What’s on your wall? Susan Lilley, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Susan tells us: "I am just starting the hand quilting and stitching on a small piece with the working title, 'No Exit'. The fabric is my own shibori dyed, repurposed cotton. This is a companion piece to a wall quilt that I made last month, entitled 'Fractured'. Both pieces are inspired by the fabric itself as well as current challenges in my personal life.

"No Exit” (14x20) by Susan Lilley, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

'’Fractured” (24x28) by Susan Lilley, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Dream Commission - Laurie Swim, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

This summer Laurie Swim had what she considers a dream commission.

The youngest daughter of one of the fishermen Laurie had memorialized in 2000 in her Lost at Sea project came into Laurie’s gallery in her hometown of Lunenburg this past May. The woman and her husband were building a house in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario and wanted to feature a landscape of Nova Scotia created by Laurie in their new home.

Laurie’s husband and business partner, Larry, remembered that Laurie had enlarged an outline drawing of Lockeport Crescent Beach on her design board. After both parties agreed on the design, Laurie finished the 30” x 60” piece by the end of July. To make her piece, Family Outing even more personal, she added a few sea shells in the foreground near the little girl.

As Laurie says, she got to complete a work she was already planning! And the clients allowed Laurie to hang it in her gallery until their new home was ready for the installation in September.

Family Outing by Laurie Swim

Fibre Arts 2015 Teaching Opportunity - Gros Morne, Newfoundland

Fiber art teaching opportunity in Newfoundland

As part of the Craft Year 2015 celebrations, the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador is preparing to host a fiber arts conference in October 2015 in gorgeous Gros Morne National Park.

The council is currently looking for proposals from fiber artists who would like to teach at the conference. It also looks like there will be opportunities for artists to participate in panel discussions and other events. 

You can link to the Fiber Arts Newfoundland and Labrador website at http://www.craftcouncil.nl.ca/events/fibre-conference.

Below is the announcement from the Craft Council and links to relevant documents for interested instructors.

Fiber Arts 2015 

Celebrating Craft in Newfoundland and Labrador and Craft Year 2015, Fibre Arts Newfoundland and Labrador will take place from October 15 - 18, 2015 in beautiful Gros Morne National Park.

This four day conference will consist of workshops, lectures, exhibitions, seminars, panel discussions and tours and is bound to satisfy your fibre yearnings.

The Instructor Committee is now calling for proposals from interested designers, makers, and teachers.  We invite you to be creative, and develop sessions that will inspire our Conference participants to reach beyond the boundaries of their current studio practices, and think in new ways, explore new ideas and develop new products.  The Committee welcomes innovation in techniques and materials.

We look forward to submissions directed at both entry level and established professional fibre artists.  Workshops in the areas of dye, felt, knit, spin, weave,crochet, surface design and rug hooking will be accepted and considered, as well as fibre techniques used in other media.

Please click on the links below for information on submitting proposals, and watch this space for more Conference news as it becomes available.

1. Proposal Submission Information for Instructors

2. Teaching Proposal Cover Sheet

Questions?  Contact events@craftcouncil.nl.ca for answers.

Thanks to Linda Strowbridge for sharing this information.

Festival Vendor - Regina Marzlin, Antigonish, Nova Scotai

Five years ago as newcomer Regina Marzlin walked the beautiful beaches in Nova Scotia, she began collecting sea glass. Gradually her whole family joined her in this obsession! As they collected, she began to see ways to combine her fibre art with the glass they found. Some of Regina’s best selling articles are fabric postcards and small wearable art and after some trial pieces, she successfully developed a way to meld fabric and glass and began to sell her new designs locally.

2013 was the 5^th anniversary of the Mermaid’s Tears Sea glass Festival in Souris, PEI, a charming little coastal town with great beaches. This three day event is held on the fourth weekend in July at the Souris Lighthouse with vendors, lectures, shard contests and demonstrations. This was Regina’s first year as a vendor and knowing that most artists use sea glass in jewelry or decorative art pieces, and knowing that what she was doing was new and different, she made a number of larger pieces, some framed fabric collages and lots of postcards and pins.

The festival takes place in a large tent so Regina hung some of her larger pieces from the tent structure near her display table. She found festival goers were quite interested in her work and she received a lot of great feedback. Over and over she heard, “I have never seen anything like that!”

Regina really enjoyed talking with the other vendors, getting to see the amazing sea glass finds and chatting with all the visitors who were interested in her work. Solid media coverage (including a piece by CTV for the local news) and strong attendance helped make the show financially successful for Regina. She will definitely be returning to next year’s festival with many new designs she is inspired to create!

20 metres!!!!!! - Susan Tilsley Manley (Durham, NS)

What's on your wall?
Spousal support.
I have either educated or infected my beloved John.
I'm not always sure which.
He brought home two side rails from a baby crib that he saw in someone's trash at the side of the road. Proudly, he told me that he passed them, stopped short, backed up, and threw them into his truck. "I thought you could hang stuff from them."
Yup.
Then he figured out how to hang them on my studio wall so I could reach them, remove them if necessary, and save space. Two bike brackets were purchased at the DOLLAR STORE, a little cursing and a power driver later, I have the ultimate storage for my ironed, dyed and printed fabrics.
Then, of course, I had to do some dyeing to fill them. Twenty metres later, I am thrilled.
And I think I'll chose "educated".
Thanks John.

Trunk show goes on the road

by Chris Nielsen, Head of St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia

I took the trunk show out for its first 'visit' today. I arranged to attend a weekly meeting of a group called the Community Stitchers. There were 57 people present this morning. I gave a brief presentation about the evolution of quilts from utilitarian item to artwork and talked about the definition of an art quilt. Then I highlighted a few of the pieces in the trunk show to illustrate the diversity of techniques and approaches.When the group approached the tables where the show was displayed I stood and listened and answered questions.

Here's what I learned:

This group was particularly enchanted by the pieces that involved handwork.

Shiny things grab everyone's attention.

Many people were interested in exploring/playing a little with the concept of art quilts but wanted instruction. I had many inquiries about classes and workshops.

I also brought along three of my poem series and one unrelated piece in progress. I left them on tables at the back of the room so that people could see a larger implementation of the same techniques. They attracted a lot of interest and one brought tears to the eyes of the organizer of the group. She began to tell me stories about an image related to her father. I doubt that she will explore art quilts but I encouraged her to see if she could find a way to express what she was feeling using the skills and materials with which she is familiar.

It was interesting to see the trunk show through the eyes of people who were completely new to what we do. It raises questions for me about how we can, as a group or as individuals, help novices come to the point where they could call themselves art quilters.

By the way, I think at least one person present will become a SAQA member within the next year. Another might follow her lead.

The trunk show will be with me for another week. I have dates to take it to a couple of out-of-the-box places. On the theory that people often won't go to an art gallery, I am bringing the art to them.

Workshop - Laurie Swim, Nova Scotia

The Fall Colours Quilt Cruise led by Susan Purney Mark and Cathy Miller made a stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia where quilters took part in a landscape workshop hosted by Laurie Swim.