atlantic members in 2021!

McKay Barns Standing Still on Spiddle Hill
by Deb Plestid 2019 45"by 30"

Treasured Memory
by Kathy Tidswell 2019 18" x 20.5"

Fibre Expressions 2019 in Fredericton until January 8th, 2020

Poster artwork by Mary (Barb) Perry

SAQA Atlantic members Kathy Tidswell and Mary Perry invite you to drop by Fibre Expressions 2019, an exhibition of the Fredericton Guild of Fibre Artists and the Embroiderers’ Guild of Fredericton. The exhibition includes rug hooking, thread painting, quilting, felting, weaving, embroidery, lacework and more. 

Who:    Fredericton Guild of Fibre Artists and 
             Embroiderers’ Guild of Fredericton
What:   Fibre Expressions 2019
Where: Government House, 51 Woodstock Road, Fredericton, NB
When:  November 8, 2019 until January 8, 2020
Hours:  Monday to Friday,10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bound and Unbound: Textile Explorations in Binding and Dyeing opens in Port Medway NS

Bound and Unbound

Art quilts by Susan Lilley

November 18, 2019 - January 12, 2020

Reception: November 23, 3-5 p.m.

The Port Grocer

1615 Port Medway Rd

Port Medway, Nova Scotia

Fall hours at The Port Grocer 

Open daily: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and some days later)  

Lunch: Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Sunday Brunch: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thursday Dinners: 3rd Thursday of the month, 5 to 9 p.m.

Friday Pub Nights: 6 to 10 p.m.

If you're in the area, please drop in!

We Did It Again!

Free Associations by Regina Marzlin 2019 (fragment) 

SAQA Atlantic had another great retreat/conference, this time on the beautiful Minas Basin in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia.  It was a perfect balance of excellent professional development, catching up on each other's work, comfortable surroundings and delicious food.  
We were delighted to welcome two new members, Darcy Hunter and Cathy Nunn.

Lightning Talks

Helene Blanchet persuasively described the benefits of working in a series to fully explore a concept. She described the process of preparing and finding venues for her Calgary Days series as well as two new series underway.   

two pieces from The Pond series by H. Blanchet, 2019

Dress (de)Code, was a project designed and led by Regina Marzlin to empower young women through expressing themselves in fibre art. The results she showed us were impressive.    

Laureen van Leirop talked about the importance of a sketchbook as a regular practice. Laureen’s broad definition of a sketchbook includes drawings, clippings, writing and snippets of embroidery.

fragment from the triptych 3 sneezes by L. Van Lierop 

Kristi Farrier continued the fascinating story of her exploration of making paper using cotton and flax fibre.   

Curating and Jurying

Susan Charles, the Director of the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia, was the highlight of the weekend.  She drew from her long experience in a lively presentation on the broad responsibilities of curators and jurers.  Some key take-aways for artists are: to carefully meet all the requirements of the call for entry; to not scramble in an entry at the last minute; and to send a good, professional photograph of the artwork. Susan emphasized  that a work could be rejected for many reasons that may have little to do with the quality of the art, so don't give up!  

Later, the SAQA-designed exercise in being a jury quickly taught us how hard jurying can be.

Writing About your Work

In a panel discussion, Laurie Swim, Ann Morrell Robinson, Helene Blanchet and Darcy Hunter shared how they have published their own writing about their artwork, or had it written about. There are so many possibilities, such as magazines which invite submissions on specific topics. A growing number of on-line publications are always looking for material.  Big take-away: build and use your creative network!

Next year’s retreat is already in planning!

Autumn by the Lake by Darcy Hunter 2018