What’s on your wall? Fiona Oxford, Nova Scotia

Fiona is currently working on “Gecko in the Garden” inspired by the many geckos in Florida.

Current Work - Anne Morrell Robinson - Big Interval, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Anne’s style is taking traditional quilts and giving them her own personal touch. Many are based on nature, or tell stories. As a professional quilter who sells her work out of her studio, she tries to keep inventory that appeals to the general public but is above and beyond what they expect to see. Birds are a subject matter that appeal to many people and also appeals to Anne’s need to use shapes, colour, and textures from the natural world.

This quilt features the most colourful birds found all over the world and is done with satin stitched machine appliqué. The theme is continued with the traditional compass blocks and fabrics that have globes or maps.

2013 Portia White Prize Recipient - Laurie Swim, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

This Friday evening at the 2013 Creative Nova Scotia gala being held at Halifax's Museum of Natural History, Laurie Swim will be receiving Nova Scotia's most prestigious arts award, the Portia White Prize. 

Portia White Prize: The Portia White prize recognizes cultural and artistic excellence on the part of a Nova Scotian artist who has attained professional status, mastery and recognition in their discipline.

Laurie Swim: With a career that spans 40 years, Laurie Swim has participated in advancing the craft of quilting to the fine art audience and has carved a niche through fibre art that is comparable to any realist painter in Atlantic Canada. Laurie started her studies at the Fine Art Program at Mount Allison University and holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.  Laurie has been the recipient of a number of grants and awards, recently as the recipient of the Dorothy McMurdie Award from the Canadian Quilters Association and is recognized for her volunteering of her time and work to advance the cultural community and issues such as The Quilt: A Breast Cancer Support Project as well as serving on the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council.  Currently she has an exhibition at the Zwicker’s Gallery in Halifax, and is represented by Amicus Gallery in Chester and the Del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles.
 
Portia White Protégé award will be announced at the October 25 event.  
   
To buy a ticket to attend the gala, go to this website and click paypal

http://creative.novascotia.ca/annual-awards

Member Profile - Deb Plestid, Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

Submitted by Susan Lilley

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing SAQA Atlantic member Deb Plestid, from Balmoral, NS. This is just a little of what I learned.

“Live simply, so that others may simply live.” Guided by Gandhi's words, Deb Plestid’s life is governed by the seasons and the rhythms of nature. For six months of the year, much of her time is occupied with feeding herself and her family through gardening, foraging and preserving, as well as raising birds for meat and eggs. During the colder months, she feeds her spirit, creating beautiful quilted wall hangings that reflect the beauty surrounding her studio that overlooks the Northumberland Strait.

Fables - a wall quilt celebrating Tatamagouche's literary pub by the same name - where music, books and wine meet.

Deb took up traditional quilting in her late twenties, relying on patterns and quilt books for several years, until her partner eventually told her she had to “put the books away.” From that day on, Deb has been creating unique textile compositions inspired by nature, landscapes and the marks that humans have left on the land. Using an ever-widening variety of surface design and construction techniques, Deb’s work explores interrelationships and conveys multiple layers of meaning. 

Bums -Three bums goofing off during a honeymoon holiday at Fox River, Nova Scotia, with much gratitude to the groom for having been such a good sport  

Deb Plestid has won numerous awards for her art quilts. Her work appears in both art galleries and prestigious quilt shows such as Quilt Canada, the Grand National, Quilts=Art=Quilts in Auburn, New York and the AQS in Paducah, Kentucky.

                             A blessingway vessel made with threads and scraps of fabric.

        East River - The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea. Isak Dineson

 We are so fortunate to have Deb Plestid among our membership!

You can see more of Deb’s work at www.debplestid.ca

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.