Please send a photo, short bio and / or news of accomplishments you are eager to share!
Forward this information to your AB SAQA rep Margaret Blank.
Last updated: May 2, 2016.
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Like many my love affair with fabric started when I young. My grandmother taught me how to sew on her old Singer foot pedal sewing machine making rag dolls and Barbie clothes. Years later with the help of summer sewing jobs, I obtained a degree in Fine Arts, majoring in ceramic sculpture. Twenty years later, with the passing of my grandmother, I found expression through making a memory quilt to honour her and what she had taught me. One thing lead to another and I found my way back to fabric and a new creative medium...art quilts. The move from creating ceramic tile wall pieces to fabric art quilts seemed like a natural transition: both are piecing together of parts to make a whole.
Most of what I have learned about art quilting has been self-taught. My main techniques are piecing, fused appliqué, thread sketching/painting and fabric painting. I also like to take fabric to a 3-dimensional realm in making fabric vessels. I often use photos I have taken in my travels through life, incorporate drawings I have done or just let my imagination run and play. I always remain open to learn new techniques and use whatever works in order for the piece to say what I want it to say. More often then not, my work incorporates a mixture of all of the above.
My motivation comes from a need and love to create things. My inspiration comes from mother nature, human nature and the world around me. I try to express a symbolic narrative of the effect these have on my inner being and reflect it to other to see and hopefully feel something of what I felt.
My work has been shown in local galleries in the Vancouver Lower Mainland area, published in art quilt magazines and has been shown and won awards in national juried competitions.
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| Clematis |
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| Blue Moon |
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I began quilting in 1999 by making bedding for my first-born daughter. I quickly discovered that I'd found a creative outlet that had no limitations.
Over the years I developed as a quilter and began to explore different techniques. Eventually I discovered I could combine my passion for nature, photography and fibres into one.
Today I teach a variety of different classes sharing my love for creating landscapes using various different techniques. Recently my fibre art was published in the 1000 Quilt Inspirations book. I have had my work on display at National Juried shows, local venues and currently I have a piece that has been travelling for the past 2 years. Several of my pieces can be found around the world. In addition to my passion for creating art I work full-time in Health Care and have 3 beautiful daughters. In accepting the SAQA Western Canada co-rep position I am committed to helping you make the most of your membership.
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My name is Dawn Piasta. When I was eight years old my mother gave me a sewing book
and the supplies to make a doll; I made three dolls and a blanket. I never looked back!
Shortly after I began quilting, I showed my young son a quilt
pattern I was working on; he agreed that it was quite nice. It was something he said that day
that changed my direction, “Mom, don’t
you think that you can create your own designs?” He made me think long and
hard, and he was right.
My quilts are an extension of my life and the experiences I
have had. A vacation, a song, a
person, a flower or simply a feeling that inspires me. I want to make a difference with my
art. Whether it is an awareness of
a humanitarian matter or an expression of a moment in time I want to give
viewers a sense of my passion for the subject matter.
Most of my art begins with a photograph that I have taken. My
artistic style is eclectic and constantly changing depending on my subject
matter and mood. I am a work in
progress. My favorite technique is
machine stitched appliqué and I am happiest when the country music is loud and
I am top-stitching with my Janome.
I am proud to have been the President of our local quilt
guild since 2010, member of the Fiber Arts Network in Canada, and the Canadian
Quilters Association. I enjoy
teaching and promoting the art of quilting. I hope to one day teach outside of my region.
I have had the opportunity to show a number of pieces
internationally through my participation of challenges hosted by
QuiltForChange.org. It is thanks
to this association that I learned about SAQA. I am amazed at the incredible works of art SAQA member’s
produce and the strong support system offered to members. I look forward to the connections I will make.
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| SHE DANCES, 2012; 50.5" x 41" |
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Dreamscapes Studio
Fabric artist:
Background:
- Teacher, painter, printmaker
Education:
- B.ED. Alberta; M.ED. UBC; Goldsmith’s School of Art, University of London
- Emily Carr School of Art; paper making; viscosity etching
Themes:
- Dreamscapes portray dancers, animals and other creatures juxtaposed in unexpected settings. The dancers symbolize a freedom from gravity, temporary, but based on discipline and hard work
- Saturna dream landscapes combine visual elements from different locations.
- Imagery is of central importance in expressing my ideas
Working Methods:
- Work in a series as one idea leads to the next
- Revisit previous pieces to build up additional layers of texture and thread painting
- Use hand-dyed silk, cottons, and also commercial fabrics for their slinky, textured, novelty surfaces
- Paint on silk with dyes( using watercolour techniques) for whole cloth images
- Cut the fabric in intricate shapes and then collage in layers with machine stitching
- Draw with thread using machine embroidery and free motion stitching
- Add foil, paint, stamping, drawing and other surface design techniques to add texture and an illusion of depth
- Machine quilt three or more layers together to add texture and depth
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| Resurfacing |
Coreen is a well sought after instructor who enjoys exciting her students into creating their own masterpieces. Fibre art in quilting is her passion and she has won and received much recognition for her work.
One of her most recent achievements was winning the Manitoba 2010 Homecoming quilt competition and having the quilt displayed at the 2010 Olympics in Manitoba House at Vancouver, BC. This same quilt also won Best in Country at the Worlds 2011.
Currently she is working on a commission for the Vancouver Island Correctional Center.
When not teaching or travelling, she lives with her husband on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo, BC.
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| TEAMING WITH LIFE, 48" H x 64" W |
Judith Panson was born in England and has lived in Canada since 1965. She graduated in fine art from Plymouth and London Universities where she majored in fabric design and minored in pottery.
She has taught art at all levels from elementary through college and has worked at various arts related positions including design studio, pottery studio, department store window dresser, illustrating for greeting cards, a cookbook publisher and most recently illustrating early readers for Blueberry Hill Publications.
She came late to quilting having been using fabric as a medium to produce her work instead of paint and glaze for less than twelve years.
Her work has been in gallery solo shows in Manitoba and Mexico. Group shows in New Zealand, Ontario, Nova Scotia, the Western Provinces including Manitoba, in the states of New Mexico, Colorado and Florida. She has won awards in juried shows in both Manitoba and Ontario for water media, printmaking and quilted wall hangings.
Her quilts have been in the Quilt Canada national juried show, winning three prizes (two firsts and a second) at Manitoba Prairie Quilters’ Quilt Reflections in 2005 and a first, second and Best of Show in Quilt Reflections 2008, and a first in Quilt Reflections 2012. Her work hangs in both corporate and private collections in Mexico, Australia, Canada, England, Switzerland and the United States of America.
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| ANCIENT STRENGTHS, 2012 - 34"h x 24" w |
Karen Jurek, Cochrane, AB NOTE: May 2016 Update: Karen's piece, "CU Around" is currently touring with the SAQA International Exibit, Radical Elements.
Thanks to retirement many years ago, I am able to concentrate on my passions: My husband, my family (especially my 3 young grandchildren), and quilting!--- and not necessarily in that order!
I and my retired military husband have lived around the world. I practiced nursing (RN) where I could and raised two girls who are my pride and joy. They have gifted me with three lovely
grandchildren whom I always spoil, as is Grandma’s right! I have made them a total of 22 quilts so far!
I tried every craft there ever was, but when I ‘found’ quilting, I found
home! This began in 1990 when I took a beginner’s class in a local quilt
shop in the Ottawa area. My first two quilts were done by hand; I’ve since
become a total machine artist – “too much fabric; too little time”! Although I started with traditional quilts, I became fascinated by ‘art quilts’ and have been devoting my efforts in the recent past with this form of innovative quilting. I also had a long-arm quilting business for six years, from which I retired in 2007.
