Judy's Journal

representation

2012-01-30T09:56:00.006-05:00

When children begin to paint representationaly, they draw a line near the bottom of their paper to represent the ground, and another near the top, to represent the sky.

south wind

2012-01-28T23:12:00.006-05:00

grid with horizon red sky with moon eternity luck intuition

turning it into a story

2012-01-27T09:11:00.009-05:00

I've been looking at the cloth work I made last fall very intently.

Ironing it.

Pinning it to my wall and standing back.

Folding and rolling it.

Writing about it.

Photographing it.

Getting to really know it.

What is it communicating?

How can I show it so that what I want to say is clear?
studio view of the north channel of Lake Huron

balance

2012-01-26T08:26:00.006-05:00

need to balance my life

need to contact my immediate family more,
need to lose weight and get fit,
need to keep my professional side in front,
need to do my schoolwork,
need to finish the circle project,
need to be a good wife,
need to travel more and see real art,
need to do my work.
what is my five year plan?
I haven't thought about one for ten years.

the last knit

2012-01-24T20:42:00.006-05:00

Note that this video was made in Finland by Laura Neuvonen.

Also, to see Canadian artist Germaine Koh's knit project click here. Thanks Henrietta!

be calm

2012-01-24T14:47:00.013-05:00

the lower half

2012-01-22T07:25:00.010-05:00

I was invited to make another presentation about the Manitoulin Circle Project yesterday. This time the presentation was for the regional United Church clergy who were meeting in Espanola, about an hour's drive from my home. I had seven minutes, as other people were also presenting.

Very briefly then, the circle project is the creation of four large meditation panels using hand stitch. They are designed to hang in the sanctuary of the Little Current United Church. They are liturgical pieces and use the gentle colours of Christian faith. White and gold for celebration and holiness. Green for ordinary days.

A circle of women come together to stitch on these panels every Thursday. The four large panels each have a large circle within a large square. They measure between 90 and 100 inches across.
The archetype of the circle is an old and important symbol for all of us. It’s one of the first shapes that Carl Jung believes is in our unconscious. The circle symbolizes perfection.
It symbolizes eternity and completion.
There is no beginning or end with a circle. In my research I learned that when a horizontal line divides a circle, the lower half is like the ark and represents water, while the upper half is like the rainbow or heaven or sometimes called the upper water. I found this idea of representing water very inspiring.
Pictured is the third panel of the project, "Precious Water".

Finnish Aesthetic

2012-01-20T10:48:00.002-05:00

Simplicity is an ethical attitude
An ideal of noble poverty
An aesthetic of restraint

Textiles are slow
They give a sense of time
Everyday life is a powerful influence
Simplicity
Simplicity is appreciated
Arrived at in complex ways

Simplicity is an element of the Finnish aesthetic
Modesty and simplicity
Combined with craftsmanship

reverential

2012-01-18T21:24:00.021-05:00

witnesses, women's clothing wrapped and stitched shut, 2011 Untitled (Uccello) by Joseph Cornell, 1952

like a mother

2012-01-17T10:26:00.008-05:00

Sandra Reford is taking an exhibition of Canadian quilts to Alsace, France in September of this year. I spoke with her on the phone last night, and she has selected about twenty artists or groups of artists from across this huge country, from Whitehorse to Fogo Island. That's incredible. Canada is one of the guest countries this year at the Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork. One of the pieces I'm sending is Twenty Four Hour Care, pictured here. In 2009, it was awarded the best traditional wall quilt in the Canadian Quilting Associations juried show. Sandra has to mail the information to France today, and so we all had to get our act together. This quilt took me seven years to make, as I kept putting it aside for life's tumult. During that period of time my family experienced a marriage, a birth, three deaths, a job loss, and our emptied nest. Each time that I returned to work on it after brief periods away, it was like coming home to mother.

the cloud in me

2012-01-14T15:32:00.014-05:00

The universe is our refuge, as is the certainty that we are two. Each remote from the other, we are kept alive by means of this insuperable gap.

Nothing can ever fill it. Is it because I do not know you that I know that you are? How do I protect without restraining? You remain a mystery to me. Our alliance will always involve a mystery.
Such is the union between woman and man. I want to live in harmony with you and still remain other.
I want to draw nearer to you while protecting myself for you. In which part of myself do I preserve you?
In which breath? How do I remain without suffocating?
How do I make earth out of air, and protect the cloud in me?

Neither mine nor yours but each living and breathing with the other. What makes me one, and perhaps unique, is the fact that you are,

and I am not you.

All text is from the Prologue of To Be Two by Luce Irigaray (abbreviated )

thinking again

2012-01-12T23:22:00.011-05:00

I've been thinking more about the Ontario Craft Council.

I'd say that the most important thing I got from being a member in those early years was the magazine, Ontario Craft, filled with stimulating images and text.

Looking at other people's artwork challenged me to work harder and get better.

Today, the internet connects artists to information, opportunities and images of beautiful and thought provoking art. I can't quite name what it is I'm feeling. Not isolation. Something else.

all my life

2012-01-11T20:42:00.020-05:00

All My Life 1989 (detail from 80" quilt)
self portrait, ink etching on silk fabric

I've lived all my life in Northern Ontario.
I've made quilts since I was 20 years old.

Isolation. It's an obstacle, yes. This quilt is about the isolation of living in Northern Ontario combined with that of motherhood. Click here to see what I said about it over on one hundred quilts.

Today I received the report of the Ontario Craft Council symposium Reflecting The North. My friend Linda Finn is the first artist to speak in this video.

I like what potter Tim Alexander says on the video. "I just wanted to do what I wanted to do"

The focus of the symposium was not only on how to over come northern isolation, but also (mostly) on promotion and marketing. I can't express why this bothers me. I like selling my work but it's not the most important thing for me. It's not the most important thing for many artists.

Most of us, I bet.

I've chosen to live in a beautiful, sparsely populated place and I realize that I'm lucky to be able to pursue my art here. I would do my art no matter where I lived. I probably would feel isolated no matter where I lived.

I will be an artist until I can no longer see. Until my hands no longer work.

what is important?

2012-01-09T11:07:00.012-05:00

My father, Paul Johnson, was born in 1923. This photo shows him at about 19 years. My dad and I are having a good visit here in Kingston, and I have been asking him questions about his early life in Canada. In this photo, the little boy in the sailor hat is my dad, age 5 or 6. It was taken shortly after my father and his mother Anna emigrated to Canada from Finland in 1928. On the extreme left of the photo is John Niskala, the widowed father of three she married. The man in the centre of the photo is Tom Johnson, my father's uncle, who adapted my dad. Anna's sister, Alma, took the photo.

I want to put my father's story into a book for my children and grand children. These kinds of stories are important.

