New Mentorship Webinar: Organization PLUS!

Are you naturally organized about your art work and studio practice...or...could you use a little help?

Desi Vaughn, SAQA Rep Co-ordinator, has asked us to pass this information on to you from Deborah Boschert and the SAQA Education Committee...

"I’m thrilled to announce the first Mentorship Webinar for 2015. Please join us for “Inventory, Productivity and Organization!”   

SAQA members Barb McKie, Susie Monday and Jane Davila will share techniques they use to track inventory of their artwork, maximize productivity and stay organized as active, professional artists. Whether you use a Mac, a PC, an iPad or pen and paper, you’ll find some nuggets of inspiration for new ways to stay organized and productive." -- Deborah Boschert

SAQA Mentorship Webinar: Inventory, Productivity and Organization!

When? Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 12 noon Eastern Time

Please click the following link to register:

 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2699006742228219906

NOTE: registration is limited, but all SAQA members will have access to the full audio and video recording of the webinar on the SAQA website within a few days after the event.  -- This is a good thing, because I'm at my "day job" on Tuesdays... :-)

"Meet the Best of the West": It lives on ....on the Internet

When "Meet the Best of the West" wound up its tour in August 2014, nine of the artists decided to donate their 12" square pieces to the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction.  This week I've been completing the online submissions for these pieces, preparatory to delivering them to the curator, Gale Oppenheim-Pietrzak.

Should be easy, right?  Well...one of the members seems to have let her membership lapse, and I can't find her.  I've sent an e-mail...with no reply.

That said, in my search for Linda Sharp of North Vancouver (Yoo-hoo, Linda!  Are you out there?!)...I found an article that was published about the "Best of the West" exhibit...in the Red Deer Advocate...dated January 10, 2014.

In "Art Quilt Themes Run Deep", author Lana Michelin took the time and care to describe 10 of the 37 pieces that showed at the Kiwanis Gallery, Red Deer, through March 2 of last year, noting, "The...art quilts exhibited...are each only a foot square, but depict everything from detailed birds' nests to an expansive lake..."

You can check it out HERE...and take a trip down Memory Lane.

Meanwhile, if you know Linda, please tell her to contact me!  (margblank AT xplornet DOT ca)  Thanks!

Do You Live With Art?

More specifically, do you live with your own art on your walls at home?  Thanks to blogger Elle Pukalo for THIS LINK to a blog entitled "The Altered Page".  Seth, the writer of that blog, has been posting weekly examples of how other artists live with art -- some of them in very small places.

He points out that in blog posts, most artists share current projects, or process...but rarely give readers a glimpse into how they've incorporated art into their own living space.  Guilty as charged!

So...how about it?  I know...you've been sad and sorry contributors to "On and Off Our Walls" (shows, projects under construction, process discoveries, workshops you've attended) and "What's in Your Library?" (book reviews)...but perhaps I could persuade you, SAQA colleagues, to share some of the art spaces in your own homes?

I'll kick this off...

My home in Mirror is a good 300 square feet smaller than my former home in Calgary -- 1,600 square feet smaller if you count the fact that out here I have no basement!  To boot, the wall space is rather broken up -- not just by windows and doors, but by openings (one between living room and kitchen) and by cupboards and closets -- including the closet that houses my furnace and the one that houses my hot water tank!

Still, I am fond of art...paintings, prints, textiles, and craft items.  Most of the art I've stuffed into this small space wasn't made by me.  Rather, it's memorabilia: needlework done by my mother, hand-painted plates done by my godmother's mother, paintings and prints purchased on or for special occasions.

That said, here are some examples of more recent work by others...and by me:

On a wall in my studio
Made by Hand - 2013 - 12" x 12" -  Susan Lenz

On top of the book case in my studio:
(L) - My "muse" - unsigned - can't recall artist...
(Centre) - a "stitched painting" by Susan Purney-Mark

On a wall in my living room:
My Back Yard - made  by me
in a class with Pamela Allen at Quilt Canada 2010

To share some of the art with which you live, e-mail me at margblankATxplornetDOTca.

Just a Hint...

This morning I received an e-mail from Catherine Nicholls with permission to share a photo or two from her blog...so here are two detail shots that give you just a hint of what you'll see if you attend the Seventh Annual  "Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation" exhibit at the Silk Purse Gallery, opening March 31:

(C) Catherine Nicholls - Detail 1

(C) Catherine Nicholls - Detail 2

In a word: delightful!  Thanks, Catherine!

Spring Shows to See - Part II

Synesthesia 24: Golden Yellow
Lesley Turner

In addition to "People & Places" showing in Manitoba, I know of at least three shows in B.C. that have opened this month.  All have been listed on the "Networking" page of this blog, but here are a few visuals:

Synesthesia 4: Spring Green
Lesley Turner

In addition to her participation in "Edge of the Forest", B.C. member Lesley Turner is showing several pieces in an exhibit entitled "Small Expressions" which opened March 4 at the Tulista Gallery in Sidney, B.C. under the auspices of the Community Arts Council of the Saanich Penninsula.  The show runs through March 29.  If you're in the area, do treat yourself to a viewing of her little gems.