I have attended many large quilt shows in the USA and taken classes from many famous and talented teachers. I attended ACAD in Calgary for an art course and now am focusing on quilt judging, as well as creating my own art quilts. In Spring of 2009, I successfully completed the CQA/ACC Quilt Judge Course and Certification. I have judged many shows and wish to continue this type of
work. In recent years I have been ‘bitten’ by the competitive bug and have been fortunate to have won numerous ribbons and awards. My quilts have been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. This has given my husband and me an excuse to travel throughout Canada, USA, and Japan.
I was very busy as Co-Chairperson for Quilt Canada 2010, the national onferencce for The Canadian Quilters’ Association. (April 26 to May 1, 2010 in Calgary). The Conference was very successful and numerous raves were submitted by many quilters!
I am an active member (& teacher) for three groups: Big Hill Quilters, Cochrane Quilters both in Cochrane, AB and F.O.G. (Fiber Optics Group) in Calgary. I am surely inspired by my fellow artists in this art quilt group!
Quilting is my passion! I have learned to do what pleases me and enjoy the process. Color, new fabrics, photos, and dreams often motivate me. I enjoy working with mixed media and textiles other than cotton. I usually do not sell my art and create just for pleasure.
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| MSASA Tree, 72" h x 67" w |
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Wendy is a fiber artist and quilt instructor living in Red Deer,
Alberta. Her interest in art
started early in life with her sewing most of her own clothes and experimented
with oil painting nature scenes. She
challenged herself and self taught herself many different art forms – needlework from cross stitch,
embroidery, paper tole, knitting, and oil painting but it did not include quilting at the time.
In 2000 she was introduced and became addicted to quilting. Being left handed it seemed the
artistic side was a natural and a bond was born. Now that she is retired from Municipal management after thirty years,
her fiber art has moved to the forefront. Free motion quilting became her specialty at the beginning.
Her passion to learn new skills and techniques are being incorporated in
her art. Art quilts of nature and
landscapes have allowed her to experiment with different elements for surface
texture. She is now including
abstract with nature.
She has taken classes and learned from local, Provincial, National and International
instructors over the last ten
years such as Phil Beaver, Libby Lehman, Cynthia England, Joyce Becker, Kathy
Sandbach, Carol Taylor, Carol Porter, Margie Davidson and Patti Morris. Completion of the Master
Quilting Degree program through Earthly Goods of Edmonton, Alberta, was
completed in 2011.
Wendy has won numerous awards at the Red Deer Quilt Show and Red Deer
Exhibition over the years. She has
displayed her artwork the last two years at the Gramma-Link Africa fundraiser
featuring local artists. She has sold some of her art and has done commissioned
quilts.
Her present focus is on art quilts incorporating different techniques
she has learned making a blend between her world travel experiences and
inspirations resulting in creation
of an art quilt.
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| WENDY'S TREE II: ALBERTA IN THE FALL, 34" h x 19.75" w |
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Hélène Blanchet, formerly of Calgary, AB*
*NOTE: 2016 update: Helene has relocated to the Maritimes and is currently an active member of SAQA Atlantic Canada Region.
Hélène
has been dabbling in fibre arts ever since she can remember and has been
quilting on and off for about 20 years. She is self-taught and describes
herself as a textile folk artist. She has taken a few workshops, mostly in
fabric dyeing, and loves anything textile related.
For several years her husband’s work gave them the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world while homeschooling their three children. These travels nourished her love of traditional textiles of all kinds, old and new, and have had tremendous influence on her work. She draws inspiration from these traditions, the natural world, and her family.
For several years her husband’s work gave them the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world while homeschooling their three children. These travels nourished her love of traditional textiles of all kinds, old and new, and have had tremendous influence on her work. She draws inspiration from these traditions, the natural world, and her family.
Hélène
became an empty-nester in 2007 and turned her hand full time to the fibre arts.
She busied herself entering juried shows; locally, nationally and
internationally and won several ribbons. In 2009 she and her husband moved
off-grid to a cabin in the woods in the Cape Breton Highlands to “get their
bearings”. This quiet period in
the deep woods continues to ring in her soul.
They recently moved to Calgary and are embarking on the next chapter of their lives. Hélène is very keen and eager to explore what the West has to offer and recently took a seasonal job as gardener so she can continue her needlework in the cooler months. Her love of the needle arts continues.
They recently moved to Calgary and are embarking on the next chapter of their lives. Hélène is very keen and eager to explore what the West has to offer and recently took a seasonal job as gardener so she can continue her needlework in the cooler months. Her love of the needle arts continues.
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| JELLY BELLY, 29" h x 25" w |
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Ilse is an Alberta-based professional artist who has lived in the province since 1966. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1980 having majored in fibre art and minored in printing.
She has an established career as a professional artist showing her artwork widely across Canada, the US and overseas. In 1992 she turned to introducing quilting techniques to her artwork and built on her previous reputation. Her works have been juried into national and international exhibitions and published in several books and magazines.
She taught both children’s and adult art classes for the Alberta College of Art and Design’s Continuing Education Department from 1991 until 2006 when she retired from her teaching career.
Her landscape art work is strongly influenced by the Alberta prairie and foothills environment in which she lives. She is fascinated by the way natural and human forces alter and redefine her environment. Working with these visible environmental changes she creates both 2-D and 3-D artwork using materials such as fabrics, recycled leather, hand-felted wool and papier mâché to comment on issues of landscape, land use and environmental preservation.
She also creates conceptual art work motivated by instinctual responses to family and personally significant life experiences using the materials necessary to express her feelings best.
With her art, she investigates and explores the fibre art medium’s boundaries creating a marriage of formal artistic principles with old and new techniques for working with fibres.
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| MUST WE BEAR CROSSES; 39" h x 31"w |
I was born on the East Coast of the United States. My family moved to Richmond B. C. so the family could break new ground to raise cranberries.
Empty nest and my quilting took off, with large and small quilts. I joined our local quilt guild and got introduced to art quilts. When I was asked to join Quilters Out of Bounds, I was ready. Enjoying the painting, dyeing, pen work and other applications keeps me on the journey.
Shows:
1. 2007: Sunshine Coast Art Centre.
2. 2006 – present: One-0-One Office Supply Group Shows.
3. 2011: Displayed through Studio Art Quilts at Sunshine Coast Quilters’ Guild show.
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| TRESS, 11 1/4"h x 19 3/4 w |
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As a young child I learned to sew, knit and
embroider. In my forties, I added quilting to my repertoire, while
raising two children and supporting an ailing husband.
For thirty years I was supremely organized,
responsible and competent -- by turns a nurse, a credit-and-collections
officer, an investment advisor, a financial planning report writer and workshop
facilitator. At age fifty, I
discovered my right brain, and began to experiment with fabric, fibre, floss,
paint and dye. At first it was grief therapy; I entered "the
Zone" to escape the challenges of my husband’s illness, which was taking
its toll on our entire family.
Now the practice of textile art has become pure
joy: loose and spontaneous design married to skilled stitchery and
embellishment. I love the look and feel of layers: fabric weaving,
rough-edged appliqué, free-form machine and/or hand-stitching, including beads,
buttons and ribbon where the Muse warrants. I use my art to interpret in
textiles the world around me, inspired by my rural hamlet, where every street
ends in trees.
Contact me:
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| NOBODY HERE BUT US, 2011; approx. 14" x 17" |
I am a fibre artist with a passion for learning new techniques and utilizing them in many ways in my art. Art quilts and landscape quilts have allowed me to use mixed media to design wall hangings which reflect my joy of life.
