the archetype of the cross

the cross is a universal symbol from the most remote times

the weaving on right is by Susan Johnson  Pot Calls Kettle Black

 it is a cosmic symbol, a point of communication between heaven and earth

a symbol of archetypal man/woman capable of infinite and harmonious expansion on both the horizontal and vertical planes

  the vertical line is celestial, spiritual, intellectual, positive, active, male

 the horizontal line is earthly, rational, intuitive, negative, passive, female

the combination of these two lines - androgyne

the cross represents dualism in nature

this cross - purchased through 10,000 villages,  - made in Africa

It is union of opposites      

the four elements of the world are united at the 5th point, the centre.

reference: J.C. Cooper

touching and seeing

 there is a circle of the touched and the touching

 there is a circle of the visible and the seeing

there is even an inscription of the touching in the visible

of the seeing in the tangible

and the converse

Merleau - Ponty

more photos from world of threads

Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre. Foreground: Artist: Jacqueline Treloar, Toronto, Canada. Left: Artist: Judy Martin, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. Right: Artist: Melanie Siegel, Richmond Hill, Canada. The Red and the Black, installation view, Main Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre.  The Red and the Black, Main Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre.  Centre: Artist: Emma Nishimura, Toronto, Canada.  The Last Supper, The Studio, Oakville Galleries, Gairloch Gardens.  Artist: Carmelo Arnoldin, Toronto, Canada. Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre. Artist: Liz Pead, Toronto, Canada.  Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre. Artist: Karen Goetzinger, Ottawa, Canada. Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre.  Artist: Gwen Lowery, Shaw Island, USA. strung out and undone, The Gallery Space, Living Arts Centre.  Artist: Amanda McCavour, Toronto, Canada. strung out and undone, The Gallery Space, Living Arts Centre.  Centre: Artist: Kim Stanford, Toronto, Canada. Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre.  Artist: Louise Lemieux Bérubé, Montreal, Canada. Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre. Artist: James Arendt, Conway, USA.  Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre. Artist: Maggie Scott, St. Andre De Roquepertuis, France.  World of Threads Festival The biennial World of Threads Festival is a showcase of local, national and international contemporary fibre and textile art. It is based in Oakville, Ontario where it began in 1994. This year we expanded into Mississauga. The Festival is organized by Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate and attracts visitors from around the world. For full info, directions, maps, hours, etc., click:  http://worldofthreadsfestival.com/exhibitions_menu.html

All photos in this post are by Gareth Bate.

emily carr skies

 I couldn't tell which stars were which or how far away any one of them was,

 or which were still burning or not - their light moving through space like a long

 late train - and I've lived on this earth so long -

 and all this time stars in the sky - in the daylight

 when I couldn't see them,

 and at night when, most nights, I didn't look.

All text in this post is by Marie Howe
The images are by Emily Carr, found in Doris Shadbolt's book about the artist.

a letter from World of Threads

Hello Judith,

We wanted to give you an update about the World of Threads Festival 2014:

The Festival opening weekend was fantastic. We had nearly 1,000 people through one venue alone on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 1. We were thrilled to have 48 of the 97 artists participating in the Festival, in attendance on the opening weekend. These artists came form across Canada, the USA, from the UK and from France. Other artists have been visiting since and more are expected before the Festival closes. 

The Festival is on for a further two weeks and closes at 5:00 pm on Nov. 30, 2014. Below are some photos. We'll be posting full albums after the festival on the website.

For full info, directions, maps, hours, etc., click:  http://worldofthreadsfestival.com/exhibitions_menu.html

Regards

Dawne & Gareth

Dawne Rudman - Festival Chair & Curator

Gareth Bate - Festival Curator & Designer

Not To Know But To Go On by Judy Martin of Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada, Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries of Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Oakville.

The Red and the Black exhibition, Installation view, in The Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Timelines by Christine Mauersberger of Cleveland, Ohio, USA, displayed in The Red and the Blackexhibition, in The Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Winter by Melanie Siegel of Richmond HIll, Ontario, Canada, Solo Shows and Installations, Corridor Galleries of Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Oakville.

strung out and undone exhibition, installation view, at The Gallery Space, Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

The biennial World of Threads Festival is a showcase of local, national and international contemporary fibre and textile art. It is based in Oakville, Ontario where it began in 1994. This year we expanded into Mississauga. The Festival is organized by Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate and attracts visitors from around the world.

Featuring 255 artworks by 97 artists from Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, UK and USA.

Feedback from patrons and artists has been fabulous. People are amazed at the wonderful array of work on display.  

Check the Website for more info: 

• All Exhibitions
• Downloadable Brochure
• Maps & Directions
• Artists Lists
• Artworks
• Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews and Curator Interviews ( click HERE )

View 2014 Exhibitions

subscribe on the website for updates.
The work is amazing, you're bound to enjoy it.

There is also a facebook page with near-daily updates that one can view HERE

golden notebook two

 I am working at being an artist.

 I have a lot of projects on the go.

 I make things for no reason and then exhibit them if they turn out.

This is the only way I can do good work.

