August Update - Part II: Lorraine Roy in B.C.!

On Thursday evening, September 13, the B.C. SAQA  POD is hosting an Artist's Lecture with textile artist Lorraine Roy of Ontario.

The opportunity to hear her speak about her arose because her exhibit, Woven Woods: A Journey Through the Forest Floor, is on show at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, UBC, Vancouver, through November 4, 2018.  In fact, the creation of this exhibit will be the focus of Lorraine's talk.

Light refreshments will be served, and there will be an opportunity for Q&A following the lecture.

Here are the details you need to know to attend:

Date: Thursday, September 13, 2018

Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Place: VanDusen Botanical Garden

5251 Oak Street, 

Vancouver, B.C. V6M 4H1

Admission: $15.00 per person

Tickets available online at www.picatic.com

Sponsored by the SAQA WC B.C. POD, this event is open to all SAQA WC members, throughout the Region.  It is also open to the public, so do invite your art-loving friends and family to join you for what is sure to be a unique look into the creation of an art exhibition -- from inspiration and inception to fruition and exhibition.

Need more information?  Contact B.C. Rep Jennie Johnston by e-mail or visit the Facebook Event page.

Lorraine with her exhibit, Woven Woods: A Journey Through the Forest Floor

August Update - Part I

First, many thanks to Bethany Garner, former SAQA Central Canada Co-Rep, who visited the My Corner of the World: Canada exhibit now showing at the Mississippi Textile Museum in Almonte, ON, and took wonderful photos of the pieces in situ.

In an e-mail to the participating artists, Bethany described the set-up of the exhibit thus:

[I] Had a nice visit at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte with fibre friends on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed seeing your beautiful SAQA My Corner of the World Canada quilts hanging throughout the Museum. The artwork is in a number of various areas through the Museum, as the big PUPPET exhibit is in the main gallery on the first floor. There were not enough of the SAQA quilts to fill the big Gallery, but honestly, I love the juxtaposition of the quilts in areas where the visitors walk and stop to talk, along the stairwells, front lobby, near the gift shop entrance and they are spectacular in the big upper floor gallery, scattered along the walls as the visitors visit the "Fabric of a Small Town" exhibit that is permanent now in the mill after several years of restorations just completed and celebrates the history of the MILL - and why so many visit the Mill Museum so beautifully restored by volunteers for the Almonte Community. We are blessed to have the quilts in this beautiful summer location during tourist season for sure.

Many of the quilts are in small groups, and as you can understand, in an old Mill with scared stone and plaster walls, the hanging options are few. I simply loved the way the art quilts worked to draw the viewers, hanging proudly along the walls among the Mill equipment, the stacks of wooden trays for sorting bobbins and small tools of the trade and the looms and carding equipment - samples of the actual cloth making. So appropriate to our story. I did capture all of your quilts on the cell phone, and will get better photos next visit!

...Your quilts have survived their travels to England, France, Italy and Poland over the past two years very nicely... and they look beautiful in their setting. It was a rainy day, but I had a chance to get a few good cell phone photos which I have posted at the SAQA Central Canada Blog... they are random and apologies to Janet, as her photo is a bit dark - but the quilt which is mainly made of woven strips of paper maps and sheers hangs tall and beautiful between two great windows in the Gallery - so do visit and see "White Pine: Titan of the Shield" for yourself in all of it's glory. There are catalogs of the exhibit available in the Museum Gift Shop, and they were in the hands of several of the visitors - so SAQA is getting the recognition and interest we hoped for! Each quilt tells YOUR story and is an amazing celebration of what Canada represented for you as you worked to tell your own story.

She posted her photos on the SAQA Central Canada blog, so you can see them HERE.

Jaynie Himsl's Poplar Point
at the entrance to MCOTW: Canada
in the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

Next, there's an exhibit on NOW at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, Alberta.  Entitled Abstraction, it's presented by the Calgary-based art quilt group "Spectra" and includes the work of these SAQA WC members, and friends: Ilse Anysas Salkauskas, Joyce Brown, Diane Duncan, Margaret Jessop,  Marie McEachern, Beverly Patkau and Linda Van Gastel -- pictured below with colleagues at the recent Opening Reception:

Left to right: Nan Williams, Beverly Patkau,
Margaret Jessop, Joyce Brown, an unidentified colleague,
Linda Van Gastel, another unidentified colleague,
Marie McEachern, Ilse Anysas Salkauskas, and Diane Duncan.

