beauty as entry

I've been dyeing with procion mx these last two winter weeks. The colour hit has cheered me up v much. I needed green. And red. Today in the studio I returned to the figures - forms - whatever they are, that I have made from wrapped birch branches and fabric and dressed them for a wedding. I'm not sure. I'm following my heart here. I want to marry beauty with what a lot of people may think is shocking or disturbing imagery.
If we can allow ourselves not to turn away, we will come to meet this unknown.
I mean it in a way of marvel, of wonder.
If you can allow yourself wonder, you can allow yourself to see.

Diana Mitchener, photographer

Paring down

I just want to communicate that I was here.

At this very moment

Memory of Wikwemikong with green freeze-dyed fabrics. This quilt is now on its way to Sioux Lookout for an exhibition. I'm glad, because I was born in Fort Frances, lived 10 years in Kenora and another 10 in Thunder Bay. I feel very connected to North Western Ontario. While packing it, I notice the back. More information about the show is in my updates blog. Cease chasing after things
Stop thinking about what is right and wrong
Just see
At this very moment

Buddhist

a delicate energy

wrapping clothing into scrolls bundling








making spirals feeling my way into figures worrying about the power a mother wields binding bandaging I love you no matter what

survival

We had a twenty four hour power outage on Friday. Unable to do simple errands like mail parcels or pay bills at the bank because computers were down, I had time to photograph this book. It's called Survival Book and is one of the first pieces I completed after our move to Manitoulin in the early 90's. It's a collection of acrylic paintings of found goddess imagery combined with text about insomnia. Ned and I heated soup for dinner on the wood stove, read by candle light, went to bed early.
The power returned around noon, Saturday.

looking at ancient things

Towie Carved Stone Ball found in Scotland 2400 BC Rillaton gold cup, found in Cornwall, England 1600 BC





Lady of Auxerre
The curvy right arm sugests adoration or supplication


Greece
Limestone
635 BC







death mask Russia, gypsum with pigment 300 AD

With the spiral, death meets with its opposite.






Coptic tapestry detail of Artemis, wool and linen, Egypt 400 AD



All images in this post are from the book 30,000 Years of Art published by Phaidon

impossible tasks

last summer's plant dyed silk velvet and wool arranged As I stitch these rare strips of velvet onto an immense sheet of pre-embroidered linen, I am reminded of the miller's daughter in Rumpelstiltskin, placed in a room of straw and told to spin it into gold. But that impossible task was not the main part of the story. Figuring out the name of the one who came to her aid was.

the magic power of a needle
it repairs the damage
it is a claim to forgiveness
it is not agressive
it is not a pin

Louise Bourgeois

African Threads

When I was in Nova Scotia last week I had the privilege of seeing Valerie Hearder's large collection of African Embroideries. To get a better idea of the wide variety please visit her African Threads site. What I am showing here are the unique portraits of contemporary life done by the group Kaross. Each measures about 14 by 37 inches. Val told me that this group employs nearly 1000 embroiders to work the designs made by a few. Each supports their often large extended families with this work. This is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I purchased this embroidery of the archbishop. I love it. The embroiders are mostly women and are paid by the weight of their stitching. Most of what they do is decorative and very beautiful. The portraits are unusual within her collection. They are political because they are about contemporary life. They are one of a kind. Above is the current South African president, Jacob Zuma. Nelson Mandela at his birthday party. Another version of Mandela's birthday celebration.

Val has work by other embroidery groups in South Africa as well. The aids epidemic in Africa has hit the Continent very hard and the stories she shared with us were heart wrenching. A portion of everything African Threads sells goes to the Grandmother to Grandmother foundation of Stephen Lewis. She has many smaller, more affordable, less confrontational pieces than what I am showing here. This is a piece from a smaller group of thirteen women. Each designs, stitches and signs her own work. The aids story appears again and again. The Zulu woman who made this artwork tells the same story over and over in large tree of life wall hangings like this one. She compares the aids crises to the plague of locusts and war in how devastating it has been to her people. She uses only beads.

built environment Nova Scotia

painted cedar shingles a lunenberg bump (the bay window above the front door) multi gables The buildings in Nova Scotia look settled and loved. Older than what I am used to in Northern Ontario. Once home, I went straight into piano teaching and am only now am I able to reflect on my time there and how it has affected me and perhaps my work.