The opportunity to travel the world has enabled me to integrate the culture and heritage of different nationalities into my work. My inspiration comes from places and things I see. Kenya batiks, silk paintings of India, beading of Cree Indians in northern Alberta to the views of fields and mountains from my windows, provide me with a plethora of ideas. The wonder of colours, textures and designs in the landscapes and art of the world truly motivates me.
My use of surface design techniques such as painting, dyeing, stamping and resists, allow me to create fabric that is unique for each piece of art. Embellishment with stitching, beading, foiling or whatever else catches my fancy finishes the pieces.
My fibre art creations have been shown in High River and the surrounding Foothills. I have been juried into art shows and sold numerous pieces. I am a CQA/ACC Certified Judge.
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| FRENCH HOUSE, 23" X 27" |
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Ana Buzzalino is a fiber artist and quilt instructor living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She has taken numerous workshops with renowned quilt and fiber artists throughout the years to improve her skills.
Some of the workshops have been with Hollis Chatelain, Laura Cater Woods, Katie Pasquini Massopoust, and Elizabeth Barton among others. She has also attended various classes at the Alberta College of Arts and Design.
Ana has been a teacher on a variety of quilting techniques for the past 22 years. Some of the recent workshops have been on Machine Quilting with focus on free-motion quilting, and New York Beauties Blocks quilts, which is one of her interests. Her present focus is on Art Quilts, incorporating different elements for surface texture: painting, screen printing, dyeing, embroidery, beading, etc.
Ana's quilts have won several awards at local and national shows, and have been juried into major International shows.
Publications:
2012:
Quilting Arts TV Series 1000 – 6 segments
InStitches Volume 6 – 1 segment
2011
"Off the Page: Sketchbook Keeping for Textile Artists" - Quilting Arts Magazine - Holiday 11/12
Quilting Arts TV Series 900 - 3 segments
"The Big Decision - How to quilt your quilt" - International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene 2011
Quilting Arts Workshop DVD "Machine Stitching and Painting Quilts"
"A Quilter's Christmas" - Quilting Arts Gifts Magazine - Holiday 2011/2012
Quilting Arts TV: Series 800 - 3 Segments
"Fresh Tulips Book Cover" - Summer 2011 - A Needle Pulling Thread
101 Patchwork Projects - "Strippy Book Cover" - Spring 2011
2010
"Quilted and Painted Canvases" - Quilting Arts Magazine - December/January - Article & Cover
"Sopa Rosita" - Quilting Arts Magazine - October/November - Calendar Challenge 2011, Judge's Choice
"Creative Play with Discharge Paste" - Quilting Arts Magazine - August/September - Article & Cover
2009
"Two Pears" - January - Quilting Arts Calendar
2008
"On the Wings of a Dream" - Cover of AQS Magazine - February/March
"Moments" - Journal Quilt - Quilting Arts Magazine - February/March
2007
Calgary Herald - "Blockbuster of a Quilt" - Neighbors Section - North & South Editions, December 6-12
2006
Calgary Herald - "Wrapped Up" - Neighbors Section - North & South Editions, August 3-9
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| THE BLUE DOOR; 28" H X 31" W |
North Vancouver, BC
Colour, image and texture fascinate me. To achieve these on fabric, be it cotton or silk, has become a passion. Using a variety of surface design techniques, including dyeing, discharge, screen printing, resisting, crayoning, cursing, toiling, troubling, stitching … an intriguing blend of layers is possible. I love to play with all things fibre, and lately I've been exploring eco leaf pigment dyeing and indigo shibori.
Recently retired from teaching elementary school, it's now my time to play - in our mountains, with the birds or with fabric.
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| THERE WERE SO MANY..., 18" x 54"; Cotton, rusted, dyed, text transfer, hand embroidered |
My background is in teaching, physical education to be
precise, I concentrated particularly on performing arts training. This included
ballet, jazz, and gymnastics with an emphasis on dance and choreography.
As I look back on my early years, it is surprising how many
elements from that background became incorporated into my work as a fabric
artist. With dance, for example, I took the emphasis on the visual spatial
components of body moving through space; in addition, the structure of dance
design constitutes a physical narrative form that has much in common with the
way I generate fabric art. In addition, so many of the parameters of fabric art
were present already in those early years: the emphasis on shape, line, color
motion, repetition, foreground versus background. There was also the sense of
drama, rhythm, balance and focus. Finally, when you are dealing with Olympic
level gymnastics routines, one develops a
sense of discipline and recognizes
need to persevere. These
became 2nd nature to my work then and now.
Unofficially, I started quilting in 1981, taking as many
quilting classes as could fit in as a busy working mother. After moving to
Vancouver Island, I was finally able to concentrate on in-depth quilting .
These were the years when I absorbed the essentials of traditional quilting and
came to appreciate how they laid the foundation for future developments in
fiber art.
Everyone has a moment in time when they feel themselves
changing and beginning to shape a unique artistic vision. By 2001 my interest
had shifted to art quilt forms for walls, but it was my encounter with Nancy
Crow over five different workshops that enabled me to totally rethink my
position vis-à-vis my art. For me, those workshops opened up the world of
abstract contemporary art and the potential that it represented as a source for
the kind of fabric art I wanted to create. As I began to enter my works into
various shows, that huge potential began to translate itself in my various
works. I became hungry for different techniques and for different materials
that would enable me to express myself in the most satisfying way. I was thrilled with the way in which my
Epson printer permitted me to digitally produce unusual fabrics on such
materials as Lutradur, cheesecloth, burlap, canvas, silk, polyesters, felts, my
own dyed cottons, and Tyvek. I would try and fit into my printer whatever would
give me the desired texture. Along with this came experimentation with pre-and
post-treating fabrics, using paints as well as heat tools, and attaching those
fabrics in different ways, using foils and thread painting to develop even
greater texture.
These days the world of art is an exciting place of infinite
possibilities. I feel myself merging techniques past and present, reaching out
hungrily for all that the world has to offer in color, shape, form and fabric.
Every day I wake up ready to go, ready to embark on a new studio adventure.
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| ARBUTUS BARK #4 |
I’ve been involved in one form of art or another since early childhood. Drawing gave way to sewing in high school home ec., when we were instructed to make an apron. After being severely criticized for my color choice of chartreuse and some alterations I had made to the pattern, it occurred to me that I might like to explore textiles as a hobby.
But being involved in every sport possible meant that I had no time to pursue art.
Later on when my daughters were involved in dance, they came home one day with a pattern and instructions from their dance teacher that they both needed costumes for their recital, which was taking place one week from that time. In a panic, and not owning a sewing machine, I sewed the costumes by hand and again discovered that I rather liked playing with fabrics and different fibers. And once more, life put up detours, and no art was done for many years. I like to think of this period of my life as my “previous incarnation.”
But being involved in every sport possible meant that I had no time to pursue art.
Later on when my daughters were involved in dance, they came home one day with a pattern and instructions from their dance teacher that they both needed costumes for their recital, which was taking place one week from that time. In a panic, and not owning a sewing machine, I sewed the costumes by hand and again discovered that I rather liked playing with fabrics and different fibers. And once more, life put up detours, and no art was done for many years. I like to think of this period of my life as my “previous incarnation.”
Since then, I have had the opportunity to explore many different art forms – needlework from cross stitch to embroidery, pottery, sculpture, traditional quilting and so on. Regardless of what medium I was working in, I always seemed to drift back to fiber.
