Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Still More To See

Catherine in Wonderland

For those of you who might not follow B.C. member Catherine Nicholls,  she has a piece in the exhibit "Wonderland" now showing through October 11 at the CityScape Community Art Space in North Vancouver.  Her piece is entitled "Jaberwocky" and she blogs about it -- and the opening reception last week -- HERE.


Where in Alberta is The Burgess Shale?

The Burgess Shale has begun its second year of touring with TREX under the auspices of the Alberta Society of Artists.  In order that some of the good folk in North-central and Northern Alberta get to see it, the exhibit will be travelling "up there" between now and the end of February.  It will then return to Southern Alberta for the remainder of its tour before it takes up permanent residence in B.C. near the site of the Burgess Shale excavation.
The Burgess Shale opened this tour September 3 at the Hinton Municipal Library, where it will remain through October 1.  October 10 through November 5 it will be on show at Peace River High School.  Additional tour dates can be found on our Networking Page.  If you have family and friends in these places, do let them know about the Project.  

Remember, though, if you wish to view it in a school setting, which is not generally open to the public, please contact the school and arrange an appointment in advance.  Thank you for your support!

Friday, September 19, 2014

"Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night..."*

*creed, US Postal Service

Shall keep determined artists from their workshop!

Shaganappi Community Hall -- without snow!
Eleven intrepid SAQA colleagues and friends drove carefully through heavy wet snow, by-passing fallen tree limbs, to attend our Calgary workshop with Susan Purney Mark on September 10th.  Another joined us later for the Parlour Meeting over lunch.

It was a time of learning, experimenting, and sharing amidst laughter and lively camaraderie inside the cozy log walls of the Shaganappi Community Hall in Southwest Calgary.

As the Co-Rep who initiated the event, I was blessed and thankful to have members Alison Cowitz, Marie McEachern and Helene Blanchet as my "feet on the ground" -- procuring the venue and helping with all the details of The Day -- including unexpected snow shovelling!

Susan led us in her "Colour It, Fuse It!" workshop...and the photos speak for themselves...


Susan PM introduces the workshop.

Starting to paint our fusible webs and inter-facings.
(L)-(R): Trudy, Diane, Marion Susan, Marie, Pat

Marion gets colourful with her fusibles,

Shalaya and Bush are focused!

During lunch, we had our SAQA Parlour Meeting.  Many of the participants had never met before the workshop, and were eager to get together and meet again in similar or smaller group(s).  Not having a formal "chapter" system like some organizations needn't be an impediment to meeting -- and members don't need a Co-Rep to be present! :-)  Ideally, though, Co-Reps will be kept informed about groups that form and what they are up to, so they can share information with the Region at large and with new members looking for a way to connect locally.  (Refer to the "May I Have a Word? Vol. 1, No. 2" article about the formal "Pod" system established by Co-Reps in Florida around major population centres.)

One Calgary member has offered to be a point person for a group there, with meetings starting in the spring (like many, she's a snow-bird)...and I know there are "clusters" who meet in various locales in B.C.  Why wait till spring?  Another issue of the newsletter will be going out soon...If you are interested in being "point person" for a small group where you are, contact me and I will forward that information on to the Region in the newsletter -- OR contact your Co-Rep (me in AB, Katie Stein Sather in B.C. and Dawn Piasta in SK/MB) so one of us can link you with members closer to home.

We ended off the lunch meeting with show and tell:

Trudy shows and tells us about her beautiful piece.
Susan's piece, A Bridge Between Equals
will be shown at  Quilts=Art=Quilts Schweinfurth Museum,
New York, November 1, 2014 - January 4, 2015
In addition to "Show" there was a "Tell" -- two bits of news from member Diane Duncan:

  • She has a piece included in the soon-to-be-released book, 1000 Quilt Inspirations! and
  • She and other Calgary-area SAQA members have pieces in a current exhibit by the Quilted Mouse Guild at the Fish Creek Library, 11161 Bonaventure Drive S.E., Calgary -- open Mondays-Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays, noon - 5 p.m.  The venue is light, bright and airy, which shows off the artwork beautifully.  This exhibit runs through September 27, so if you're in the area, do drop by!


After lunch -- fusing with foil!

Susan introduces the foiling technique

Trudy gets the pressure just right.

Examples of our foiling fun.

Foiling was followed by a session using stencils and thermo-fax screens -- each one of us got to select one of each to try and to take home for further experimentation.

Throughout the day we were invited to shop for more delights -- hand-dyed fabric and threads, more thermo-fax screens, stencils, etc. -- in Susan's Workshop Store.  We could also sign up to receive her newsletter, "Design Notes".

Susan's Workshop Store
All in all, the day sped by...so that we forgot that out on the back of the Community Hall property, it looked like this...

Limbs down over the sidewalk near the drive to the hall.

Again I am thankful to the members who helped this day to come to pass, to Susan Purney Mark for her light-hearted and skilled presentation, and to the enthusiasm of the members who want to carry the ball for future gatherings to share their art, and their knowledge, establishing connections and making friendships that continue to grow and establish the art quilting community.

The final word is from Diane, who sent me this photo of her finished piece from the workshop.  She wrote:
It is off to the retreat as part of our exchange!  My theme for the show and tell is 'exploring abstraction'!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

The 2014 Benefit Auction Opens Tomorrow!

Aspens in the Fall
Marie McEachern - Alberta
Monday, September 15, is the kick-off for the 2014 SAQA Benefit Auction.

Aspens in the Fall, contributed by Alberta member Marie McEachern, is in Section 1 -- the section for which online bidding begins tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Modern Circles 3
Terry Aske - B.C.
Also in Section 1 is Modern Circles 3 from B.C. member Terry Aske.

A third in Section 1: Mountain Pass from Patti Morris of Alberta.

Mountain Pass
Patti Morris, Alberta
On the Grid from Saskatchewan's Jaynie Himsl is in Section 2 (opening September 22 and running through September 27), as is Flywheel from Susan Purney Mark of B.C.
On the Grid
Jaynie Himsl - Saskatchewan







Susan's Calgary workshop, Colour It, Fuse It! on September 10 was a great success -- despite the heavy, wet snow.  Almost a dozen intrepid students made it -- stay tuned for a blog post about all the fun!

Flywheel 
Susan Purney Mark, B.C.


Yours truly's Reach for the Sky! is also part of Section 2
Reach for the Sky!
Margaret Blank, Alberta
while B.C.'s Anne Rayner-Gould contribution, Grey Sky, Bright Forest is in  Section 4 which opens for online bidding on October 27 and 28.










Section 4 is the section that will be available for in-person bidding at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, October 29-November 2.  Congratulations Anne!!


Grey Sky, Bright Forest
Anne Rayner-Gould, B.C.


Be sure to take time to check out these and all the rest of the creative contributions to this year's auction.  Perhaps you'll be inspired to purchase one for your own enjoyment -- and to make one to contribute in 2015!