Ontario Craft '07 Opening Reception

The opening reception for the Ontario Craft Council's exhibit Ontario Craft '07 was a wonderfully well attended evening....so much so that it was near impossible to get good photos of the event (unfortunately). The exhibit is on until December 31 2007 at 990 Queen Street West, Toronto.

Ontario Craft '07 Exhibition

Today I learned that I have been accepted into the exhibit Ontario Craft '07, organized by the Ontario Craft Council and juried by the well respected David Kaye. The reception will be November 15 between 5pm and 9pm. The exhibit runs from November 13 to December 31 2007 at 990 Queen Street West, Toronto. The piece selected was Gravity. To know more about the Ontario Craft Council go to www.craft.on.ca. David has his own gallery and in the area as well. Visit his website to know more about the events scheduled there: www.davidkayegallery.com.

5 Canadian Tapestry Artists at one exhibit

From left to right: Marcel Marois, Sondra MacLeod, Barbara Heller, Line Dufour, and Jane Kidd

September 8 2007 all 5 artists talked about their work. I was eager to hear what the artists had to say about what influenced them, inspired them and discuss their creative process. It was a very moving experience. Thanks to the Fern Hill School for their generous support to the Burlington Art Centre to put on this exhibit, as well as to the Canada Council for providing a grant to have the other 4 artists flown from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia.

Gravity: Maquette of tapestry

The three dimensional tapestries represent my efforts to interact with others, as an artist, as a maker. It is a constructive step forward, outward from my own inner personal dimensions, into the dimension of concrete reality. Being an artist requires the courage to express and share one's reality the way one sees it, one experiences it. The need to communicate in a visual way, is stronger for me than needing to communicate with words. Using words is just as much an art as any other, and I am not skilled at it. Words however contribute to articulating one's creative experience. I am unable to find the words to describe what it is I am trying to convey, and I find it much easier with images and pictures. I think in pictures. In shapes. In colors. In textures. The visual language, like any language has its own set of connotations for each individual and thus the visual experience of the artist and of the viewer is highly personal.

In this last tapestry called Gravity, I wanted to convey the feeling of grief. Grief about loss. Loss of loved ones. Loss through destruction. The grief we may feel over the alarming state of the planet. When we feel grief we feel torn apart. We feel we are coming undone. When grief inhabits us, we feel heavy. Pulled down by gravity. The weight of the moment. The word Gravity describes both the seriousness of the situation concerning us as well as a scientifically described force on this planet.

It occurred to me that I wanted to describe grief visually because it has visited my life several times over the years, and I am sure no one has been immune to its impact. The last episode of grief in my life was triggered by the death of someone I knew and I decided that I wanted to use this feeling as my inspiration. I took a photograph of myself. Manipulated it on the computer. Printed out the picture. Cut it up in pieces and reassembled it. Having done this, I begin to realize that these sad feelings are nothing to fear. That the kernel within the pain brings immeasurable richness to one's life. I see the beauty of life and of people more clearly. Insights flow that endow me with some measure of wisdom, even if only temporarily. When grief departs, it leaves me a wiser person. A more whole person. A more compassionate person. And the art/tapestry that I have created around it reminds me that these feelings are nothing to fear.

Completed weaving the tapestry Gravity

I've just finished weaving this tapestry and it is always a thrill when one finally arrives at the end of weaving one, especially if it's large, since it is such a slow process. I'm working feverishly to try to finish it for an upcoming exhibit at the Burlington Art Centre coming up in mid July and will run until the middle of September. The title of the show will be Contemporary Canadian Tapestry and will include other tapestry weavers: Marcel Marois, Jane Kidd, Barbara Heller, and Sondra MacLeod.

I wanted to show you what the back of tapestry looks like after you finish weaving it. All the ends must be sewn in so that in the end the back of the tapestry looks exactly like the front. I'll be sure to post the picture of it once it is completed.

The other exciting news is that I got into the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit, and I will also be doing a show in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. For more details of all of the above go to my website at www.tapestryline.com and the info is posted on the home page.

On the Midway

This tapestry was inspired by the tempo of life, which I compare with being on the fair grounds of a carnival. The colours I chose are reminiscent of the kinds of colours one might find at the fair grounds, like cotton candy. The movement within the piecereminds me of a game I used to play as a child; I would spin around in circles, like a revolving top, stop suddenly, and then, everything that was stationary would seem to be rotating around me like a merry go round while I stood still. When things are moving around one so quickly, it is almost impossible to distinguish or isolate objects, faces, and figures.