Northern Drive

2012-01-07T11:58:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we drove highway 17 through Mattawa, Deep River, Arnprior, etc down to Kingston where my dad lives. The roads were OK for this trip. Better than when our other three children had to drive them. We were taking April and Andy most of the way to Montreal. They still had a 3 hour bus ride after this ten hour drive. In the car's CD player were the newest Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. CBC radio. Conversation. Tim Horton's coffee. I stitched.

mended world

2012-01-06T00:04:00.004-05:00

evidence of time spent careful labour and hours of touching by many people small pieces not measured but unique, always interesting

protection gifts

2012-01-03T21:16:00.012-05:00

Embroidered patterns such as triangles, zigzags, hands, eyes and horns have tremendous power. The force of a pattern is strengthened by repeating it, and by adding tassels. For Eastern European countries formerly under Ottoman rule, unfinished patterns are especially powerful. They symbolize the continuity of life. The triangle's sharp corners have the power to ward off evil. In many religions including Christianity, the triangle symbolizes the trinity. Red represents the blood of life and of death and is the most powerful and exhilarating of all colours. Red threads are associated with spirit worship, marriage, and secret powers.
I gave each of our adult children one of these amulets for Christmas. For protection yes, but also for beauty. Tassels hung on wrapped cords confuse and entrap the evil eye. White beads that finish their edges are typical of Uzbek embroidery. I'm not sure, but I believe that these small hangings were used at thresholds, or on walls across from the quilts, or between the piled quilts. I hang mine in my window. So cold here today. The ice came in.

I'm grateful to Sheila Paine who writes about ilgitsh such as these in her books about world textiles. These ones were purchased from the Textile Museum of Canada.

theory of perception

2012-01-02T00:55:00.006-05:00

Our own body is in the world as the heart is in the organism. Our own body keeps the visible spectacle constantly alive. Our body breathes life into what we see.
It's a system.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty

blessings

2011-12-31T05:37:00.011-05:00

the hogmanay blessing

Pinned to our entry way wall. Tiny, about 7 inches square. Cut from a work in progress because I just like this part.

Beside the coat closet for at six months, maybe longer. One day I'll finish the edges, maybe.

'the blessing of the spirit upon this house' is the first thing you see upon entering our home. An amulet, maybe.

To all of you who read this blog, thank you for giving me a place to say how I feel, to record what I've recently read, to show what I've made. Blogging has made me feel connected and understood.

My very best wishes for a creative 2012 for all of us.

Blessings.

Yes

2011-12-28T16:19:00.007-05:00

Yes, I did finish Jack's quilt in time. Full image of the quilt is here.

Posing

2011-12-27T15:50:00.003-05:00

It will be a while until I'm back to normal.

They've left.
I miss them.

Family Time

2011-12-25T02:12:00.010-05:00

It snowed! Wishing all of you a wonderful day.
From us.

I absolutely do

2011-12-23T22:29:00.013-05:00

spinach pasta, made this morning for tonight's dinner, by Asan, Grace's partner yesterday, I went into my studio to get stuff for the circle project day it seemed as if I was glimpsing another era I saw the wool fabrics dyed with golden rod just last month folded on the table. They were so distant, remembered faintly. I AM in the present moment for my family. I do devote my energy to them so that things run smoothly. I love having my kids and my grand boys near me. I absolutely do.

But still, I am surprised by how that 'artist' part of me is so far away. Across a wide river.

lucky protection

2011-12-19T13:31:00.011-05:00

It seems that whenever I see Jack...I start again to work on his quilt. This time I will finish it. On the back, I've embroidered a Japanese sign for good luck with protective red thread. You can glimpse it in this photo, but a better idea can be seen in this older post. He's still a baby, even though he's two and talking.

magic feathers

2011-12-16T06:00:00.015-05:00

keep your mouth shut guard the senses and life is ever full open your mouth always be busy and life is beyond hope Tao Te Ching Yesterday's circle stitching was learning how to make magic feathers. The feathers are for Jude Hill's beautiful internet quilt gift project.

Jude's blog, Spirit Cloth, is one I visit regularly. Her imaginative genius with stitch and her spiritual voice keep me believing in the good power of an internet community.

Jude has made an excellent video with full stitching instructions on how to make one of these magic feathers. Just click on the magic feather graphic in the sidebar to read more.

We'll be making more next week at our circle. If it's not possible to attend, it's still possible to contribute a feather. I'll send a bunch to Jude before the end of this year.

power cloth

2011-12-14T14:09:00.013-05:00

More African textiles from my living room. Repetition. Earthiness. The lower two are made from raffia. The mud cloth in the uppertwo images was purchased in Toronto. Both velvet Kuba cloths were gifts from Marilyn. THANK YOU dear one.

BTW, My next to last assessment came in today from England. No marks were given, but lots of comments.
"a powerful body of work that holds great potential" was one.
"It does need some editing" was another.

African Embroidery

2011-12-12T21:01:00.014-05:00

Getting the house ready for Christmas has made me notice my collection of African embroidery. I learn much from handling these power cloths. All of the embroideries shown here were found at African Threads, an outlet for women's embroidery from South Africa that has affiliations with the Grandmother to Grandmother campaign for Aids relief. Two separate cow embroideries were sewn together to make a pillow cover. Both sides are the right side. I purchased this vibrant woman's face from Val Hearder of African Threads last February. She told me that the women were paid by the weight of their work. I usually make pillow covers by sewing the stitched squares to a piece of hand dyed silk velvet. This piece by Cynthia always stops me. Busy all day here. Getting ready.

reverse applique dots

2011-12-09T05:25:00.018-05:00

This post is a tutorial for a careful technique, reverse applique dots. Two three inch squares are layered, basted together, and marked with a circle outline. A spool of thread makes a good template. The center of the circle needs to be removed with very sharp embroidery scissors. Then make several tiny clips that just touch the drawn line. Thread the needle with silk applique thread. Silk thread is very strong, does not knot, and is nearly invisible once stitched.
The above photo shows how the needle itself is used to create the curves. If you use the side of the needle rather than your fingers to manipulate the cloth, you will get a neater curve. Firmly hold the two fabrics together with one hand, and then stitch the top fabric to the lower fabric with an invisible hem stitch. It's best to just relax with these dots, and work slowly and carefully. I'd say that each one takes at least ten minutes to make, perhaps more. When finished, bring the thread to the back of your work and make a knot before cutting the thread. At this time I also remove the excess bottom layer of fabric. This has become one of my favourite techniques. The dots give a strong graphic with minimalist strength. To make them takes practice, but there is a satisfaction in doing skillful work. Massed, the hand made dots are very powerful. Each unique. All the same.

making time

2011-12-05T19:42:00.010-05:00

These five panels span the period from October 2 - December 1, 2011.

One skein of embroidery floss marks one day. I am using up my stash of fabrics. Sometimes, the fabrics are related to my life, but just as often they are not. This piece is not about remembering each day in its specifics...it's more about making time visible. I've been keeping this journal for a year and a half now.

We have our Alaskan grand kids with us until Christmas and are enjoying them very much.

hard twist

2011-12-04T07:16:00.019-05:00

Strip construction, woven silk with burning by John Paul Morabito.

When we were in Toronto last week, we were able to rush through the 'hard twist' exhibition at the Gladstone hotel. Exhibitors were asked to consider the idea of obsession and its connection with those who make textiles. 3600 (beats),variety of fabrics with stitch, Kate Busby Red Letter Cape, hand sewn text on linen by Shawn Munro It was interesting to me that many of the participants were men. Hive with its missing bees, embroidered cyanotpye on cotton muslin by Laura MaCaulay Food Chain, found highway tire steel belt fragments, silverware by Peter Hiers

The show is up until January 29.

perfect forms

2011-12-03T20:14:00.007-05:00

the frost on our deck the boy on our beach

Energy Cloth in Toronto

2011-12-01T05:22:00.009-05:00

The Ontario Craft Council has a lovely gallery space in downtown Toronto. We got there just before it closed yesterday and I found it thrilling to see my work in this context. Only 35 pieces were selected this year in honour of the OCC's 35 year anniversary. This fewer than usual number allowed for beautiful juxtapositions and just enough empty space. Here is my Energy Cloth with a stoneware teapot by Christopher Reid Flock and a spalted maple vessel by Jim Lorriman. Six textile pieces are included. Above is Joyce Seagram's Three Big Bowls I am counting this wall piece made by Daniel Durocher from wooden matches as a textile.