In the last few years, I’ve taken courses in Art & Design, Hand Stitch and Machine Embroidery from the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center in WA. I’ve also attended workshops from artists such as Anna Hergert, and Gloria Loughman. I am currently enrolled in a City and Guilds Creative Quiltmaking course with Linda and Laura Kemshall. I simply love taking courses and expect that I’ll continue to do this. I also enjoy learning new techniques and new materials.
On a personal note, I live about 12 km south of Saskatoon on an acreage with my talented husband Adrian, an assortment of critters and a huge garden. Even after officially retiring several years ago, I went back to work regularly until about a year ago, when I finally hung up 9 to 5 and settled into just doing artwork. I’ve been playing with art for most of my life, but it’s only recently that I’ve allowed myself the luxury of doing it full time. My current goal is to produce a body of work based on the experimentation that I’ve done over the past few years.
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| CALENDULA, 23.5" x 19.5" |
Being a child in the days of rationing and learning to make things last left an imprint on Gloria and that personal experience often surfaces in her ability to capture and find beauty in what is old and worn. Storytelling is stitched into her embroidered wall hangings, encouraging the viewer to see their own story as they become one with the art.
She often combines traditional methods with contemporary techniques, found materials with new textiles. Gloria’s ability to capture the essence and spiritual message of her subject whether her work is on fine silk or used blankets is evident as her work is exhibited in both group and solo shows across North America, Japan, Australia, or Europe. Gloria and her partner Jim live in the Cowichan Valley on a rural property. It takes her 150 steps to reach her dream studio where creativity and spirituality connect.
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| SNOW COUNTRY - Winter Night; no shame in patches , full view |
Margie Davidson is a quilt artist and surface designer in Edmonton, Alberta. Her love of colour is joyfully expressed through the fabrics she paints and the quilts she creates.
Equally important to Margie is her role as an educator. She has a Bachelor of Education and has taken a variety of art courses. Margie is an entertaining speaker and a supportive instructor. She loves teaching quilters and enjoys sharing ideas about colour theory and design principles to encourage the creation of individual quilts in her classes. Margie also taught children and adults at the Art Gallery of Alberta where she was employed as an educator for six years.
Margie developed her own quilt making skills by taking local classes and attending conferences from 1994 to the present to study with world-renowned instructors. A quiltmaker for over 25 years, Margie received awards in the CQA/ACC National Juried Show in 2000 and 2004.
As a CQA/ACC certified quilt judge, Margie is able to recognize and evaluate excellence in workmanship and design and then communicate this to others. She has judged the CQA/ACC National Juried Show in 2006 and 2009. She is looking forward to judging the National Juried Show again in Halifax in May, 2012.
Her art quilts have been exhibited in local and national shows across Canada as well as in Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. She is a member of the Alberta Craft Council, the Fibre Art Network, a Western Canadian textile co-operative, and is a Professional Artist Member of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).
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| MAPLE KEY COLOUR VARIATIONS 40”W x 65”H 2008 Setacolor paint, 100% cotton fabric, cotton batt, cotton and rayon threads, embroidery floss Painting, sunprinting on fabric, machine stitching, machine quilting, hand stitching |
This image is taken in my ‘outdoor’ studio. Most of my work is done at a traditional machine but I keep this frame in storage near Calgary for work on the occasional large piece or quilt.
I’ve been working with a needle and thread since I was 6 or 7 and intrigued by my grandmother’s prize winning handwork and at a sewing machine since I fixed the tension on my Mom’s sewing machine at the age of 12 using the 1950’s style mini-manual that came with the machine.
For many years I focused on clothing construction and gifts for family members and friends. Later, seeking to explore the art world, I discovered watercolor, which led to acrylic and other media. A new sewing machine, and a desire to update my sewing knowledge, led me to rediscover quilting through ‘machine quilting’ after my children were launched. It didn’t take long for me to move from traditional to art quilts.
Today I mix and match techniques in my artwork which ranges from traditional fine art to assemblage, with fibre art remaining as one of my favorite approaches. I am always looking for new techniques and ways to cross ‘lines’ between disciplines. I started to exhibit my work in the early 1990’s at local art shows and my early success in selling my art work encouraged me to continue.
At present we are traveling extensively in a motor home and carrying many of my art supplies with me. You never know when I will be able to spend some time with arty friends! While on the road I stay in touch with the larger fibre art community via SAQA and FAN (Fibre Art Network), a group of western Canada fibre artists.
Prior to our travels I was beginning to exhibit frequently on both a solo and group basis. At the moment I try and respond to at least one show or challenge per year but look forward to exhibiting more widely again in the future.
Although I now call Calgary home, I spent my childhood and most of my adult years in Eastern Ontario. For our working years both my husband and I were self-employed and the opportunity for travel was limited. Over the past three years we have traveled extensively throughout western Canada (summer) and the United States (winter). Whenever possible I try to visit galleries and shows along the way.
Contact info: You can check out where we are in our travels at http://www.travelpod.com/members/momadunc . I post occasionally at my art blog http://dianeduncan.blogspot.com/ and have a mini-gallery of work at http://picasaweb.google.com/DianeDuncan01
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LATE SEASON HARVEST – hand stitching, machine quilting, appliqué – size 18 x 24 inches – currently traveling as part of the FAN exhibition, Canadian Content. |
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I have always sewn, starting with clothes and household accessories. In a natural progression, sewing led me to quilting: quilts for beds of all sizes during the 1980s, and then – in the mid 1990s – wall quilts.
At the time, art quilting was in full bloom in the US, with riotous use of colour, self-expression, and exploration. Thanks to the Internet, I discovered a worldwide sisterhood of quilters who were on this voyage of textile discovery, just like me. I joined online groups; I devoured books on technique; I visited exhibitions and attended seminars and classes, and learned by doing and daring.
Today, I consider myself very lucky to have a studio bordered by emerald forests, on a bluff facing the water and the sky. I am surrounded by nature, which is my main source of inspiration. I wander everywhere, daily, often with camera in hand to capture details for my memory bank.
I have been asked by friends: “Why do you stitch these pieces together? Wouldn’t it be easier and more direct to paint your compositions on canvas?” Valid questions. But I am attracted to the tactile nature of cloth. The irresistible urge to feel the stitched, quilted fabric and its undulations with the tips of my fingers (like so many people who are reprimanded when they succumb to that urge at quilt exhibitions everywhere…).
For me, quilting is a mixture of colour play, problem solving, mark-making and craftsmanship. My goal is to create decorative pieces that resonate with people. I have shown my quilts internationally, and some of them are in private collections in Canada, the US and Europe.
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| DUO, 35" h x 42" w |
It started with pride at sewing garments that actually got compliments to sprouting wings after seeing my first art quilts by Martha Cole in our local art gallery.
I'm learning as I go by observing others work, taking classes, experimenting, and mingling with fellow art quilters. I have a much longer journey planned.
I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads. Contact me: jm.himsl@sasktel.net
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| PURPLE SPRUCE, 24" x 32" |
Stitching and fabric have been an important part of Anni’s life since childhood. As so many people do she started making clothes, then moved on to quilting and now is making stitched, dyed and painted 3d pieces and wall hangings.
All art making gives its creator certain freedoms and creating work in 3D has given her a new view of what she wants to and can do. Having had a career in “grayscale” imaging she has necessarily become acutely aware of subtle changes in shade.
In many ways this has pushed her towards a love of, and perhaps a need for, the rich and colourful, but at the same time kept her very aware of changes in hue and tone. As an artist she has found this very helpful.
All art making gives its creator certain freedoms and creating work in 3D has given her a new view of what she wants to and can do. Having had a career in “grayscale” imaging she has necessarily become acutely aware of subtle changes in shade.
