simple pleasures

Today, I was able to fit all three things in. Walk, novel and handwork. It was a perfect day.

Why are there no great Canadian artists?

It is almost impossible to find an illustration of a Canadian artist's work in an art history book. I managed to find eleven women artists' names in the index of Norbert Lynton's The Story of Modern Art and many more than that in H H Arnason's History of Modern Art. However, Arnason only listed two Canadians,(Jack Bush and Agnes Martin)while Lynton only listed one (Agnes Martin). Agnes Martin (no relation) moved to the states when she was twenty but she was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in Vancouver so I think that Canada should be able to claim her.

Art Gallery of Sudbury

We stopped in at the Art Gallery of Sudbury on our way to Toronto last week so that I could update my work displayed in the gallery shop. The serenity and elegance of this public space is refreshing.

Promised

Words have power.

Queens and McGill

I was able to visit our two youngest daughters in their separate university towns over the weekend.

Kingston

I am posting this from Kingston, Ontario where I am visiting with my parents.

whew

Here are images of some of the participants' work from Tuesday's hand embroidery workshop. Thank you, York Heritage Quilters Guild for an amazing visit to Toronto.

RED

Red is the most potent colour. Red fabric was often appliqued onto vulnerable areas such as seams and edges of clothing. Shapes that offer protection are crosses, zig zags, triangles, circles, diamonds and squares.

moi

The sane human being is satisfied that the best she can do at any given moment is the best she can do at any given moment. Such sanity is, unfortunately, rare.






From Art and Fear
by David Bayles and Ted Orland

waxed cloth

One of the media I explore in my Fabric and Paper collage workshop is the use of hot wax with ink and paper. Using the same method on fine cotton gave this atmospheric result.

inner life

Reading about artists and writers and their methodology is a way to overcome the isolation I so often feel.

one day at a time

Important to classical style is the small slur. Performers are expected to start these little slurs with a slight accent. This adds interest, because sometimes these little accents fall on weak beats.

fabric and paper collage

This time next week my Fabric and Paper Collage for York Heritage Quilt guild will be over. For now, I am just a little overwhelmed preparing for it and for the hand embroidery workshop I'm teaching the very next day.

first snow

The quality of light changed today. The trees looked like lace. Alice Murphy, the 2006 Silver Cross mother spoke on CBC radio about her son Jamie who died age 26 in Afghanistan. Never forget.

hand work

photos by Ned Martin

narrative traditions

running stitch, darning stitch, chain stitch, reverse chain stitch, open chain stitch, button hole stitch, couching, mirror work, romanian stitch, creten stitch, radiating stitch

Lean on me

Always support each other.






photo (1954) by Paul Johnson
transferred to cloth

a community within society

"As artists, we may live and work in relative isolation from each other but we still form a community within society that is critical to the health of society, cultural and otherwise."
Peter Powning, winner of the 2006 Saidye Bronfman award

hand dyed cotton, chain stitch

This is a detail of quilt number twenty seven on my illustrated list of quilts, One Hundred Quilts I add approximately three or four quilts a week. They date from 1985 to 2006.

sky goddess

How can we use what we've learned in the past to get to the future?

turtle

I took a break from my workshop prep and pieced three dyed rayons together for a quilt back. (above) I am also indulging my grandma self by posting this photo of my wee Alaskan turtle boy. (he matches, sort of)

down to earth

Quilts are down to earth. They are manifestations of a simpler time. The hands on effort required to make them is one of the things that makes them strong and true.

Solar discs

Although the primary function of embroidery seems to be decorative, it is rooted in belief and superstition. Embroidery is closer to tattooing than to weaving or knitting.

November

Our son is in Italy this autumn and I have been practicing long distance phone skills. Today, I picked up his Masters diploma in Architecture from the University of Waterloo at the local post office. Congratulations Jaybird.