We were in Toronto to meet an airplane. It was perfect that Uncle Jay could came out to the airport with us.

Now I can wear my grandma hat again.

YAY

room art

2011-11-29T20:56:00.010-05:00

Hibiscus, Acrylic and latex paint on wall, (7 feet high) Sun, Acrylic and latex paint on ceiling, 8 feet diameter

We're noticing our daughters' paintings as we get their rooms ready for Christmas visits.

it is impossible to say just what I mean

2011-11-28T07:53:00.006-05:00

And indeed there will be time

There will be time, there will be time

Time for you and time for me

And time yet for a hundred in-decisions

And for a hundred visions and revisions

Before the taking of a toast and tea And indeed there will be time

To wonder

Do I dare?

And do I dare?

Do I dare disturb the universe? And would it have been worth it, after all?

Would it have been worth while

To have bitten off the matter with a smile

It is impossible to say just what I mean

T.S. Eliot
from the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 1917 (much pared down)

dream work

2011-11-26T11:47:00.014-05:00

I've been trying to work at a larger scale in this new body of work. These three pieces each measure between 9 and 10 feet across. I had dreams of working even larger (12 feet or 15 feet) but my studio is only 9 ½ feet high and besides, most fabric only comes 5 feet wide at most. Working large is a big commitment, but I like the feeling I get when standing next to my big pieces. They are so large that I can not touch any edge when I am in the centre. Those of us who work with cloth automatically communicate a sense of intimacy because of the material itself. Adding hand stitch and its caress involves the viewer even more. Touch is the mother of the senses. Stitching takes time however. Each stitch takes about a second to make. At the scale I’ve chosen to work, time becomes a limit. I keep reminding myself about the feelings I have when I’m alone in nature. I’m hoping that the monumental scale of the work in combination with the intimacy of hours and hours of hand made marks will land my viewer on a teetering edge of wonder. The scale of the work adds more than just more cloth. It is challenging. These five pieces are not as big. Most are 60" or so. Recently I realized that my art with cloth doesn't need to be a quilt. That revolutionary idea has freed me. For years, my work was grounded in the language of the bed and all the life drama that happens there. The quilt was a protection blanket.
Because of their scale, I think this new work continues with those ideas, but also that other intimate thing that happens in bed. The dreaming.

Seams

2011-11-25T09:43:00.004-05:00

Conceptually, seams are interesting. They are used to join two wholes into a single larger whole. Sometimes they are made carefully, and finished. Sometimes they are layered, one over the other. Sometimes, you can barely tell where one idea joins with another, and things are seamless.
Theory and practice can be joined together with seams.

Immensity is within ourselves

2011-11-23T02:12:00.006-05:00

I want to make art that connects my viewer to his or her inner world. I want to reach people in a poetic way. With an emotional simplicity. There is time and labour within the work. I want to remind people of what it feels like to look at the horizon I want to work very large, very simply, but with evident labour. I want my handwork to be obvious, perhaps stitched, then removed, then marked again, then removed again. A worn down historical type idea. That we go on. I want to approach my work as if I have all the time I need.

I'm busy this week preparing work to mail to England for my last assessment before the exhibition next June. I am not sure if this will be the exhibition work but I am getting closer. I'm sending eight pieces in my portfolio, plus the many sketchbooks and notes I've made over the last three months.

“Immensity is within ourselves. It is attached to a sort of expansion of being that life curbs and caution arrests, but which starts again when we are alone.” Gaston Bachelard

slow material

2011-11-21T10:52:00.009-05:00

Dyeing with plants has been the main thing I've done these last few months. It seemed necessary for me to colour my own large pieces of cloth so that they reflect where I live. My first tries in natural dyeing in 2010 were tough going. I was disappointed with the wide variety of brown I managed to get. I love red. At any rate, I tried a bit harder this fall and feel that it was a successful time. I learned so much, every day.

I learned to use silk and wool fabrics because they accept the dye so well. I learned where to source those fabrics and am glad for internet shopping. Now, its funny, but I prefer the browns, yellows and greys that I get with the plants. I love that they all ‘go‘ together. They never clash. Most of all I love that it is a slow process. I love that time is a material.
This idea about time is one that I have been exploring for a while with hand stitch. Now that the cloth itself holds time before the months of hand stitch mark it, ... even better.

Tom Thomson

2011-11-19T11:45:00.011-05:00

Humans are enthralled by the horizon line. What is it that puts us into a reverie when, in solitude, we seek out that horizontal line in nature? The open spaces on either side encourage contemplation, while the line itself is an edge for the eye to balance on. Small natural marks, ripples in the water below the line, wisps of cloud in the sky, are glimpsed and the alive-ness of the quiet simplicity gives us back our own huge selves.

The images are reproductions of oil paintings by Canadian artist Tom Thomson (1877-1917)
The text is from the introduction to my dissertation. (2010)

the blue and the dim and the dark

2011-11-18T10:07:00.006-05:00

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

This encaustic collage is part of an art show at the Little Current library next month. I'm delivering it today.

construction site

2011-11-17T06:27:00.018-05:00

We have a deck under re-construction. new front step, built a year ago

Ned has been working on it again this November, new south facing nook, where we've been having lunch in the sun

He's racing the weather. the second level underway

He's racing the light as it closes down earlier and earlier each day. third level underway

These photos are a progress report for our kids. my dye studio is on the deck

Today's photo. The old deck is still there. Next year he will remove and replace it.

Don't look underneath the deck. It's his workshop and garage for lawn machines.

inner understanding

2011-11-16T10:56:00.006-05:00

patience silence have faith in the self Both patience and silence imply faith. (Louise Bourgeois)

who has seen the wind?

2011-11-14T09:47:00.012-05:00

Working at this large scale (9 feet) involves my whole body. I need to stretch the cloth out as I stitch the long lines. I use big arm gestures, like making a bed.It's impossible to get a sense of what the work will look like while I stitch it. I have to go on trust. I step on it. I get lost in it when it's in my lap. But because cloth is soft, and folds up, I can carry this off. I can work on a monumental scale. I'll leave it to my daughters to work with steel, cement, and oceans. (which they each do)

celebration

2011-11-11T21:39:00.017-04:00

We enter our third year of the Manitoulin Circle Project this month. You can see by the stitching on the left side of the second panel, Mended World, that it was ready to be rolled yesterday. Rolling a quilt on a frame needs more than one person. 110 different sets of hands have worked on the project over the two years. We celebrated. I made a cake. Lots of people came for that and the slide presentation about the first panel's creation and installation. The two panels that are still being pieced were put on display. In the lower right is the fourth panel, so far a grid of re-purposed wool. Precious Water, the third panel, is laid out above that, and in the back you can see Mended World on the frame. I have a pin wall in my studio at home, and have been trying to keep ahead of things. The lower half of Precious Water is entirely made from three inch squares. These are either reverse appliqued with dots or embroidered with horizontal stem stitches. They are being pieced together by hand.

Still lots more dots to make. It's careful work.