In many ways this has pushed her towards a love of, and perhaps a need for, the rich and colourful, but at the same time kept her very aware of changes in hue and tone. As an artist she has found this very helpful.
The sleek and elegant lines of Japanese design concepts has also been a strong influence on Anni. She finds its strength and simplicity inspiring and in a way comforting.
With her containers she wants to create the contradictory feeling of containment and freedom, a contradiction which is something that everyone finds in their lives.
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| FAMILY CONNECTIONS; fibre sculpture 17" h on 6" diameter base |
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After 30 years in the Canadian Forces as a Military Engineer, Dawn retired in 2005 to devote time to her true passion, textile engineering, a.k.a. quilting, and her second career as a quilt appraiser.
Dawn now resides in Canmore AB. As one of only five American Quilters’ Society certified quilt appraisers in all of Canada, and the only one west of Burlington ON, Dawn’s appraisal services are in high demand. Dawn is also an accredited member of the highly regarded International Society of Appraisers.
Dawn now resides in Canmore AB. As one of only five American Quilters’ Society certified quilt appraisers in all of Canada, and the only one west of Burlington ON, Dawn’s appraisal services are in high demand. Dawn is also an accredited member of the highly regarded International Society of Appraisers.
Initially a traditional quilter, she started her first quilt, a friendship quilt, when only 17, appraising has opened the door to a vast array of quilt and textile related pursuits. From teaching beginning appliqué to studying the quilts and fabrics from the 1700s to the studio art quilts of today, curating a quilt exhibit at the Nepean Museum, managing 11 special exhibits at Quilt Canada 2010, and co-founding the Southern Alberta Quilt Study Group, Dawn still finds time to work on her own quilt art. Dawn’s quilts have won awards at the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition, Vermont Quilt Festival, International Ploughing Match and at local guild shows. Her quilts have been exhibited internationally and are in private collections in Canada and the United States.
To have a better understanding of the techniques and design principles employed by today’s quilt artists, Dawn has taken advantage of classes by internationally acclaimed quilt artists and teachers offered at Canmore’s Quilt Art Rockies and other Calgary area shops. As a direct result of these classes Dawn has had her work published in Elly Sienkiewicz’s Beloved Baltimore Album Quilts and Elly Sienkiewicz Teaches You Beginning Baltimore Appliqué and Gloria Loughman’s quilted symphony, all by C&T Publishing.
Dawn joined SAQA as an active member for the networking and educational opportunities afforded its members.
In addition to appraising quilted textiles for insurance, donation, and pricing purposes, Dawn lectures on quilt and textile care and conservation, quilt history and why people who own quilts should have them appraised.
Dawn can be reached by email at dawn.hunt@FibreWork.com or by phone at 403 609 9947. Remember… Your Quilts Have Value!
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| STUDY IN GREY, 22" x 26"; images by Keith Hunt |
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I’m a newly retired H.Ec.teacher excited by the possibilities in front of me. This change in lifestyle has precipitated a lot of sorting and culling in all aspects of my life. I’m excited to join SAQA and the inspiration it can offer me on my fibre journey.
I’ve been surrounded by textiles all my life. My grandmother taught most of the young women in our community to sew and my mother was my 4H sewing club teacher. I made my first dress when I was six years old, spent 8 years in 4H before moving on to a Home Economics degree in Clothing and Textiles at the University of Manitoba.
I moved into the Quilting World around 1994 and haven’t looked back since. I’ve been involved with the Langley Quilters’ Guild since its inception and appreciate the energy of being immersed with like-minded souls.
I’ve taken many classes over the years but have begun to focus more on those related to design and creativity. At the same time I realize the importance of focusing on what I enjoy doing and having fun at the same time. I’m fortunate to be involved with a little quilting group that is always exploring new ideas and techniques. They’re very creative and supportive and I am very energized each time we meet.
As a result of sewing for many years I have a great stash of non-quilting fabrics and have been using them more and more for their great texture and designs. I also love the designs of commercial fabrics as well as being swept away by the beauty of hand dyed fabric.
Art journaling, [along with art quilting techniques] is leading me to a love of collage with its emphasis on layers and multi media techniques. Over the years I’ve also created 3 D pieces and also like that aspect of design.
Travel has always influenced my life and work, with our home being filled with many textile souvenirs. Mexico beckons this winter and a chance to devote my time to playing with designs and creating some mini collages – inspiration for when I return home.
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Without an outlet for my creative energy, I think I might burst! My life has taken me on an eclectic path of varying projects. I have always loved to create and the challenge of working with new mediums keeps me energized.
My husband and I were both raised at Mossbank. Our children and grandchildren live close by. They have all witnessed my need to have projects on the go such as sculpting clay flowers, busts, and Father Christmas', dough art, and a home based silk plant business.
I have explored wall art using styrofoam and stucco, but because of travelling in the winter my focus has turned to fibre and my sewing machine. I rarely know how my piece will look until completion, but I have always taken a no-fear approach and actually love to fix up mistakes! In my travels and in my everyday life, I enjoy "the hunt" for new inspiration and fabrics. I am leaning more to recycled materials, and love reintroducing them into something fresh and new.
At present my work includes painting on the fabric, then going back in and freemotion sewing on my PFAFF, enhancing with permanent markers, oil pastels, paint stix, embroidery threads and yarns. I joined SAQA as a way to connect and network with other creatively inspired people. I am looking for encouragement and advice on how to showcase my art.
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| FAULTY EXPRESSIONS, approx. 3' x 4' |
NOTE: May 2016 Update: Val became the SAQA Western Co-Rep for MB/SK in June, 2015
These are not your grandmother’s quilts. If you were to join Valerie for tea, and home-made cookies in her home, you would see a group of ladies at a garden party – in a quilt.
Valerie Wilson is an art quilter with a passion for using fabric to create pictures. Looking closely at her quilts, you will see the layers of small pieces of fabric blended together with stitching to create the appearance of a painting. She combines a love of history, and a curiosity about people from the past, capturing character in fabric. Who were these people and what would they tell us, if they could?
Valerie Wilson is an art quilter with a passion for using fabric to create pictures. Looking closely at her quilts, you will see the layers of small pieces of fabric blended together with stitching to create the appearance of a painting. She combines a love of history, and a curiosity about people from the past, capturing character in fabric. Who were these people and what would they tell us, if they could?
Valerie’s other interest is nature, because the colours and textures in nature are endlessly fascinating. There is so much colour and detail in any tree, flower or landscape. Fabrics and threads are incredibly tactile, we love to feel them and admire the colours. These are the perfect mediums for portraying interesting moments in life.
Always seeking knowledge, and wanting to develop her expertise further, Valerie has participated in numerous courses at Quilt University, and has trained with fibre artists from around the world. With a love for being involved in any organization of which she is a part, Valerie became the Fibre Art Network (FAN) Membership Co-ordinator in 2004, when she joined this co-operative of professional Western Canadian fibre artists.
Valerie’s art work is moving from the walls of her home studio to an international stage. In Queenstown, New Zealand in April 2011 there was an exhibit of art quilts, called “Canadian Content”, held in conjunction with the NZ national quilt show, the Remarkable Symposium. One of Valerie’s quilts was displayed in this traveling exhibit of Western Canadian fibre art. Since 2005, Valerie’s award-winning work has been exhibited across Canada, from British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Valerie was born in Carberry, Manitoba, amongst the rolling sand hills. After completing her University training, she sampled life in the university town of Kitchener-Waterloo for a few years, but then decided that she could no longer resist the pull of the sunny climes of Manitoba, and currently resides in Winnipeg.
