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Quilts hanging on the Wainright Hotel,
Heritage Park, Calgary, Alberta - May 28-29, 2016 |
This year marked the twenty-first annual Festival of Quilts at
Heritage Park in Calgary, AB, held at the Park on May 28-29.
Part of the Festival's history and tradition is the selection of a Quilter of Distinction, often in keeping with the theme of the given year.
This year's theme was "Hearth, Home and Community"...and the Quilter of Distinction was SAQA member Margaret Jessop of Calgary.
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Introducing Quilter of Distinction 2016,
Margaret Jessop |
The piece to Margaret's immediate right in the photo is, in her words,
"...a self-portrait of me in 1990 - I'm holding the baby and there's silhouettes of the other 3, ages 2, 4 & 6."
When I spoke with Margaret about the award on my visit to Calgary in early April, she told me she was very nervous about the event, and wasn't sure the visitors to the Quilt Festival "would like it"...because, as far as one can tell, Margaret is the first QoD who has so few bed quilts in her repertoire.
From the look on her face, though, I think she and her work were well received by all in attendance!
In
this year's brochure, the Quilt Festival wrote this about selecting Margaret for this honour:
"It is with great excitement that the 2016 Festival of Quilts welcomes Margaret Jessop
as the Quilter of Distinction. Margaret is an acclaimed quilter, winning awards
from International, National, Provincial and Municipal quilt groups. Some of these
awards have been presented by the Canadian Quilt Association and International Quilt
Festival.
"Along with her amazing talent, Margaret also gives so much of her time and
talent to charities. Her quilts have been auctioned off for charitable causes and she has
volunteered with the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts and Quilt Canada. With this
year’s theme of Hearth, Home and Community, there is no one better than Margaret to
showcase the importance of all three. Margaret has had to
overcome obstacles such as losing her studio to the 2013
floods and the losses of her daughter and mother in 2014.
"Through all of that, her artistic self remained steadfast and
she has continued to create beautiful pieces of art.
Margaret’s journey into the fabric art/quilting world
began over 30 years ago. Her first quilt was for her four year-old
daughter. Margaret took a course from Dianne
Sutton and made the quilt. From there she was hooked.
Now she has close to 250 quilts to her credit, most of
which are art quilts.
"It is evident when looking at her work
that she is inspired by personal experience, and she leans
toward familiar subject, people and surroundings. Some of her most memorable pieces
include portraits of her children, and the landscapes of her favourite places.
"Moving
forward, Margaret says her challenges are to create original fabric work influenced by
fine art and craft knowledge, and to continue working full time in her home studio.
"Margaret has successfully been the student, teacher, wife, mother and inspirational
artist to those in the quilting community. She has fully committed herself to her art
form, which is evident with her involvement with four different guilds, becoming an
ACAD* graduate, quilting in her own studio and still finding time to quilt for charity.
In her own words, 'My work makes me happy and I’m sure I will spend the rest of my
life exploring new techniques and ideas.' The Festival of Quilts hopes this honour gives
credit to her body of work thus far and we will continue to watch for what is new in the future of her quilting legacy."
*Alberta College of Art and Design
And now, a retrospective of some of her work, for your enjoyment:
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A Carolina Patchwork pattern
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Moving more into her own creations...
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| Margaret talks about her work |
Behind her (clockwise from left, above): "Dream Tree", "Ode to Emily Carr", "Caste Mountain" and "Heart of the Rockies".
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"Mirror Lake" - inspired by Group of Seven
painter, Frank Carmichael |
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| A series of family and other portraits |
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| Dale the Woodworker -- with his portrait |
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| Anna -- with her portrait |
It's clear that in addition to the inspiration of her family and her Alberta home -- in the Foothills of the Canadian Rockies, Margaret enjoys working with colour, and has a real sense of whimsy...such as is found in her "Catfish" series:
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| "Sparky" |
Congratulations on your award, Margaret! I'm sure your SAQA colleagues will join me in wishing you many more years of creativity and enjoyment -- and we thank you for sharing your work with us.
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| Margaret with her award |
Photo credits -- with thanks -- Marie McEachern and the artist herself.