Lots of touching.

Lots of laughter.

Dots of love.

natural dye process

2011-11-09T08:41:00.020-04:00

Natural dyeing involves observation, walking, gathering Through fields, along roadsides, in my own garden The simmering and soaking, the hanging out on the line, the ironing....these are domestic processes. Natural dyes connect me to an earlier time, when we depended more on our own intuitive knowledge and on recipes given to us by others. they are slow The colours produced are entirely different from chemical dyes. Natural dyeing is connecting me to Manitoulin.

mother and mothered

2011-11-07T11:05:00.008-04:00

I cut up another piece of my own art yesterday and wrapped the parts around themselves. To see what these two pieces looked like before, click here and then here. something to do with mothering, maturing, separation

moments of awareness

2011-11-05T12:31:00.006-04:00

What is the spiritual?

Too Beautiful

2011-11-04T15:34:00.009-04:00

We are having a mild November and the day was just too beautiful to be indoors. I took my stitch journal outside to photograph. Laying it out on the grass made me realize that even though this piece seems large and never ending as I doggedly work on it day by day, compared to the constancy of nature it is very small. What this stitching does do is show how invisible time is. And how short. A whirl. A drop.

Radka Donnell

2011-11-02T20:40:00.009-04:00

Demeter's Return 74" x 101" (1986) by Radka Donnell, collection of the New England Quilt Museum

"Even though there are now innumerable quilt conferences, workshops, exhibitions, all kinds of sharing aloud about quiltmaking, its interface with silence is still the most sustaining, assuring, and common reality of quiltwork." A Gentle Takeoff, by Radka Donnell

"Quilts pose the question of how one behaves in the making and viewing of art. Silence becomes relevant. Silence is the space for appreciation. " Birth of Tenderness by Radka Donnell, collection of San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

"Working on a quilt I am wrapped in silence, wrapped in thought. Anyone contemplating quilts and quiltmaking also has to enter this space of being wrapped." Earth, Water, Air and Fire 1978 by Radka Donnell, exhibited in Quilt National 79

All text in the post is by Radka Donnell, author of Quilts as Women's Art: A Quilt Poetics, a book I've read at least twice. All images are from the internet. Here, here and here.

Trunk Show #4: Something More Magical Than It Ever Was

2011-11-01T00:19:00.018-04:00

Something More Magical Than It Ever Was log cabin quilt, light and dark pattern, recycled family clothing and silk with photo transfers and sequins, machine pieced, hand quilted, 90" x 90" , 1991
I turned 40 in 1991 and had a solo show in the Thunder Bay art gallery that year. I showed the calendar series and this quilt in that show. It’s a piece about memory. Listening to my twelve year old daughter talk about her own childhood made me realize that people remember the way they want to. I was there after all, and remembered her childhood too. Back of Something More Magical ... disperse dye transfer, satin, cotton, embroidery The piece uses the clothing from our Thunder Bay time, when the older children were babies and one of the photo transfers is of Jay learning to walk. I made the quilt when we lived in Kenora, about the beautiful feelings I had for Thunder Bay but in reality our life had not been perfect. Ned was searching for his vocation and our family lived in a converted garage. I remembered what I wanted to remember. We all do. I finished a part time degree in Fine Art from Lakehead University during our time in Kenora. I graduated in 1993, and that same year we moved to Manitoulin Island. Studying fine art gave me sanity and a purposeful creative outlet in that mothering time of my life. I loved learning. I felt validated by my studies. I felt that my own experience as a creative woman with children was worth communicating AND that it was worth communicating with textile artwork.

installation of earth ark

2011-10-28T11:14:00.015-04:00

Earth Ark, recycled linen damask table cloths and women's handkerchiefs, silk, cotton and ash leaf, hand embroidered, hand quilted, 88" square, 2011. The weight of this piece is heavier than a usual quilt, and so I stitched a canvas sleeve for hanging purposes across the top edge. We have invented a way to hang it so that there is no pulling on the front of the quilt. It will hang 5 inches out from the wall. Ned and I installed Earth Ark in the Little Current United Church yesterday. The hanging device involves four brackets and two wooden bars as well as the sleeve. Ned figured out the how of it.

OK, it's his invention. It went up easily. The only thing that was un-nerving is the height of the ladder. Because of the pews being attached to the floor, we couldn't open the ladder all the way, and it was hard to move around.

I did climb up to sew the ash leaf on, but it was just too scary to try to stitch in that awkward position 12 feet up in the air. My man came through for me again.

Thanks Ned.

And thank you so much to all the volunteer participants who helped to create this work of art.

I will be making a photo presentation of the making of this panel on Sunday Oct 30 during the church service which will be repeated on November 10 during the regular circle project Thursday at 2 pm.

letting the hand lead

2011-10-27T05:48:00.009-04:00

For my degree, I have to defend my exhibition work with external examiners. The exam is called a Viva. In the UK, art is very bound up in theory and it's a little ironic that I studied so many Japanese artists for my dissertation. The Japanese do not seem to theorize so much about what they do, but follow their materials and hone their own techniques. In this way, I think that the Japanese are more phenomenological. They let their hands lead rather than their minds. In my own work, I am finding that when I leave the theory at home with the books and go into the studio and just work, I usually find better and more answers then when I start the other way around. (with the theory) Sometimes when I stay home and read theory, I end up mending Ned's jeans and baking brownies.

connected to the body

2011-10-26T10:06:00.004-04:00

tablecloth, dyed red with procion, then overdyed with blackberry, then devore process to make a grid of holes empty spaces, lace, absence, loss, mortality

Cloth is like the human body. It holds memories and dreams at the same time. It wears out.

cloth

2011-10-24T00:17:00.009-04:00

silk organza coloured with hawberry above, blueberry below a layer of organza coloured with cone flower stems, leaves and flowers plus iron silk-wool gauze coloured with blackberry bramble, goldenrod, sumac, blueberry, hawthorn, and blackberry/iron nine square feet of silk-wool gauze, willow on top, rudbeckia/iron below this is hemp, previously coloured with encaustic. It was simmered in an alum solution with other coloured fabrics and received their colour beautifully.

I have quite a lot of naturally dyed fabrics, now to listen to them.

there is a secret core in everyone

2011-10-21T10:42:00.005-04:00

every spoken word is a covering for the inner self

stop the words now
open the window in the center of your chest and let the birds fly in and out

Rumi

energy cloth

2011-10-19T13:26:00.018-04:00

Juried into Ontario Craft '11. Energy Cloth, hand stitch, wax resist, old cotton bed sheet, 160 cm x 160 cm or 58 inches square, 2011 I am pleased that my work is part of this juried exhibition. The show will be on display in the Ontario Craft Council gallery on Queen Street in Toronto from Nov 24 until Dec 30.
Quilt maker Joyce Seagram has a piece selected for the exhibition as does knitter/sculptor Tracey Martin. Otherwise, the jurors did not select many textile pieces. I only count six out of thirty five. Click here to see the entire list of artists selected.

November trees

2011-10-18T13:39:00.011-04:00

On our drive home across Ontario, I photographed some November trees, branches suddenly evident. These are from the Manilla area, taken from the car. It's good to be home. My stack of books was waiting.