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This quilt was based on an old postcard found in a second hand shop. I was fascinated by the man’s stance and costume. Motorcycles, or motor cycles as they were known at the time, were a recent innovation in transportation and I wondered what it felt like for this man to ride one of these machines. This was a 1904 Clement motorcycle made in France, and thus the title of this piece, A French Wonder.
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Susan & Crystal
of Stitchn Be Artisans Boutique, Regina, SK
About Us
Who knew that a baby and a bink would equal a boutique? Certainly not me; but, that is how we came to be. Stitchn Be Artisan Boutique is family owned operated by Crystal, (my daughter-in-law) and I. My background is children’s clothing and nursery items, fully lined suits, bridal and traditional quilting. Crystal thinks she’s a novice but on her very first attempt at sewing a 12 block quilt full of points (up to 8 meeting at one point), she had all but two matched. That’s pretty gosh darned talented in my books!
We aim to create an environment where people of all skills levels can learn and above all else, have fun! To read more about us, our products and services, please visit our website: www.stitchnbe.com
About the Store
We offer one-of-kind artisan works, exceptional home décor products and giftware and the most modern of fabrics, needlework, notions, embellishment and crafting supplies. We also offer consignment opportunities to artists and are actively involved in promoting their works and classes. We ensure our products are current and reflect the hottest, trendiest items on the market by regularly attending international tradeshows. We have literally 100’s of suppliers to help us locate those hard to find items! Email or call us with your unique needs! (306) 522-4472 sales@stitchnbe.com
Born in England, Wendy has lived in Canada since 1967. She has a background in pottery and quilting but presently works predominantly with silk and organza enjoying their translucent and reflective qualities. She combines surface design techniques, layers and stitch to give dimension and depth to her wall hangings and 3D pieces.
She is currently exploring different presentation mechanisms to place physical separation between some of the layers. Wendy takes inspiration for her work from the natural beauty of Canada together with ecological and social issues that speak to her heart.
She is currently exploring different presentation mechanisms to place physical separation between some of the layers. Wendy takes inspiration for her work from the natural beauty of Canada together with ecological and social issues that speak to her heart.
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| CLEAR CUT, 30" h x 24" w |
My interest lies in the manipulation of images, material and process to offer new translations. I often shift then out of their normal context to create a piece that is unexpected. My environment inspires my work or often, by issues which have meaning for me. I often embellish the surface with various media, stitching or shibori to create interesting textures. I find inspiration from places and images, travel and relationships. Colour, texture, shape and line enhance the surface of my work.
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| TURNING POINT, 28" h X 12" w; Nuno felt on cotton gauze, hand & machine stitching, various embellishments |
Pattern and texture – these have always been key in my world perception. From a post-war English childhood, to growing up Canadian in southern Ontario, then taking off to travel the globe on the cheap, what a welter of images is packed in my consciousness!
Pursuing my “grubstake” in northern B. C., I worked in sign painting and commercial design. That being the era before computers took over everything, I spent a seeming infinity with brush in hand, working out the fundamentals of balance, rhythm, and flow in design. High on a ladder, translating a tiny flat design onto the complex curves of a huge tank truck, I dreamed of one day having time to work on projects of my own.
Eventually I was able to buy some land in southern interior B. C., and drew up plans for a house to put on it. Being my own general contractor, I got it built, then fortuitously, my (by now) husband and I were able to sell the business and move. Landing in a beautiful place with no job, no connections, and no money, I at last had some time for my own creative ideas!
The desire to leave paint fumes behind strongly influenced my choice of the textile medium. Plus there's the richness of the tactile experience! I literally felt my way through learning how to handle fabric – my entire adult life has been spent in somewhat “isolated” areas, at least as far as the arts are concerned. But high speed internet access has finally reached parts of our convoluted valley, and Wow! What a door has been opened!
I joined SAQA to learn about exhibit opportunities beyond my region, to be inspired by the fabulous work on display, and hopefully to make connections to discuss both ideas and process.
I tend to work in series, as once an idea takes root in my mind, it tends to spread like a hardy perennial. Some working themes have been: Seats of Power, ID Entity, and a Shields series. The image submitted is #5 in the States of Being, called “In the Flow”. The studio picture is taken at the Threads Guild, an old schoolhouse for which we constantly need to raise renovation funds. Shown is “Mountain Power”, which will be quilted and raffled for just that purpose . This winter, a spirited but changing band of volunteers followed me fearlessly through the perils of bias piecing with mixed donated fabric. The design is based on the view from my window.
I do not yet have a website, but would welcome email discussion from anyone with fibre on their mind.
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| IN THE FLOW, 38" x 38" |
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As a fabric artist, Susan has embarked on a life transforming journey into the world of colour, design and pattern. Art and quilting has become her method of self expression and the focus of both her energies and methods of communication.
Susan has spent the last 15 years learning, experimenting and finally teaching a variety of surface design techniques in dyeing, painting, screen printing and image transfers. At this point she is focussing on using lettering, alphabets and fonts in a variety of different applications and exploring how lettering can be used in quilting and surface design. www.fontandfiber.com
Susan travels internationally to teach and lecture, has written six quilting books, many magazine articles and is the co-owner of Patchworks Studio, a popular pattern and design business.
Susan’s quilts have been shown across North America and her work is known for its use of traditional methods with contemporary design and materials. She has studied Design, Patchwork and Embroidery with the prestigious City & Guilds Institute of London, England and has studied with internationally acclaimed teachers/quilt makers Nancy Crow, Jan Meyers Newbury, Elin Noble, Gail Harker and Ruth Issett.
When sharing her knowledge and experience in the classroom Susan’s students have commented on the thoroughness of her lessons and the careful attention given to each student. She encourages quilters, both newcomers and the more experienced, to enjoy the process, to gather as much knowledge as possible and to challenge themselves with new techniques and processes.
Susan is an active member of the fibre arts community in British Columbia and is a member of national and international fibre and surface design associations and is a certified quilt judge. she has also recently started an online store for quilters and textile artists at www.fabricimagery.com
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| WINDOW # 2 |
Pippa Moore, Comox, BC
I was born in Britain, but at the age of seven immigrated to Canada with my family, living in various spots in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, before finally settling in B.C. While from a family with mostly medical pursuits – nursing, pharmacy, medicine – in retrospect, I think I came from an entire family of blocked artists. My father pursued photography and oil painting, my mother always had knitting or stitchery of one sort or another on the go, and each of my siblings has had similar interests.
I began quilting in 1979, having dipped into macramé and pottery, among other things, before that time. I began by making very traditional designs, and still return to those roots from time to time. But mostly these days I am trying out various new avenues, and different ways of working, in order to find my own voice in my work.
Over the last fifteen years, my quilts have become full of saturated colour. This development is rooted in sense of profound gratitude, and is celebratory of this life, in all its facets. I have been exploring different narratives, as well as different construction techniques in the process. In this, I am strongly influenced by the art, and particularly the textiles of Africa, as well as by the architecture and motifs of the Art Deco period.
I worked as a community health nurse until five years ago, when I made the leap into quilting full time, and running a small quilting business – Kitambaa Designs – importing African textiles and designing quilts which use them. More recently I have cut back on some of the teaching I was doing, and have all but given up attending quilt shows (as a vendor), in order to commit myself more whole-heartedly to my own work.
I have also spent four of the last five years working with a group of widows and grandmothers in rural Uganda, teaching them sewing and quilting. This too has had an impact on my quilting, especially on my use of colour.
In joining SAQA, I am making the conscious and very public decision to follow this path with renewed vigor and with single mindedness.
