Navigating

SAQA Atlantic Region exhibit - Navigating officially opened on July 5th at the Museum of Industry. Several of the Artists, as well as other members and the public attended the opening ceremony at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton.

 

The exhibit is being held in conjunction with quilts from the Nova Scotia Museum.

Darcy Hunter, SAQA Regional Co-Representative

SAQA Atlantic Region - Navigating

This juried quilt exhibition features 14 art quilts created by 12 members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates, Atlantic Canada. This showcase offers a unique perspective on how we explore our paths through life – whether it’s in nature, through travel, or in personal journeys.

The quilts invite viewers to embark on their own visual voyage, led by the intricate stitches and vibrant colours. Each piece becomes a compass, guiding us as the North Star guides sailors across vast oceans. These textile masterpieces celebrate the artistry of their creators, while also reminding us to navigate with intention and curiosity.

Navigating was juried by Brigette Clavette, Head of Jewellery/Metal Arts and instructor at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design from 1985-2017. Brigette Clavette currently teaches part-time and devotes herself to her artistic practice.

The exhibit premiered on July 1, 2024, at the Samson Gallery at the Museum of Industry, Nova Scotia and will travel through June 2026.

 

Trying Something New

Naturally the first step is to get everything ready and then do everything except start!

During the pandemic I started doodling. Its a great way to start the day. Life gets in the way sometimes, changes happen, my focus gets pulled in too many directions.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up on a Saturday morning and it was the only thing I could think about. Coffee was made, CBC morning with Bill Roache was on my mind and my journal called.

I always start with a micon PN black fine tip pen to draw the outline of what I'm going to colour in. Then I use my Staedtler fine tip markers to colour. Just to challenge myself I decided to put the markers on a table beside me and I made a rule. I wasn't allowed to choose the next colour. I couldn't look when I went to pick it up. I wanted to see how my doodle would turn out. Especially with colours that might not match being used beside each other.

When I looked at the end piece and considered what I set out to achieve, it made me think of quilts (I know)!

Sometimes the parts that can make up the whole when viewed only on their own, can look ugly, not appeal to us, and we wouldn't normally think to add them into whatever we're working on.

Here's what I saw though. Even the colours I wouldn't normally use, when included in the whole piece, enhanced the overall impact.

Here comes the metaphor ...

When looking at certain events, memories of things that happen in life, maybe not wanting to include them, we might be robbing ourselves of the very things that helped create the beautiful beings we became.

Anyhow, its Sunday now, the sun is shining, windows are opening and my curiosity is calling. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I want to take my doodle and use fabric to reproduce something I love, just because of how it makes me feel.

Beth Mckay is a fibre artist currently residing in Dartmouth, NS. She can be found at bethmckay.com or on IG @thecraftedpath

Invasive

Passionate About a Topic Results in Curation

SAQA Atlantic member, Steph Kincade, is curating an exhibit titled "Invasive" that will run May 1-25, 2024 at ARTSPLACE in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Following up to learn more about what inspired the theme for the exhibit, they explained:

"This past summer there was a surge in the Japanese Beetle population in Nova Scotia and while examining leaves for future embroidery inspiration, I noticed that there seemed to be an abundance of Japanese Beetles on some very specific plants. One such plant was, interestingly, Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), another invasive organism. This sparked the idea of exploring both invasive species and the larger themes around what it is to be invasive, and what different things or experiences are thought of as invasive. I became curious about how other artists would approach these ideas, and thus the concept for the show was born."

Steph is a Halifax NS based fibre and embroidery artist. The call for entry is available at https://www.arcac.ca/invasive-deadline.html.

SAQA Spotlight Auction Piece

 Lee McLean

Imaginary Cedar Pods, 6" x 8", 2023

This is my response to a lovely piece of fabric I created. I often incorporate thrums, the off-cuts from my friends' weaving, into my work. It feels like I'm extending their energy and weaving it along with my own as I sew. Sun printed fabric, machine and hand stitching, mixed fibres.

SAQA Spotlight Auction Piece

 Kathy Tidswell generously donated one of her pieces to the SAQA Spotlight Auction.

Using one of her jelly prints as background, she created the swallowtail using inktense pencils. She wanted it to rest on a weed that complemented the background so used she rayon threads and free motion embroidery to create the weed. For the finishing touch she quilted it with invisifil thread.

Congratulations Lee McLean

 Lee McLean’s textile art, “Lifeblood”, has been invited to Art Quilt Elements 2024 in Wayne, Pennsylvania. This 16^th biennial exhibit presents contemporary fine art quilts, drawing entrants from around the world. Three jurors reviewed over 800 images, by applicants from 40 US states and 10 countries, choosing 50 artists. The jurors feel the exhibit serves “as an accurate survey of what fiber artists are currently producing in this field.”

Working in her studio in New Maryland, New Brunswick, this is Lee’s first international exhibit. She feels humbled, excited, validated, and intimidated all at once. Information about the show, which runs from March 24 to April 27, 2024, can be found at artquiltelements.org.

Lifeblood, 34" x 41", 2023