The quilt that covers the sleeping body takes on that energy, like an imprint, like a memory. Jane Whiteley

Dots like this

2011-10-15T22:11:00.005-04:00

I've been quilting. Jack turned two years last week, and this is his quilt. us

xx

April's show

2011-10-14T00:07:00.012-04:00

vintage doilies the artist's hand cast in resin a hand made indigo dyed quilt a moon cut from steel a dream boat the artist

For the Belgo report about her exhibit click here

My big idea

2011-10-10T15:11:00.008-04:00

My big idea is to give enough information for my viewer to enter their own re-discovered inner world, but not too much.
Not too much information. The viewer needs to discover it.
I also want to remind the viewer that life is short, art is long.
A wabi sabi kind of thing. I want the work to hold its own destruction,
but the holding, the touching,
the idea of nurturance and
reparation
will also be present.
It's almost a spiritual thing. A belief.
A faith.
That we will go on.
Not knowing what lies ahead, we do go on.

Trunk Show #3: Calendar

2011-10-09T12:23:00.023-04:00

February family photos, lace, wool, corduroy, acrylic paint, ribbon, buttons. about 27" square 1988-89June family photos, dyed cotton organdy, thread, about 25" square 1988-89 September family photos, pages from nursery rhyme books, cotton, thread, about 32" square 1988-89 December family photos, christmas cards, wool, taffeta, pine cones, embroidery thread, beads, about 28" x 26" 1988-89

Calendar Series

For one year, just after our youngest was born, I had doubles made of all the photographs I took of our kids just being themselves. Then I made a wall piece for each month using those doubles as a starting point. I used seasonally appropriate fabrics for each month. June is a single layer of dyed organdy, light as air, blue as a summer sky.
These are drugstore processed snapshots. Not digital images, not photo transfers.
Oona was 10. Above she is shown with Grace, age 3. (detail of December) Jay was 8. (detail of September) Grace (detail of February April was only one year old then. (detail of June)

Motherhood consumed me throughout the 80’s and 90’s. In 1983 we had moved from Thunder Bay where Ned and I had a Finnish farm to the paper mill town of Kenora in NorthWestern Ontario. The older two children were born in Thunder Bay, the younger two in Kenora.

There are twelve of these, one for each month but I only took these four to the September trunk show in Toronto. It's interesting to me, that even then, I was obsessed with documenting the swift passage of time. It's especially evident with young children - they grow up so very fast.

Update on the Circle Project

2011-10-07T07:47:00.019-04:00

Time for an update of the Manitoulin Circle Project.

We are doing fine, thank you. We are still meeting on Thursdays to work together on these four large panels that will eventually hang in the community of Manitoulin.
The third panel is still being pieced. I have it on my pin wall in the studio. The lower half is being created from three inch squares. Horizontal lines in stem stitch are on some. Reverse applique makes the dots.

The second panel is being very densely hand quilted. I'm pleased that new people have joined this fall.
There have been 105 different pairs of hands on these panels.

Oliva was the 100th participant. She came in August.

I've chosen a knitting weight linen thread for the big stitch accent in the central circle. Last week, 'mended world' was rolled twice.

The first panel, Earth Ark, will be professionally photographed this month, and installed in the Little Current United Church on October 30. Stay tuned.

we are heirs to the glimmering world

2011-10-05T13:43:00.009-04:00

Our daughter April's first solo exhibition opens tomorrow in downtown Montreal. We are very proud of her and know that the show will be fantastic. The gallery is in the Belgo building, one of Montreal's most important venues for contemporary art.

The image in this photo is of the reverse side of the quilt she made over the summer. I showed photos of her painting this silk fabric last June. Click here to re-visit those.

Also, please read her artist statement and see a sample of her art by clicking here.

we are heirs to the glimmering world
April Martin
October 6 - October 16 2011
Vernissage Saturday October 8, 15h - 18h
Tuesday - Saturday 12 - 17h30 or by appointment

Visual Voice Gallery
421-372 Ste. Catherine O.
Montreal QC H3B 1A2
www.visualvoicegallery.com
514 878 3663

Did I say I was proud!

Domestic Art

2011-10-04T14:00:00.019-04:00

Wool fabrics, pre-mordanted with tanin simmer-steep from sumac leaves, then mordanted with alum simmer-steep from grocery store alum and cream of tarter.

This is a post about my natural dyeing over the last week. Just warning you. Photos of domesticity coming up - clothes lines, cooking pots, etc. and way more words than usual.

What is simmer-steep? Cover the collected plant stuff with water, bring to a simmer, keep simmering for one hour, turn the heat off and allow the plants to come to a cool temp in the water. Takes about 24 hours. "tea" made from abundant plant material and boiling water to see if colour is released. From the left, pine needles from forest floor, blackberry brambles from the beach, crushed winterberries. Fabrics can be steeped in cool temps 24-48 hours. The length of time is important.
However, some natural dyes do require heat.
I've learned that sumac and willow only release their colours if heated with the fabrics and are allowed to cool with them. Goldenrod however, can do a cool or solar steep with good results. Willow on silk/wool blend with alum pre-mordant. Goldenrod on wool, linen, rayon and cotton with tanin (sumac) pre-mordant followed by an alum mordant. The pale fabric on the right is silk that had no mordant - as a test.
The goldenrod dye is still going strong, made three weeks ago!

(tanin pre-mordant is supposed to increase the ability for plant fibres like linen and cotton to accept the dye colour) sumac and willow on tanin and alum pre-mordanted fabrics - including wool, linen, and cotton. The sumac responded to the pre-mordants much better than the willow did. The brightly coloured piece of cloth is rayon that had been dyed with procion mx - and overdyed with the natural dyes. Some of the red from this fabric has bled into the wool during a pre-soak. Blackberry colour - After two simmers and one steep.

This post is really a note to self. I am keeping a record book with swatches, but this photo essay will also help me to remember what I've done. If you are doing natural dyeing this fall, as so many of us are, I hope that they help you as well. I am not an expert at this stuff however. I am a student.
Off to strain the brambles. Have a good day.

voluptuous

2011-10-03T09:28:00.007-04:00

Collected: wild rose hips Saved: wild rose leaves

Copied:

"There are times, they occur with increasing frequency nowadays, when I seem to know nothing, when everything I did know seems to have fallen out of my mind like a shower of rain, and I am gripped for a moment in paralyzed dismay, waiting for it all to come back but with no certainty that it will."

and:

"The autumn sun fell slantwise into the yard, making the cobbles bluely shine, and in the porch a pot of geraniums flourished aloft their last burning blossoms of the season. Honestly, this world."

and:

"The past beats inside me like a second heart."

all these from John Banville's novel, The Sea

cloth sketch book

2011-09-30T20:49:00.009-04:00

I've been into my studio almost every day this past week. I'm attempting to translate my ball point pen sketches into something more tangible. I'm using silk, poly sheer and indigo dyed fabrics that I have on hand. All 13 inches square, a few of them are touched with acrylic paint. Stitching is minimal right now. Only invisible thread attaches layers together, small bits of embroidery once in a while. I'm thinking about them as if they are a book. A sketch book. They are really helping me to find my palette, calm my imagery.

"I try to produce the work by pursuing the process of its making, the meaning and logic of the material."

Giuseppe Penome

Trunk Show #2: self portrait

2011-09-29T01:46:00.013-04:00

I'd like to start at the beginning of my quilt story. Self Portrait 1985 Painted cotton, maternity clothes, hand pieced and quilted.

For years and years my artwork and my life were wrapped up with my own motherhood. My husband and I have four children, and this piece was made the year the third one was born.