“Encounters with Kente”, is an experiment in using the textiles of Africa – Kente cloth, in this example – in the piece, in its original unadulterated form. My companion piece, to the right of the hand-woven Kente, uses its shapes and lines in an attempt to capture the heat and business of the Ghanaian marketplace.
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| ENCOUNTERS WITH KENTE, 36" h x 16"w |
Catherine Nicholls, Vancouver, BC
I live and work near Vancouver, B.C. and am inspired by the natural world around me, my travels and the people I meet. Stories, legends and the history of people, place and culture provide me with the creative raw materials for themed exhibitions in North America and abroad. My life revolves around painting, drawing, surface design, machine and hand quilting and most recently embroidery.
I spent many years running my own interior design business and then made the jump to textiles. I hold qualifications in Patchwork and Quilting from City and Guilds and currently asses City and Guilds online courses with DesignMatters.
I enjoy teaching textile and mixed media workshops where ever they might be! My work travels the globe with SiX
I love words and writing them down, and am 1/3 of thr3fold journal, the journal of creative vision along with Linda and Laura Kemshall. My creative blog can be found at www.ravensthread.com
I have always been inspired by words. Legends and stories are inspirational for me but usually the stories that attract me are the old ones- the ancient legends passed through the generations orally, the stories that change and grow with every telling. I have been attracted to a new form of storytelling lately- graffiti!
Some people consider graffiti an act of vandalism and I know that removing it from an unwanted location is a challenge. But to me it is also a form of street art and the practitioners are just as diverse as “regular” artists are. Some graffiti artists leave an area more attractive than they found it- some not! Where I live the cladding around a construction site is a favorite spot for graffiti of all types- from tagging to involved and colorful murals. This quilt is my version of street art.
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| GRAFFITI ONE, 39 " h X 41 " w Hand dyed and commercial fabrics, hand dyed thread, beads and photographs. Machine appliqué both raw and finished edge, machine and hand quilted, hand embellished and tagged. |
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My quilting style has evolved from using traditional patterns to creating my own compositions to art quilts. Over the last couple of years my focus and interest has been on surface design techniques, using dye, textile paint, ink, stamping, and resists to build layers to create my own textiles. I like to use these in combination with commercial textiles, utilizing mainly batiks which I love for their variety of pattern, and their colour saturation. I find myself drawn more and more to the abstract style while still utilizing the traditions of piecing and machine and hand quilting. I also occasionally use beading and textile paint to provide additional interest and dimension.
I live in Burnaby where I work as a software engineer by day, and try to squeeze in as much art quilting as possible around my two teenage sons' busy schedules. I joined SAQA last year as a way to help propel myself to the next level in my art quilting by way of education, inspiration from seeing the work of other SAQA members and challenge by participating in the benefit auction and calls for entries opportunities. I look forward to expanding my body of work and being part of the SAQA community.
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| FLOATING 41.5" x 29 |
After several years of commuting between the bush and UBC, I married the horse logger and now live with him on the ranch with draft horses, dogs, and cats. I gave up academic life not only to live in the country with my honey but to free up time to pursue art. I now work as an educational assistant in the two-classroom elementary school in Greenwood and spend every minute I can in my studio.
I’m largely a self-taught quilter. I was lucky enough to be able to take textile design courses in high school and that was where I made my first landscape quilt (a laboriously-created whole-cloth batik hand-quilted with embroidery thread). After a long diversion into literary studies, I rediscovered textiles and haven’t looked back. My studio is a tiny cabin on our ranch, filled with fabric, yarn, cats, and light, with wonderful views of fields and forest from every window.
One of the great benefits of living in Greenwood, half an hour from Grand Forks, is that I‘ve been able to join a very active art quilt group called Grand Forks Quilt Connection, whose members live all over the south-eastern corner of the province, from Greenwood east to the Alberta border. This group invites top art quilters from all over the continent and beyond to come to Grand Forks to teach, which means that I’ve been able to study with such well-known artists as Katie Pasquini Masopust, Gloria Loughman, Barbara Olson, and Betty Busby, with upcoming classes to be taught by Carol Taylor and Susan Carlson. Instruction and feedback from these top-notch instructors have made all the difference to my art.
One of the great benefits of living in Greenwood, half an hour from Grand Forks, is that I‘ve been able to join a very active art quilt group called Grand Forks Quilt Connection, whose members live all over the south-eastern corner of the province, from Greenwood east to the Alberta border. This group invites top art quilters from all over the continent and beyond to come to Grand Forks to teach, which means that I’ve been able to study with such well-known artists as Katie Pasquini Masopust, Gloria Loughman, Barbara Olson, and Betty Busby, with upcoming classes to be taught by Carol Taylor and Susan Carlson. Instruction and feedback from these top-notch instructors have made all the difference to my art.
A turning point came in 2010, when I took a class with Nancy Crow: I had never worked so hard in a class before or really understood that training in principles of art would be the key to creating art quilts. This was also the year that I began to sell major pieces of art. These two experiences finally prompted me to join SAQA.
I now take myself seriously as an artist, and I’m determined that the art quilt world is where I will make my mark. In order to make that goal happen, I also paint in acrylic and pastel and take every class I can with painters to train my eye, particularly in terms of colour, value, and composition. It’s hard work, but the effect on my quilts of this cross-fertilization of media excites me and pushes me on. While I enjoy figurative, representational quilts, my chosen style is to work within the grid format of traditional quilting, pushing as far as I can to see what can be done within that structure. Since I love to teach, my long-term plan is to develop a teaching career in art quilting.
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| ASPEN LEAVES, 56" x 48" |
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NOTE: May 2016 Update: Patricia now lives, works and makes art in Edmonton, AB.
I have been quilting for about 20 years. My first quilt was a tumbling blocks quilt that was supposed to be a baby gift - I cut all of the pieces out using a cardboard template! And, once that was together, I decided that it wasn't large enough, so I added large borders, and put lace, and appliqued Minnie Mouse faces in each of the corners, and a quilter was born!
I was fortunate to have a lot of sewing influence from both my mother and grandmother. They both sew, and continue to do so. There have been times where all three of us have been in a fabric store, and purchased fabric! My grandmother used to hand quilt with her mother, and fortunately, I still have some of those quilts tucked away.
My mother has quilted for quilt a few years, and has sewn for years. She used to make many of our clothes as my brother and I were growing up. This influenced me to start sewing my own clothes when I was in high school. I then started sewing more in 1991, and haven't looked back. I have since dabbled in fabric dyeing, and will continue to explore this.
I lived in Florida, Colorado, and northern Virginia from 2000 to 2010, and was lucky to belong to a quilting guild in VA. The exposure there to some amazing quilters who are my friends, as well as classes from women like Ruth McDowell, Mickey Dupre and Barbara Olson just to name a couple have influenced my quilting. In addition I was taking an Art Quilt series class in Northern Virginia, and still keep in touch with friends from there.
I was fortunate to have a lot of sewing influence from both my mother and grandmother. They both sew, and continue to do so. There have been times where all three of us have been in a fabric store, and purchased fabric! My grandmother used to hand quilt with her mother, and fortunately, I still have some of those quilts tucked away.
My mother has quilted for quilt a few years, and has sewn for years. She used to make many of our clothes as my brother and I were growing up. This influenced me to start sewing my own clothes when I was in high school. I then started sewing more in 1991, and haven't looked back. I have since dabbled in fabric dyeing, and will continue to explore this.