About Inspiration - from Anni Albers

A Place in the Sun
2' x 4'

Collection of Miriam Grasby, Montreal

"Art work.....teaches the process of all creating, the shaping out of the shapeless. We learn from it that no picture exists before it is done, no form before it is shaped. The conception of a work gives only its temper, not its consistency. Things take shape in material and in the process of working it, and no imagination is great enough to know before the works are done what they will be like.

We come to know in art that we do not clearly know where we will arrive in our work, although we set the compass, our vision; that we are lead in going along, by material and work process. We have plans and blueprints, but the finished work is still a surprise. We learn to listen to our voices; the the yes or no of our material, our tools, our time. We come to know that only when we feel guided by them our work takes on form and meaning, that we are misled when we follow our will. All great deeds have been achieved under a sense of guidance.

We learn courage from art work. We have to go where no one was before us. We are alone and we are responsible for our actions. Our solitariness takes on religious character; this is a matter of my conscience and me.

We learn to dare to make a choice, to be independent. There is no authority to be questioned. In art work there is no established conception of work. Any decision is our own, any judgement....In making our choice(s) we develop a standpoint. How much of today's confusion is brought about through not knowing where we stand, through the inability to relate experiences directly to us. In art work any experience is immediate. We have to apply what we absorb to our work of the moment. We cannot postpone the use of what we learn. Much of our education today prepares us for a later day.

We learn to trust our intuition....we have to rely on inner awareness.....We learn patience and endurance in following through a piece of work. We learn to respect material in working it. Formed things and thoughts live a life of their own; they radiate a meaning. They need a clear form to give a clear meaning. Making something become real and take its place in actuality adds to our feeling of usefulness and security. Learning to form makes us understand all forming.....

The difficult problems are the fundamental problems; simplicity stands at the end, not at the beginning of a work. If education can lead us to elementary seeing, away from too much and too complex information, to the quietness of vision and discipline of forming, it again may prepare us for the task ahead, working for today and tomorrow.



Taken from Anni Albers: On Designing, p31-33 Weslaeyan University Press, Middleton Connecticut

Tapestry Book by Barty Phillips

In the book Tapestry by Barty Phillips and published by Phaidon Press, Line's tapestry was featured in the Contemporary Masters section on page 188. The tapestry "Effervescent Ascent" was commissioned by John and Ann Galbraith. The dimesions of the tapestry are 5' x 3'.

Woven poncho

Apart from tapestries, I also weave handwoven fashion accessories that I sell at shows, exhibits, and stores. These include scarves, shawls, ponchos and capes. I teach all this with the Toronto District School Board's Continuing Education program which you can access at www.tdsb.on.ca . Classes run from Fall to the end of Spring, from beginners to Intermediate levels.

The life of an artisan is a challenging one. A large part of my time and my life has been dedicated to pursuing a rather medieval kind of life. Weaving is a very slow process and is quite a contrast to the fast pace of modern day life. Perhaps this is what I like about weaving. That it is slow. I recently discovered a great website that discusses many aspects of the what is now becoming a 'slow movement' at www.slowmovement.com. I think it is sort of a backlash to how fast we have to live our daily lives. It doens't allow us to savour many of the better moments.

Since deciding to commit myself to being a full time fibre artist and artisan, it has also been challenging to earn a living solely by this means. So, I try to do a number of things, all related and interconnected. I teach weaving, sell weaving supplies and equipment, I do craft/art shows, and participate in exhibitions. It can be difficult living with the financial uncertainty of being an artist and craftsperson but I just can't imagine living my life doing anything but what I am doing. Being an artist/artisan is a way of life. It is also about a certain quality of life that is not necessarily connected to how much money we make.

Bryozoa

handwoven tapestry

3' x 3'

Bryozoa are collectives of tiny acquatic organisms called zooids, living in large colonies. Often these colonies form flat encrustations as well as erect plant like structures on a variety of objects including rocks, ship bottoms, wharf pillings, sea weed and even the shells of other acquatic animals. They date as far back as 500 million years ago. This tapestry was inspired by how they live, which provides us with some guidelines in terms of ensuring our longevity and well being as a community and thus, as individuals. The long duration of the species can be attributed in part to their collective consciousness. Thus the theme of this tapestry is about our interconnectedness as individuals, and the vital connection this bears upon our structures of community. As citizens, we are woven together like a fabric, through the spirit of collaboration, concern and cooperation, and yet still maintain a sense of our individuality, equally as vital to our existence and survival.