It is not my first quilt.

Notice that the fourth side has no border, just a binding. I see it as a premonition of the fourth baby yet to come. I cut up the maternity clothing I wore and re-arranged it. Why I used white quilting thread remains unexplained. That the mother is nursing her babe and drawing at the same time is how I was. How I still am. An artist and as good a mother as I can be...at the same time.

This post is the second in a proposed series in which I will share the quilts I took to Toronto on September 21 for my talk to the Pomegranate Quilt Guild.

Harvest

2011-09-26T20:18:00.016-04:00

Man is like vanity; his days are as a shadow that passeth away. In the morning he flourisheth, and sprouteth afresh;
in the evening he is cut down, and withereth. So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom.

The text is from the Jewish Memorial Service for the Dead.

photos from the top are:
maple leaves
bundles
sumac leaves
hawthorn
willow
colour
his bonfire

September

2011-09-25T10:27:00.007-04:00

"The current of the river of life moves us" Agnes Martin

Couching.

August 21 - September 22, 2011.
Explanation? Click here.

Large Embroideries at the Textile Museum of Canada

2011-09-23T06:44:00.014-04:00

Man's robe, Hausa, Nigeria
Cotton, woven in strips, embroidered with silk thread
Some of the circles were removed then re-attached with needlelace technique. The little brown dots are seed stitch.
About 90 inches across, 50-60" high.
Palak cloth. Suzani
The solid red circles are embroidered with such fine couching, that they look woven.
Silk and wool embroidery on plain cotton ground.
About 1860. From Bokhara, Uzzbekistan
The circles are cosmological symbols (moon, sun)
About 100 inches across, 90" down.
Yaktak, Man's coat in Ikat silk weave
A lined robe that is not padded
Phulkari Wedding Shawl, Pakistan
Red cotton completely covered with silk floss embroidery
The cloth is stitched in horizontal and vertical directions to take advantage of the reflective quality of the floss. These shawls are given to the bride by the groom's grandmother.
about 50" wide, 80" high.

I made ball point sketches of these amazing large embroideries during my visit to the Textile Museum of Canada yesterday. Sketching helps me to really look at the pieces, and I didn't have my camera with me anyway. All of these images are lifted from the museum's amazing online collection. Being up close to these awesome hand stitched fabrics is very nourishing. The power inherent in them stays with me for months. Hunter's Coat, Mali West Africa, 1960-1970, cotton, cowrie shell, skin, tooth, claw, mirrors.

I also sketched this coat during my visit as well. The leather packets sewn to the coat in grid formations are thought to contain little pieces of paper with prayers written on them. There are round mirrors on the front of the coat, and square mirrors on the back. The cords that are all over were knotted, spit upon and given an incantation. All of these talismans were for protection for the wearer. The coat was worn before the hunt in a ceremony, not during.

Trunk Show #1: Introduction

2011-09-20T07:07:00.002-04:00

Power and Beauty, Amish diamond in square quilt, dyed wool, hand stitched with mirror work. Unfinished.

I'm preparing a trunk show to take to Toronto tomorrow. I'm considering using this unfinished piece in the introduction. (Sorry, but I don't have a photo that includes the 12 inch Amish style borders) My trunk show connects my art and my life.

Introduction

I grew up on a farm in North Western Ontario.

My mother was an intellectual. Her parents were English/Irish. Her mother was the local artist. Her father a damaged WWI vet.

My father was an entrepreneur. His mother only spoke Finn. She wove Finnish rugs.

I’m 50 percent Finnish and the Finnish aesthetic – one of simplicity, elegance, noble poverty and love of nature informs my very being and all my work.

I’m finding that inner Finn more and more each year. The quilt that you see here has not been shown in public before. It’s not finished. It’s like me. I’m not finished either. I feel that I'm on the brink of a new and simple way of working.

This quilt is an Amish design embellished with Indian mirror work. Two very different cultures are brought together. Like so much of today's contemporary world, this piece is a hybrid.

I turned 60 this past summer. Emily Carr Visited Me 2005, painted and stitched rayon, pieced, appliqued, hand quilted. Turning 60 is a huge deal and instead of denying it, I am celebrating it. I am aware that the time available for me is limited. I believe that my best work is yet to come.

Emily Carr made her best work AFTER she gave up her boarding house business and went into the BC rainforest alone. She was 57.
detail. The blanket stitch embroidery is also the quilting stitch. oil on paper by Emily Carr.
This is when she painted her swirling skies and trees. She painted them when she was in her 60's.
oil on paper, Emily Carr oil on paper, Emily Carr. She painted all of these in her late 50's and early 60's. I am inspired by Emily Carr and her spirit continues to visit me and encourage me. My quilt appropriates her famous oil painting Scorned as Timber, Beloved by the Sky, that she painted when she was 64. But this is just the introduction.

goldenrod dye experiments

2011-09-18T23:37:00.015-04:00

just the flowers We have a lot of goldenrod on Manitoulin. At least four varieties, including the large late blooming Canadian goldenrod. It's everywhere. I harvested twice last week. In the first session, I made two concoctions. The batch on the right is flowers and the upper leaves (no stems). On the left, just leaves and stems (no flowers). These were simmered for an hour and then left to steep overnight. For the second harvest, I painstakingly cut the flowers from the stems and tried to include no leaves. These I also simmered for an hour and left to steep overnight. Then I strained them and reheated the coloured water to just a simmer. Alum mordanted wool cloth and embroidered linen were dyed with the flowers only bath. I love using the wool, it accepts the colour so well. The next day I tried something I read on Leena's Riihivilla blog. She suggested adding lye or soda ash to yellow flowering dye baths to make the colour more intense. You can see the difference in the above photos. The top fabric in each set was processed with a weak lye solution added to the dye bath. When I used lye however, I did not heat the liquid. Just steeped the cloth in the natural dye for one day. I plan to overdye some of the yellow fabrics I've coloured with indigo eventually. Silk rayon velvet is the best recipient of any kind of dye. (no mordant necessary, top has lye, bottom not)

p.s. This is quite a la-de-da post about natural dyeing. It does not reflect the hours of time invested in harvesting, processing, mordanting. It does not speak about the time spent with research or record keeping of my own. I like that there is time invested. Time is my main material. Also: It does not mention the extreme caution required when using a caustic substance such as lye - (used to clean automobile garage floors). I always used rubber gloves, I worked outside as the fumes should not be inhaled, I did NOT use heat, and I won't put the liquid down my septic system when I'm finally finished. One good thing about these kinds of dyes is that they do last for quite a while, and multiple dips can be done. I made quite a bit of yardage. Protein fibres work well with natural dyes so I used mostly silk and wool. I had some success with linen. I've researched that a pre-soak in tannic acid will help cotton and linen accept more colour, but have not tried that yet. There is so much to learn.

