Ontario Arts Council grant for Convergence in Alburquerque New Mexico

On Monday of this week I received an envelope in the mail. In it, I had been notified by the Ontario Arts Council that I had received a grant. Part of what I have to do is to use the Ontario Arts Council logo on all media that I use to publicize the event. The grant will enable me to attend the Handweavers Guild of America Annual conference to be held this year in Aburquerque New Mexico. It's something I would never be able to do with my financial resources so for me this is one of my dreams come true. I've always been drawn to New Mexico and I've never been able to afford to attend a Convergence conference so I'll be able to accomplish both in one trip!

I'm attaching a link to the conference site http://www.weavespindye.org/?loc=8-00-00 where you can view all the events that are happening at the conference as well as check out what an amazing place New Mexico is. There is so much to explore and so much for the fibre enthusiast as there are fibre artists and activities a plenty, even without the conference. The conference doesn't happen until the latter part of July of this year. I'm sure it will be scorching but they say its cool in the mountains at night and one even needs a sweater or light jacket!

Of course I had to tell as many people as I could....friends and relatives. Most responded so positively and the one thing that kept coming up was that I deserved it! I felt an incredible wave of support from many friends and this was just as good as receiving the grant from the OAC. So thank you friends for those wonderful supportive words and feelings!

Just this morning I signed up for the workshops, seminars and studio sessions that interest me: warp painting with Jannie Taylor; Cavandoli Tapestry knotting (who knew!); and Natural Dyeing for 2 days. There are lots more I'd like to participate in but the schedule limits how many I can choose. There are tours as well. One is to Santa Fe where we will visit with a couple of tapestry artists.

It's nice to dream about this excruciating heat that I might encounter when I'm there at a time in February when its pretty drab, damp and cold. When I was looking at the accommodation that I might take, I noticed on the website that the temperature today was 30 degrees and it was sunny!

Well....back to work!










The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

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.