Out for a Stroll

                                                           15.5" wide x 18" high . (framed)

This piece grew from a photograph I took of an elderly couple in my neighbourhood.  There seemed to be such a gentle warm companionship between them as they chatted together while making their way up the street, oblivious to their secret admirer.

I print the photo onto water soluble paper and then free motion stitch through silk organza.  The paper deteriorates with water and I find the semi deterioration of the paper speaks to the subject matter.

The figures were layered on top of a piece of cotton that I had hand dyed and then printed on top of with the red pattern. I left the edges of the cotton exposed (raw edge) but stitched along the periphery of the cotton.  I love fabric and the 'hand' of it and so wanted to make it clear that this work is of fabric by exposing the edge.  The work has been framed and is under non-reflective glass.

 

The Fallen

                                   

The Fallen

17" x 37"

Detail:  This work began on a hand dyed cotton cloth.  The only true colour is the first one.  I had thought to wait until I can get proper photographs taken by Sylvia Galbraith who always does such a wonderful job taking photos of my work.  However, due to COVID, I am not sure when I will be able to see her again so I thought I would post this now, to give you a sense of what I have been working on, with the hope of better photos to come.

                                               

 

Detail:  The shapes of the leaves were all inspired by actual leaves I picked up from my daily dog walking walk.  I traced them on to the cloth and then my fun began.  I love this detailed hand stitching work.  I feel like it is a bit like the work of Georges Seurat, the French post-impressionist painter.  He was well known for his style of pointillism.  Making little dots of paint colours with an incredible expertise in colour theory.  

Here is a detail from   Seurat's Parade de Cirque (1889) where you can see his images were created with tiny dots of colour.

                                                   

Detail:  I do not suggest for a moment that I have a handle on colour the way Seurat did.  In fact, I believe that I am slightly colour blind and so am always struggling with colour choices.  Nevertheless I muddle on.

Detail:  Since these photos were off in colour I had fun playing with the adjustment options, intensity, sepia, etc. which is why these images are so different.  When creating this work, I took advantage of the quilting lines to try and create movement.  A suggestion of the swirling fallen leaves.

Detail:  leaves are overlapping.

Detail ( I saturated the tones here)

Roadside

Fancy Meeting you Here

23.5 " x 18.5"

I created this piece from several different photographs I took while traveling in Africa.  Although my trip to Africa was many years ago, I still find that the photos draw me in, and invite inspiration.  I suppose that part of the reason is the 'otherness' was remarkable.  That's on the surface, but I feel that there is more to it than that.  How peaceful most appear to be.. I am not foolish and do understand that there are difficulties everywhere, and certainly the people of Tanzania and Rwanda have had no end of challenges. And yet, somehow, there was an equanimity there that I found remarkable.

Detail:  Hand dyed fabric with free motion machine stitching as well as hand embroidery.

This is another detail of the free motion.  The challenge for me it to create enough detail for interest while not transforming the portrait into a cartoon.  On this scale, (quite small) this is difficult since the work is on silk organza and cannot be undone.

most of the women we passed on the road carried supplies on their head.  It appeared as if people were always on their way somewhere, lots of pedestrians filled the roads.  People appeared unhurried but in constant motion.

One of my favourite books as a teenager was "Stranger in a Strange Land" and this was certainly my experience.  As I lay expectations upon expectations on myself and others, I envied the apparent simplicity and grace. 

Working with scraps....lots of them!

During this Pandemic, I have been spending a lot of time on my own, at home.  Not unlike many of you I am sure.  At first I made masks....lots of them....all from my stash.  I didn't feel comfortable buying or shopping.  When mask making began to feel old, I decided to 'tidy up'.  Its always a very good way to deal with my anxiety.  When things are in order, it makes me feel calmer.

Once I decided to tidy up, it made sense to tidy my scraps by making them into the same size.  I made them into 3 inch squares.  Not sure how I decided on this size. Generally I work very intuitively and this just seemed like a good size for the state that my scraps were in.  At the suggestion of a quilty friend, I started making 2 types of blocks.

Before I knew it I had 56 blocks.  more than enough for a queen size bed quilt.  I had never taken on a project of this size.  I had kept each block focused on a particular colour, and hoped to create a colour wheel in the lay out.  In this image, you can see that I also considered a black/grey/white checkerboard as a border but in the end I didn't think it worked.