I Love Canada

2011-09-14T16:22:00.014-04:00

I Love Canada -- J'Aime Canada 1970, quilted cloth assemblage by Joyce Wieland, collection of Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina

The newest Canadian Art magazine has an article by Sara Angel about True Patriot Love, the landmark show that opened in 1971 at the National Gallery of Canada. Reason Over Passion 1968, Joyce Wieland, quilted Cloth assemblage, collection of the National Gallery of Canada

Joyce Wieland threw a cocktail party for Pierre Trudeau in 1968, just before he ran for the Liberal Party leadership. She gave him the above quilt with his motto, "reason over passion" made from stuffed fabric. So feminine, so feminist.
So missionary position. The Water Quilt 1970-71 Embroidered cloth and printed cloth assemblage by Joyce Wieland, collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario

One of the pieces in the exhibition was The Water Quilt, made from 64 cushions, each with an embroidered arctic flower. detail of The Water Quilt

When the embroidery was lifted, one could read the text from The Energy Poker Game by James Laxer, a book that outlined the danger of selling Canada's water and other natural resources. installation of True Patriot Love in 1971, National Gallery of Ontario. That gallery's first solo exhibition of a living female artist.

She organized a 100 piece marching band for the opening that played "the maple leaf forever: in the lobby of the gallery. Joyce Wieland in 1964. Filmmaker, quilt maker, painter, ecologist, passionate lover of Canada. She died too young at age 66. (1932-1998).

I've written more about Joyce Wieland, an art heroine for us all, in the modernist aesthetic blog. Click here.

hand made life

2011-09-12T16:41:00.015-04:00

Nicole gave me another box of lace last month. I find the handwork breath taking and touching the pieces puts me into a mood. I think about how strong the lace is. It's still here, a record of a hand made life. Time
Family
Solitude It's been such a beautiful summer.
Time is so precious.
It's slipping away. (Van Morrison) We've been living very simply this summer. Ned's family cottage is a dreamworld, an island cut off from TV news, the nine to five, those social expectations. From real life.
I've slowed right down. I'm afraid to go back on track. It's hard to make the decision to stop teaching piano, but I think I'm in the midst of making that. I look at the lace. We make our lives with our own hands.

The lace was washed with ivory soap, then soaked in a 50-50 solution of lemon juice and water. It was put out in the sun for two days, and then I rinsed the lemon juice out and dried the pieces in the sun again. Thanks to my friend, Basje for the recipe.

How do you clean an ark?

2011-09-10T21:34:00.016-04:00

Earth Ark In the delicate cycle,

and dried on the line.

Sunlight with Marimekko fabric back Clean. Draped over the sofa. Back view. and the couching survived.

sketches

2011-09-06T23:53:00.009-04:00

My degree work is starting again, I'm relieved to say. I need to create work for a graduate exhibition next spring. I want to make something monumental. something quiet and simple, that connects to our inner immensity. The last week I've been making sketches for some large hand stitched dyed pieces. The sketches are all ball point pen in a black hardcover journal. the inner poetic Infinity and transience. Two kinds of time.

Change

2011-09-04T21:47:00.006-04:00

Change of season. Change of project. A change is as good as a rest. (folk wisdom) Jay visited. He and Erika have set their date.

right here, right now

2011-08-31T23:37:00.012-04:00

In between baking pies, changing sheets and many conversations, I've been piecing small components for 'precious water', the third panel of the circle project. Large paper templates help estimate how many one-patches are needed in each colour way.

We exist right here,
right now,
to complete our life's work.

Alison Kendall

Painted Rocks

2011-08-30T12:58:00.009-04:00

We took our visitors to the painted rocks yesterday. One can walk for hours on these unique volcanic formations in Northern Georgian Bay. Still considering how to join my journal panels together.

Studio Visit

2011-08-26T18:45:00.016-04:00

I am expecting a curator to visit my studio tomorrow. The piece he is interested in is Not to Know, But to Go On, my daily stitching. I'm considering how to join the panels together. Each panel holds about two weeks.

The paintings I had up for the July art tour have been relegated to a corner.

I also want to show him One Hundred Views of Wikwemikong - sketches that I've pulled out of journals from when we first moved to the island. I was enthralled by my view of the far shore across Manitowaning Bay. In a rush, I would write down the colours as they changed so extremely from hour to hour. This is a brand new piece.

Water is patient

2011-08-24T16:09:00.009-04:00

April has come back from her road trip through the states. She worked on her quilt in the van while Andy drove. They went down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and then across to California and then north up to Vancouver. By the time they return to Montreal, they will have driven 20,000 km. She's getting ready to finish the edges.

Water flows.
When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress.
Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you.
But water always goes where it wants to go.
Water is patient.
Remember that, my child.
Remember you are half water.

from the Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Nieces

2011-08-22T00:21:00.007-04:00

reverse applique, damask and silk, (not the easiest technique...click here ) It takes patience. Sophie, 15 years It takes practice. Molly, 18 years It gives satisfaction. Molly and Helen (15 years)

Over and over and over.
Time, work, silence. Over and over I touch it.

Labour

2011-08-18T22:28:00.010-04:00

hand quilting, linen thread

"by labour we set the will of our dreams in motion"
Tom Dean I was so focused on my own stitching, that the only photos I took at the circle project yesterday were of the beautiful cards Marian makes from tiny pressed flowers. Next week we are bringing African fabrics to look at. All welcome, Thursdays 9am - 6 pm. See sidebar.

Art Date in Toronto

2011-08-16T23:05:00.024-04:00

fantastical ceramics by Julie Moon from her exhibition Pretty Strange at Narwhal Art Projects 680 Queen St W Toronto Plaster and printed fabric room decor by Celeste Toogood and Christopher Martin in the Gladstone Hotel (our room 301) No 5 / No 22, 1950 painting by Mark Rothko at the Art Gallery of Ontario and No. 16, (red, brown, black) 1958, another painting by Mark Rothko. Abstract Expressionism from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the AGO until September 4. In the explanatory videos the curator, Ann Temkin, advises: "These works ask for a type of concentration that is becoming increasingly unusual in a society that bombards our brains with simultaneous visual and auditory stimuli from countless directions. In a world that likes its culture fast, Abstract Expressionist works are uncompromisingly slow."

While at the AGO I watched Marcia Connolly's video about Annie Pootoogook. She spoke slowly and directly to the camera. So slowly, that I was able to write down every word.

"I am Annie Pootoogook
I am an artist
My mother was an artist
My grandmother was an artist
I'm a 3rd generation artist.
I used to go see my grandma drawing. She told us the stories.
They were true stories.
I wish I was born into that time. I would know Inuit tradition.
I'm very happy that I can draw what I have in my head and what I'm feeling.
It lifts my life a lot.
It's a very big thing to me.
I'm very happy.
I am an artist."

Freedom from Worldly Attachments

2011-08-14T12:30:00.010-04:00

Apologies for still more photos of this third panel but it's the only thing I have been working on this month. I'm struggling to make it hang straight. (flat) I've been pinning the 90" width of it into the wide pine wall boards in the cottage dining room and shifting and adjusting the half circle in its half square. Every single stitch is by hand. This morning when I began defining the edges with trim Ned said, "Maybe you should start over". That's unthinkable.

I am so attached to it. We have spent a year on this so far, my Thursday group and moi. I'm not defeated. Yet.

Zen's sixth ruling principle : Freedom from Worldly Attachments (Datsuzoko)

The seven Zen principles
asymmetry
simplicity
austerity
naturalness
subtle profundity
freedom from worldly attachments
silence

non attachment to things or rules

nature is awesome

2011-08-12T00:00:00.013-04:00

view of "the open" Georgian Bay We've been spending most of August at the cottage, and I've taken my circle project work with me. The floor of the main room there is just big enough to lay out the third panel. Progress on the second panel is steady. We've rolled both sides now, and stitch together on Thursdays in Little Current. It's slow work, but I really do think that the repeated touching of the dense quilting adds power to the panel, Mended World. same view, later in the day

Click here to see a skein of birds over Denmark. An amazing spirit lift/gift during times like these.