The text in this post is from my 1999 journal.
Golden notebook one  is still in progress.   Shown here.

wild pure

wild pure panel 2 side b

wild pure panel 1 side b

In this post, some photos of my piece for the exhibition Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder, curated by Gloria Hickey and Phillipa Jones.  Gloria has written about this exhibition on her blog,  here and here.    

wild pure panel 1 side a

hand stitch
repetition
small marks in big spaces
vintage domestic textiles (re-purposed wool blankets in this case)
plant dyeing 
archetypal pattern
traditional hand work,
an earthy minimalism 
wabi sabi

wild pure panel 2 side a

I am exploring the idea that both sides of a two-dimensional piece are the right side.

I consider the inner life of each of us to be more important than the outer surface we present to the world.

In this body of work I am striving to make the two sides equally beautiful and interesting.

Over the summer I dyed yards of blanket weight wool with plants that grow wild locally.

Three vintage wool blankets (two were pink wool when I started) were dyed with blackberry vine and iron and I am using them as the base for appliqué and stitch.

Both sides are the right side.  Above is panel one.

 Both sides are the right side.  Above,  panel two.

My grand idea is to eventually complete three-four panels and hang them from a curved support so that the viewers will feel wrapped with intimacy and awed by immensity. (sketch)

Like we feel when we are out in the wild places of nature.   

For this exhibition, Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder, I will show one panel only and must choose.  Above is panel two  (shown with audition fabrics pinned to it).
I'll focus on it over the next weeks.

My piece has to be in Newfoundland by January 2015 as the group exhibition opens in St John's in March, and then it goes on to Gros Morne national park May through October. The wild pure exhibition is an important part of the Fibre Arts Newfoundland conference.  

ten artists who work with cloth

Lindy Fyfe's Interweave series
Paintings using a complex substrate - sweaters found in thrift shops
Showing in the World of Threads festival until November 30

 Lindy Fyfe's above piece is showing at the world of threads festival 's main venue in Oakville Ontario.  Lindy is from Toronto, Ontario.

Lindy Fyfe's Interweave piece above - showed at Fibreworks in Idea exchange Cambridge. sept 12 - november 2, 2014.

Dagmar Kovar's installation in the Red and the Black exhibition, World of Threads festival, Oakville
There.......silk, cotton, dye 2014

 Dagmar Kovar - detail of There......  stitched.  Dagmar Kovar is from London, Ontario.

James Arendt's solo show at the world of threads festival, Oakville, Ontario November 2014
above:  Dad and Mom - life size figures

 Mom, reclaimed denim by James Arendt from South Carolina, USA.

 Dad, reclaimed denim - by James Arendt

Trina Perry Carlson  Cocoon 2012  vintage baby shoes, cotton and thread, solo show at world of threads main venue in oakville Ontario - continues until November 30.  Trina Perry Carlson is from Seattle, Washington, USA.

Merce Mitchell  Pod (Marigold) 2014  wool, beeswax, marigold petals, thread, felted, solo show in corridors of Oakville's main venue, World of Threads festival.  Merce Mitchell is from Taos, New Mexico, USA.

Kirsten Lund  Transfuser  2014   cotton, muslin, cotton floss, in the corridors exhibition venue , World of Threads festival, oakville ontario.  Kirsten Lund is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

 Victoria Carley   Apollo 2014  dress and upholstery fabrics and cotton floss

Victoria Carley   We Saw it Shoot Across the Sky  2014   dress and upholstery fabrics, floss.  Victoria Carley is from Toronto, Ontario.

We Saw it Shoot Across The Sky - detail shown above
All three of these pieces are in the World of Threads exhibition in the main venue...a solo exhibition of her pieced art work.

 Victoria Carley   Heaven and Hell 2012, dress and upholstery fabrics, floss

Pat Loucks   Skin Deep series 2013

More of the Skin Deep series by Pat Loucks.  Re-purposed cotton and silk fabrics, plant and earth pigments, stitch.  Pat Loucks is from Bedfor, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Pat Loucks, Skin Deep series  2013.  Photo above as installed in corridor galleries in the main venue of the World of Threads festival.   Address :  2302 Bridge Road, Oakville, Ontario.  free admission.  Monday - Saturday 10 am - 6 pm.  Sunday noon - 5 pm.

Susan Avishai  deconstructed man's shirt, wire  Gyre and Gimble 2013  showing in the exhibition entitled Strung out and Undone at the Living Arts Centre gallery in Mississauga, Ontario until the end of November.

Susan Avishai  deconstructed mens shirt, wire, thread - He's Come Undone 2014.  Susan Avishai is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  The exhibition in Mississauga was curated by Megan Press and is part of the World of threads festival.

Amanda McCavour   Neon Field 2014 and ongoing - polyester thread, starch

Amanda McCavour's work is in the Mississauga Living Arts Centre exhibition of the world of threads festival.  Amanda McCavour lives in Toronto, Ontario.

I have seen an incredible amount of excellent textile art recently.  I am just sorry that time and space only allow for ten artists from the group exhibitions I viewed in Cambridge, Oakville and Mississauga.  The World of Threads festival is really very stimulating and shouldn't be missed.   I wasn't able to see everything so allow yourself enough time if you are planning to go.