I lived in Florida, Colorado, and northern Virginia from 2000 to 2010, and was lucky to belong to a quilting guild in VA. The exposure there to some amazing quilters who are my friends, as well as classes from women like Ruth McDowell, Mickey Dupre and Barbara Olson just to name a couple have influenced my quilting. In addition I was taking an Art Quilt series class in Northern Virginia, and still keep in touch with friends from there.
Now back in Canada I hope that my quilting will continue to explore different materials and techniques as time goes on!
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| ODE TO EMERILL, 38" each side |
I have lived in all the western provinces and the NWT, and admire the strength of forthrightness of western Canadians. Our current home is verdant (rainy) North Vancouver.
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Alberta (painting and printmaking), and a diploma in animation from Capilano University.
As well as working in textiles (felt, quilts), I paint and make jewelry, lamp worked glass beads, and fused glass. I did stand up comedy for a while but quit. (because most of the gigs were past my bedtime.)
My grade 8 English teacher said that brackets were the sign of a writer with a weak mind. (and she was correct.) I have a funny trunk show called "My Mistakes". Hoping to meet more of the inspiring western Canadian SAQA members soon! Information on the artwork: "The Seven Deadly Sins - Plus Two Bonus Sins!" The sins: Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Vanity, Lying, Anger and Pride. Find which sins have the penis, the perky breasts, and the untucked threads.
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| THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS - PLUS TWO BONUS SINS! 35" h x 28.5" w |
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Working in the textile medium, Lesley has exhibited across Canada and in South Korea.
She is a member of the textile art groups Articulation, Studio Art Quilt Association and the Surface Design Association. Lesley is an instructor in Fine Arts Textiles at the Victoria College of Art and is developing a Fine Arts Textiles certificate program for the college.
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| SUCCESSION, 60" w x 96" h x 36" d |
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I am an Alberta artist working in textiles, and have been exhibiting in juried exhibitions for the past 10 years. Since 2005, I have been consumed with educating myself in textiles in the degree program at the Julia Caprara School of Textile Art, and Middlesex University in Great Britain. My graduating exhibition is in May 2011. Yeah! This program has taken over my life and encouraged me to expand my horizons to consider other mediums and three dimensional work.
My art pieces have social and political overtones. Sock Market Fraud is a statement about the loss of the family nest egg, by stock market fraud, using the historical metaphor of a money sock.
While all of these pieces have been exhibited, this last one will be shown in the Prism (textile exhibition group) exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London, GB in May. Finally, I have written an article about the graduating class in the Spring edition of The Canadian Quilter, and am the Meetin’ Place artist in the May issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine. Once I am finished this program in May, I hope to get back in gear and start making work to exhibit more widely.
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SOCK MARKET FRAUD, 2010,
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Jayne Willoughby Scott was raised in and around Medicine Hat, Alberta. As you travel across the stark desert-like southern Alberta prairie landscape, things come into view and then disappear again through mirage-like hot atmospheric conditions. This imprinted landscape from childhood helped develop a keen interest in the process of seeing objects in space and over a period of time and this is evident in much of the imagery produced by the artist.
During the 1970’s Jayne Willoughby Scott actively pursued batik and dye painting on fabric. While working as a nurse and nurse educator for 10 years she continuously took painting classes and was an avid knitter and seamstress. Finally, as a stay-at-home mom in 1988, she began pursuing art and art quilting seriously and went back to school and got a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2001. Since 1990 Jayne has exhibited stitched textiles on a regular basis and has earned numerous awards. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta where she has taught art classes for many years.
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| NIGHT DRAWING # 14 - 74" h x 81" w |
Patt Wilson, textile artist, has completed the Art Cloth Mastery Program with Jane Dunnewold. She has been working with surface design, quilting, and wearable art since 1995. Creating textile work is her way of conveying her ideas and sharing her work , which is influenced by personal experiences and the environment we live in. Her work is a celebration, using colour, line and shape to elicit emotional response.
Wilson's work has won numerous awards and been exhibited throughout North America. She has taught quilt making since 1995 and is dedicated to the encouragement and promotion of artistic self-expression through cloth, thread, and surface design.
She lives in Powell River, BC and works from her home studio.
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| "Arched" - 66" h x 30" w |
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M. Jill Sullivan, former SAQA Co-Rep for B. C.
After many years of making clothes, bed quilts, curtains and anything else that could be made on a sewing machine, I ventured into art quilts. Our children were grown, we sold our share in a business and made our lives our own.
After many years of making clothes, bed quilts, curtains and anything else that could be made on a sewing machine, I ventured into art quilts. Our children were grown, we sold our share in a business and made our lives our own.
My early works were landscapes that were drawn from my environment. I learned a lot and gained much satisfaction from doing my own designs. The creating of these pieces became more abstract and less realistic as I gained experience and knowledge. For the last several years I have been working with geometric shapes. The shapes and lines of architecture especially fascinate me.
My focus is on simplifying my designs, Using fewer shapes and lines to say what I want to say. This has proven to be a huge learning curve because what looks simple, or easy, is not, when it comes to getting it right.
Through the many teachers, books and DVDs available to us, I have learned a lot about design, and technique, and continue to learn as I work, At present I create most of my fabrics through hand dying, reconstructed Screen printing, mono printing, or some other method of mark making.
All of this feels like the fun part before the work begins, I still love making and wearing my own clothes, especially wearable art. I also enjoy teaching various basic, surface techniques. Having a large studio allows me to have play days with friends which is when we explore the world of paint, dye and all manner of ideas designed to make a mark, Sometimes a gem is born and other times the results are simply a lesson learned. But always the day is enjoyable and often leads to the next thing we must try.
Creating art has been a long journey for me. Along the way I have shown my work locally and nationally. The journey continually evolves as I grow and learn. It is a journey that I hope never ends.
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| UNDER THE CHAOS by M. Jill Sullivan; 31" h x 47" w |
Patti Morris, former SAQA rep for Alberta.
Originally from Ontario, I began my nursing career in Vancouver, BC. My work was focused in the areas of Trauma, Intensive Care, Recovery Room and Emergency. Some of my nursing involved young children injured in motor vehicle accidents.
As a mother of 3 toddlers, I began sewing bright colourful outfits for my children and their friends to wear, thus preventing them becoming victims. I wanted everyone to SEE them and slow down! In the late 1980s our family moved to Alberta.
Shortly after settling in Red Deer I began traveling to Edmonton, to pursue a Clothing Designing and Drafting Diploma at NAIT (Northern Alberta Institution of Technology). In 1989 I opened up my own original kids designer clothing business called “Tots Togs”. With the help of two very good sewing friends “Tots Togs” expanded to stores in Vancouver, Banff & Calgary.
After producing numerous children’s clothing lines “Tots Togs” came to an end and I returned to nursing in 1996. I connected with Caryl Bryer Fallert in 2004 during a design class in Canmore, AB. After taking Caryl’s class I knew there was no turning back!
In 2005 I retired from The Faculty of Nursing at Red Deer College. After the tsunami devastated the shores of Thailand and Indonesia in 2006 “Doctors Without Borders Canada” (MSF) became a major focus in my life and to this day has been the driving force behind much of my artwork.
In 2007 Morris Fabric Art Designs began. I continue to attend workshops in Canmore at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Retreat every winter and enroll in the Red Deer College Summer Series program. Supporting Doctors Without Borders (MSF), is a major priority; each design I create for the organization takes upward of 6 months.
Between these long stretches I experiment with new concepts of colour, design, and techniques of fabric art. Since 2005 I have received 3 National Awards & 2 International Awards for my Fabric Art Designs. I consider myself fortunate: None of this would be possible if it were not for my inspiring and supportive family.
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