Meanwhile, B.C. member Catherine Nicholls is involved in three exhibits!  The first is "Mended", a group exhibit presented by the Surface Design Association - B.C. and The Yukon -- which includes work by several SAQA members:

Participants who are SAQA members include:

• Anni Hunt
• Linda Ingham
• Barbara McCaffery
• Catherine Nicholls
• Susan Purney-Mark
• Kristin Rohr
• Jill Sullivan
• Lily Thorne
• Patt Wilson

"Mended" opens March 17 at Il Museo, part of the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver; from there it travels to Fibreworks Gallery on the Sunshine Coast (August 20 - October 4) and next year, to the Place des Arts in Coquitlam, B.C.

At the same time, Catherine has a solo show opening March 17 at the City Atrium Gallery in the North Vancouver, B.C.  Note that it runs through May 11, and that Catherine will be giving an Artist's Talk the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24:

AND....at the end of March, some of Catherine's work will be included in the exhibit, "Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation", opening March 31 at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver.

I await Catherine's permission to post particular photos of her work on this site, but meanwhile, you can catch up with her on her own blog HERE.

P.S.  Special thanks to members Terry Aske, Karen Johnson and Jaynie Himsl who are going to be at Quilt Canada 2015 in Lethbridge, AB (June 4-6) and who, though they are volunteering at the Fibre Art Network booth and elsewhere, have offered to spell me off a bit at the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show (Section "F") booth.  I will be "personing" the booth most of the time between June 4 and June 6...If anyone else would like to volunteer to ensure I don't starve, thirst (coffee!) or otherwise injure myself (ahem!)...please e-mail me at margblank@xplornet.ca.

And thanks for your support!

Spring Shows to See - Part I

My head's spinning!  Word has come this week of several shows in which SAQA Western Canada members are participating.  These have been listed on the "Networking" page for future reference, but here's a peek about what's going on...

In Selkirk, Manitoba, MB member Valerie Wilson (Facebook link) and her colleague, Susan Selby have opened People and Places at the Gwen Fox Gallery, 101 - 250 Manitoba Avenue.  Valerie has given permission for me to share photos taken by blogger and art enthusiast Elle Pukalo:

Stepping Out - Valerie Wilson
Photo: the artist

Isabel (the Debutante) - Detail
Valerie Wilson
Photo: Elle Pukalo

The Birches - Susan Selby
Photo: Elle Pukalo
Sorry, folks...this one's already been SOLD! :-)

Chokecherries - Susan Selby
Photo: Elle Pukalo

And...there's more exhibiting happening in B.C. -- so stay tuned for Part II!

On and Off Our Walls: Terry Aske

Recently, B.C. member Terry Aske posted on her blog the delightful news that one of her pieces has been featured on the cover of the Spring 2015 issue of The Canadian Quilter, a publication for members of the Canadian Quilters Association.  I asked Terry if she would share with her SAQA colleagues. Here's what she wrote:

When I was invited by the Canadian Quilters’ Association (CQA/ACC) to donate a 12 x 16 inch quilt for the ‘It’s Time for Colour!’* traveling quilt show, I had several ideas for colorful subject matter - tulips, fall foliage and sunsets all came to mind.   But I decided to create yet another version of one of my favorite themes – Rainy Day People.

I live in Vancouver, B.C. which is located in a spectacular scenic location between the ocean and mountains. With a temperate sea climate, we have mild but very dark, wet, dreary winters. After weeks of gray rainy weather, I’m always cheered when I see a pedestrian carrying a brightly colored umbrella. The idea of a quilt featuring people with bright umbrellas percolated in my head for a long time before I finally incorporated into my fiber art.  

In 2012, I created the first of my Rainy Day People series (the title ‘Rainy Day People’ was inspired by a wonderful song by Gordon Lightfoot, a great Canadian singer-songwriter).

To date, I have created 6 pieces with this theme, all featuring dark pedestrians carrying colorful umbrellas - including one for the SAQA 2013 online auction, and one for the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show.*   More information about the series can be found here in my blog.

For the 'It's Time for Colour!' exhibit, instead of dark adult pedestrians, my art quilt features two small girls with huge adult-sized umbrellas (based on photos I took of a little girl last year).   I dressed them in bright, cheerful colors to contrast with the rainy gray background, and added colorful reflections on the wet ground.

I was thrilled when the editor of The Canadian Quilter magazine asked if I would like to have my 'Rainy Day Girls’ on the cover of the Spring issue - now they are Cover Girls! 

Terry's "Cover Girls"

In addition to being on the cover of this Spring 2015 issue, Terry's quilt appears again in Laine Canivet's article about the "It's Time for Colour" exhibit, page 48 -- and in the same issue, an article about the Fibre Art Network's exhibit, "Abstracted", for which she partnered with her sister to create a realistic and an abstracted piece -- "Solitude I" (Terry's) and "Solitude II" (her sister, Anne de Verteuil's).

Congratulations, Terry! 

*"It's Time for Colour" has been travelling through Canada in two shows of 19 pieces each under the auspices of the Children's Wish Foundation.  Those of you who are attending Quilt Canada in Lethbridge, AB this year (June 4-6) will have an opportunity to see all 38 pieces of this exhibit at the end of it's one-year tour.

**Terry's contribution to the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show is touring as part of "Trunk Show B", currently travelling in the Alabama/Arkansas/Mississippi/Louisiana Region through the end of March and going from there to Southern Indiana (April) and from there to the Catskill Mountain Quilters Hall of Fame and the Calico Geese, Liberty, New York (May 11).

If you're part of an exhibit, if you've won an award, if you've been published, if you're having a creative adventure of any kind -- please share it with your SAQA colleagues!  To tell us what you've been up to, contact margblank@xplornet.ca -- and we'll work out the details!