Upcoming Exhibitions

I was very excited when I was contacted by the American Tapestry Bienniale letting me know that my tapestry Joy was accepted in their 8th Biannual exhibition, which will open at Eider Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 to November 15 2010 and will coincide with the meeting of the Textile Society of America. It will then go on to the American Textile Museum in Lowell Massachusetts between January 21 to May 2011.

Ontario Craft 09

I was very happy when my tapestry Joy was accepted into this juried show organized by the Ontario Craft Council. I was even more surprised that my fibre construction called Wave was accepted as well. I was especially delighted to see it on the wall at the gallery, where I had stretched it out with long nails on all four corners, allowing Wave to be displayed about 2" away from the wall. This created a very exciting shadow, making a secondary artistic effect. This was not something I had initially planned but the idea evolved into what it became. This is so much what the creative process is about. Those moments where you allow yourself to not know what the outcome may be. Allowing yourself to stumble in the dark feeling and intuiting your way there, whereever there is. It requires faith. Faith that somehow, it will all come together.

I attended the opening reception on November 13. My friend Scott Ford met me there. There were lots of people. I was thrilled Wave sold while I was at the reception. The piece was sold to Jane Alderdice, herself an artist and who also works at the University of Toronto.

Ontario Craft '09 at the Ontario Craft Council

My most recent tapestry, Joy, has been accepted into the upcoming group show presented by the Ontario Craft Council entitled Ontario Craft '09. Another fibre piece called Wave was also accepted, though it is not a tapestry. My wave piece can't decide between being a wallhanging or a scarf. I'll keep you in suspense as to what it looks like. Though I am thrilled that the tapestry was selected, this means I won't have a new tapestry to present at the One of a Kind Show.

November 12 to December 31 2009.
Opening reception: Friday, November 13th from 5:30pm – 8:30pm.



Ontario Crafts Council
990 Queen St. West
Toronto
416.925.4222
www.craft.on.ca

a broken arm

Can't weave any large tapestries now! I broke my right arm when I tripped while jogging early one morning last week. It may be a few months before I can. Typing is also awkward. One likely outcome though will be a more agile left hand. Weaving already requires a fair amount of ambidexterity and maybe after this I will more so.

48th Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit 2009

As always doing the Toronto Outdoor Art Show is always an adventure, and a highly social event. Many people come back year after year and seek an artist/craftsperson out to see what's new. This is a view of the back wall of my display, which are predominantly the 'art pieces'. The sides of the booth are where I have scarves and shawls for sale. For the most part the weather was mostly cooperative except for the occasional gusts of wind, and a torrential downpour before the show opened at 10:30 on Saturday morning. I was greatful I arrived just as it was happening because pools of water can make the canopy very heavy and cause it to break, and then torrents of water come cascading in your booth. The challenges of nature!

Some people in the art world are critical of doing these kinds of shows, but I feel its important to get the work 'out there' to the general public, maybe even the public who may never attend a gallery. I feel it's important to make art accessible to everyone. One should question the assumptions we might make about others, what they do, and why they do it. You'll likely be surprised to discover that what one has assumed is completely incorrect! I'm discovering this all the time. Another reason I like doing a show like this is that I find it generates a lot of new ideas, and lots of inspiration. However, it is also very humbling, because there are many talented and gifted people participating and sometimes I find it hard to muster up my confidence.
A friend whose work I greatly admire is Judith Fielder and I cherish her friendship. She is an inspiration to many of us. A few other OCAD people went by me in a blur - William Hodge, Robert Wylie, Barb Hilts....

Jane Miliciewicz, an avid weaver and volunteer at the Museum for Textiles also visits me regularly at these shows. She's an opera buff and often does 'opera trips' in Europe. Way to live Jane!

Khadija Chatar for L'Express newspaper, a French paper in Toronto, came by to take photos and a stament so to speak.

Emily Bruusgaard, who once worked at the Textile Musuem of Canada, and who now continues her research in textiles, also stopped by for a visit.

Other friends, like Kathleen Boyle Hatcher, come by to say hello and chat a bit.

Miriam Grasby, the first person to buy one of my tapestries at the TOAE also stopped by. It was delightful to see her after 8 years I think!

The studio always is in chaos, laundry undone, house cleaning fallen to the wayside, before each show. Now its back to try to get order back in my life. The big priority is cleaning the studio and organizing it the way I want. After each show, it changes more and more to suit what I feel my needs are, but mostly within what I can afford, which isn't spectacular! All the same, I just feel lucky that I have room to work, that I enjoy being in my studio, and look forward to it.

To paint or to weave tapestries?

I've sometimes thought that I would rather just paint, and for the last few weeks that is what I have been doing. Why? Because there is so much more room for spontaneity than in weaving, tapestry or otherwise. It's so gratifying - one mark makes a world of difference, one colour can make you go wow. Tapestry is such a slow process that I get impatient to create my other ideas and so I think of faster alternatives, like painting. And though we all need immediate gratification every so often, and certainly, more healthier varieties, as I start putting things away I realize I have another reason why I also love the tapestry and the weaving of it.

First, there is no clean up, using tons and tons of water to cleanse the pigments away as we do for painting. As I watch the pigments go down the sink, I have a sick pit in my stomach, apologizing profusely to the planet for the harm I am doing to it. I am not the only painter on the planet so I imagine thousands of people doing the same thing and I am horrified. In tapestry weaving, one is not required to use harmful chemicals and one can make really good environmental choices as to the materials that go into weaving a tapestry. One can use biodgradable materials for instance like wool, cotton and other natural fibres. One can weave with recycled and reclaimed materials to keep them from going into landfill. Little by little my practice tries to include and consider these things.

CBC Radio One Interview for Nora Young's Spark

Andreanne Baribeau, an associate producer for the CBC Radio One show called Sparks, hosted by Nora Young, came to the studio to interview me about how the internet has impacted on my tapestry weaving. She's in Toronto at CBC for a month , part of her Carlton University placement, and next month will be off to Rwanda. She made being interviewed a fun experience. We're unsure when the segment will air, but she thinks sometime in late August or September. Get hooked on this cool radio show. Go to www.cbc.ca/spark/.