Vintage

2011-08-11T08:00:00.009-04:00

vintage beaded dress vintage beaded dress, skirt detail

Anke brought in her beaded dress to the circle project last Thursday.

She had worn it at her birthday party last June.

It must have weighed at least ten pounds.

She wore it for two birthday parties actually,

her 50th and her 70th!

I find that remarkable.

She told us that she purchased it for $60
twenty or so years ago. We think it is from
the 1920's but I am not sure.

Detail of back closure.

Circle project continues today, all welcome. Thursdays 9 am to 6 pm in Little Current.

swimming

2011-08-09T11:31:00.008-04:00

stitching every day swimming every day

sanctuary

2011-08-07T13:18:00.009-04:00

Every spirit builds itself a house and beyond its house, a world and beyond its world,

a heaven.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

padded satin stitch

2011-08-05T13:34:00.018-04:00

In this post, a tutorial for one of the techniques used in the third panel of the circle project. padded satin stitch First draw an outline of your shape. Here evenly spaced dots are drawn with ball point amongst the offset pattern of factory stitched dots. With chain stitch and single strand of silk or cotton floss, cover the drawn line with embroidery. Continue with chain stitch until you have completely fill in the shape. With the same thread, begin to cover the chain stitch with false satin stitch. Go back and forth across the shape until closely packed. Each dot takes about 20 minutes to do. The original design on paper has changed slightly.

stamina required

2011-08-04T01:24:00.009-04:00

I've been pushing ahead on Water Moon, the third of the meditation panels of the Manitoulin Circle Project. Do I have enough persistence to keep going? Sometimes I wonder. It's such a huge project. Friends are visiting and today we all went to Misery Bay on the South of the island. A 'day off'. Ancient wisdom. Steady rhythm. Contemporary experience. Sense of wonder. Rekindled spirit.

Quiet Simplicity

2011-07-30T17:54:00.011-04:00

Cross My Heart, layered and stitched silk and linen, silk threads. 2010.

I have agreed to speak about my work in Toronto this September. It took me hours to settle on this plain and simple title for the lecture. Cross My Heart detail

Quiet Simplicity

Judy Martin’s new work has a pared down simplicity that is inviting. Her imagery is archetypal, used for centuries across world cultures. She constructs her pieces by layering and piecing torn fabrics by hand, and then adds repeated simple and familiar domestic stitches. The evidence of time and touch gives power to the work.

My name

2011-07-29T11:35:00.013-04:00

My name is Judy Martin.
My parents gave me the name Judy, short for Judith.
My husband gave me the name Martin and I am proud to have it.
My name until I was 22 years old was Judy Johnson. There's a Judy Martin who has the same mailing address I do, she lives just down the road. I talked to a Judy Martin who lives in Sudbury on the phone yesterday. But the Judy Martin who makes me wonder about using my name is the Judy Martin who writes books about traditional quilting. It's not her fault. She can't help it that she used to be a featured writer in Quilters Newsletter and creates very popular patterns. That Judy martin has a popular website, click here. I used to call her the real Judy Martin and still apologize when people suddenly realize that I'm not her. I could add an initial, I could add Johnson, I've tried using Judith....but nothing feels quite as right as Judy Martin. It's my name. what can I say?

art

2011-07-27T11:53:00.014-04:00

Are all five of the design elements included in mended world?

line ? maybe
shape ? yes
pattern ? maybe
texture ? YES
colour? nope
What about the design principles?

focal point ? yes
contrast? not really
rhythm and repetition? YES!
movement? no
balance ? what does that mean?
symmetry ? yes
unity? yes I hope that we can roll this sweetheart on Thursday. It's been in the frame for over two months and is still stretched out to the full 100 inches.

The Manitoulin Circle Project meets every Thursday in Little Current United Church hall. We've been doing this since October 2009. Please feel welcome to drop in and stitch a while.

Blog hopping? See wearable stitching at ateliercolore.

Leave a mark

2011-07-25T22:20:00.011-04:00

nine patch, hand stitched When I found myself without any stitching to do during the sixteen hour trip from Manitoulin to Fort Frances, I stopped in Espanola and got supplies for an entirely new project. A hand stitched grid. On this trip I sat in the back of the van, hence my photos of black spruce turned out better than those of the most magnificent Lake Superior. Why did we go? Uncle Henry 82 years, Dad 88 years, Uncle Johnnie 100 years! Fix time and its erosion. Cause something to survive. Leave a trace. Leave a mark. (paraphased from George Perec) Time is relentless. I have to constantly mark it. Aunt Ellie, 96 years, with Dad.

Millie Gladu

2011-07-23T07:13:00.011-04:00

ink on paper, Millie Gladu, 1966

I am in Fort Frances, the town closest to the farm where I grew up. Ned and I are here with my father for a family event. ink on paper, Millie Gladu, about 1967

Yesterday I went into the Fort Frances museum. The Ontario Craft Council exhibition is on display, which is serendipitous.

Upstairs in a back room there was an art sale. detail of above

It was disturbing for me to see that the life's work of Millie Gladu was being sold off in a yard sale type situation. Her name was well respected when I was a child. My mother studied with her. The above painting of hers is in the main area of the museum and is not for sale. It used to hang in the main area of the bank. ink on paper, Millie Gladu, mid 60's

What does it all mean? Emotions about mortalitiy, isolation, and gender make my throat ache.
I purchased four of her drawings. ink on paper, Millie Gladu mid 1960's. I spent ten dollars. Can you feel her touch?

Night Garden from Dryden Ontario

2011-07-21T22:45:00.007-04:00

I saw Michele Coslett Goodman's Night Garden exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery on Wednesday. A large room made into a realistic and fantastic life sized garden using old rubber inner tubes. The use of discarded materials in such a sensuous and provocative manner affected me on so many levels. I truly hope that this exhibition will show again in a larger center and that this artist from Dryden will be appreciated by curators in say, Toronto.

car window photos

2011-07-20T06:50:00.005-04:00

We're driving 17
across the top of Lake Superior

two days so far
with my father.

heat waves

2011-07-18T08:01:00.012-04:00

Rayon damask weave tablecloth, hand stitched To create a focal point for the third panel of the circle project, we are using a commercial product and intense heat. It comes in packages of about a yard and is stitched to the back of the fabric. The directions say to use machine stitch and a steam iron held above the cloth, but my experiment with hand stitched waves and a heat gun gave good results. 6 inches shrink to about 4 inches in all directions. I'm not one to

use products such as misty fuze or steam a seam, but the discovery of texture magic may have changed my mind. Ah, well.

Still mourning the loss of fiber arts magazine and telos. Read Olga's comments here.

studio tour

2011-07-16T08:59:00.009-04:00

I'm really enjoying the Manitoulin Art Tour this weekend. The visitors I've had so far are very engaged with the work, and our discussions are thought provoking. I took some risks this year and decided to show work in progress (plus five framed paintings). Most of it is very large ongoing work like my stitched journal pinned across one entire wall and three of the huge meditation panels pinned to the others. A smaller more intimate piece is the golden notebook - my 1991 journal with most of the text painted out. Details are shown above, but see here for a view of the entire piece. To see Earth Ark as it is today, nearly done, click here.
Have a great weekend.