Once all the blocks were sewn together I laid them out on my bed.  HUGE!  Given that I only used my stash, I was quite satisfied that it does give the sense of the colour wheel but I was overwhelmed at the thought of quilting such a large area.  typically I pride myself in doing every step myself in all my work, but this seemed to be too much for my little domestic Bernina, not to mention my shoulder.

Lucky for me, I live in a big city with lots of resources and a friend told me that Jeannie Jenkins had a long arm machine and was quilting for other people.  Jeannie was one of my very first teachers.  She taught a class called "Back off and Paint your own Quilt" which was fantastic.  So much fun!  She encouraged her students to create their own impressions on commercial fabric, to make their work unique.  I had never thought about changing the actual fabric before that class.  This led me on a long road of surface design and I have never looked back.  Thanks Jeannie!  She is also a master quilter and did a beautiful job putting this scrappy ensemble together.

The finished product!

View from above.  If you too are having some trouble getting very creative during these challenging times, why don't you try starting with a baby step or two. It has really helped me to get back into my studio.  At first though, I did not set out to make something specific.  In the end, I created a queen size quilt! I have never made anything this big.  It was just little iterative steps that led me to this result.  Perhaps not one of my most creative or unique projects, but I believe every step leads to another, and I am trying not to be so hard on myself.  Since this quilt, I have been able to be in my studio more, and be more experimental, so....stay tuned.

Mask Making

 With a heavy heart my most recent preoccupation is finding a good pattern to make masks.  These times are very challenging and as friends have pointed out, it is easy to be a good person in good, easy times, but much harder to stay on track during times such as these.

I resisted this activity for some time.  It seemed to me silly to make masks when I knew that I didn't really know how to make an effective mask, and I didn't want to be involved in a make work project.  But, as the time has gone on, and the news continued to be so disheartening, I 'pivoted' my thinking.  Now I am feeling that at least this is something that I can do.  It is so important to feel productive.

In my first few days of isolation at home, I couldn't focus on any activity.  I couldn't even walk into my sewing area.  I was restless and sad.  Making masks has given me the opportunity to use the skills and materials I have, to feel productive again, to have a focus.  For that I am grateful.  I am also grateful that I am in a position to do this. I am healthy, strong, have food in my beautiful home, and have the social supports through all the media at my finger tips.  This is a challenging time, but not nearly as challenging for me as for others.  I will continue to make masks until the day (hopefully soon) that they are no longer needed.  

On the Cover!

Just received the latest copy of PRESENCE which is "an international journal of spiritual direction".  This is vol.25, No.4 dated December 2019.  I am thinking that this is justifiable match for my work.  Although it wasn't my intention when I created this piece, whenever it has been exhibited the feedback I get is that it feels very biblical.  People have referenced different bible scenes, and even different bibles but it is the most common comment I receive.  It gives me pleasure to know that the editor also felt that it has a spiritual quality.  Although I am forever questioning the role that traditional religious practices play in finding peace, I do pursue a journey of inner spiritual peace and am happy to know that this is reflected in my creations.

Schweinfurth Art Center

On the Path II

An image of me with my work that had been juried into the prestigious Schweinfurth Art Center show in Auburn, New York this spring.  I certainly can tell how uncomfortable I am posing (and I am sure you can too) but apparently this is what is done since many artists around me at the opening were doing the same thing.  I have never been comfortable having my picture taken.  This evening was no exception.  

However there was great buzz in the gallery and it was a wonderful show.  An honour to be part of it.

This is a photo taken that evening that includes the entire piece.  If you recognize it as similar to my work that had been presented in Washington at the SAQA show, you would be correct.  I reworked the piece to include the suggestion of landscape and in so doing, I created a more solid shape. This is why I entitled it "On the Path II" .  I am not convinced that this was an improvement.  I think the floating figures without an obvious path left more to the imagination.  However, the first version was very complicated to photograph and to present.  In this version the exterior shape is very specific and so begs the viewer to understand why the shape is as it is.  

The bottom line for me is that it is all good learning, as I am on my path of learning and creating and learning and......