The piece featured on the Jubilee's 'Gallery' web page is this one:

A Game of Life
(c) 2018 - Ilse Anysas Salkauskas

I understand there are other artists in the exhibit who aren't in the photo from the reception, and have asked Marie to send me more information -- and photos of the other work!  😊

While the Jubilee web page doesn't indicate how long the show is up, for those in the area who may want to view it, please note the following about Gallery hours at that venue:

The Jubilee Gallery is open during pre-show and intermission during Jubilee performances. Additional viewing hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM.

My Corner of the World: Canada -- On NOW in Ontario!

On July 14, the MCOTW: Canada exhibit opened at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte, Ontario -- not far from Ottawa,

There are forty pieces in this section of the two-part My Corner of the World exhibit -- and all of them are made by Canadian artists from coast to coast.

Western Canada is well represented by these artists:

Janet Scruggs (AB then, B.C. now)
Looking Down

Jaynie Himsl, SK
Poplar Point

Margaret Blank, AB
It's Still About the Sky

Marie McEachern, AB
Downtown

Paula Jolly, SK
The Road Home

Terry Aske, B.C.
Inside the Tipi

Mardell Rampton, B.C.
Beaches #1

But that's not all there is to see in this unique venue!  While MCOTW: Canada is showing there through September 22, at the same time visitors can enjoy the Museum's permanent exhibit, Fabric of a Small Town, and a retrospective of the creations of Noreen Young, Canadian puppeteer, that's sure to delight young and old.

Enjoy!

P.S. For the Curious:  Yes, there is a Mississippi River and associated Valley in Canada!  You can learn more about it HERE and HERE. 😊

Mississippi River at Galetta, ON

Opening Next Week in Alberta

The Annual Camrose Art Walk opened at the beginning of June.  It's composed of two "tranches" of artists -- with some overlaps -- with the first group showing at various venues around the City of Camrose, Alberta, through July 18 (that's tomorrow!) and the second group showing from July 24 through September 4.

Venues include Camrose City Hall, the Bill Fowler Centre, the Public Library, the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre on the U. of Alberta's Augustana Campus. the Chuck MacLean Arts Centre, the local Starbucks, the Candler Art Gallery, and two cafes -- Sacred Arts and Fiona's.  A brochure is available at any one of these locations, and includes a map so visitors can make their way around to the various venues.

Margaret (L) and Mary (R)
at Eilean Donan Castle,
September 2017

SAQA Western Canada members Mary Wilton and Margaret Blank are delighted to share that their collaborative 19-piece exhibit, Inspired by Scotland, will be showing at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in that second group -- July 24 through September 4.

Mary and Margaret were part of the Celtic Quilt Tours trip to Scotland in September 2017, and determined even before they travelled that they'd like to pool their inspirations for a collaborative exhibit.  That the Camrose Art Walk -- in which Mary has participated for a dozen years now! -- agreed to show their work in such a lovely venue as the Performing Arts Centre was the icing on the cake.




In the past year Mary has explored more fully the technique of wet felting -- which she then quilts -- so many of her pieces will include this unique way of expressing her love of the beauty of nature she found in Scotland.

Colours of the Moor
Mary Wiilton (c) 2018

Margaret has discovered a way to combine quilting with painted stretched canvas, so many of the pieces she's created for the show will feature her explorations in this area.

Storm Brewing Over the Lowlands
Margaret Blank (c) 2018

A "Meet the Artists" Reception will be held at the Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday, August 15, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. -- and they hope to see some of their friends there -- especially those from Central Alberta and perhaps Edmonton.  😊

Update to SAQA WC Donations to the 2018 Benefit Auction

As promised, here's a wee update to the list of artists from our Region who've contributed to the 2018 SAQA Benefit Auction that goes online in September.

Added to those listed in the post of May 11 are...

Thanks so much for your contributions!  Mark your calendars to watch the bidding when it begins online -- September 14!

Catching Up With the News

It's said that timing is everything...and that certainly seems to be the case when it comes to keeping up with all the exhibits in which our SAQA WC members are participating!

It's definitely a challenge for your Blog Editor -- particularly when she finds herself inadvertently off-line for 10 days while she awaits a replacement part (power cord) for her computer!  For this, I apologize...and now scramble to catch up!

First, a mention of an exhibit on now in Vancouver -- and ending this weekend.

B.C. member Susan Purney Mark may have been travelling in Europe for the last several months, but that hasn't stopped her pieces from showing at the CityScape Gallery's exhibit, Industrial Perspective.

No More Ships
Susan Purney Mark - 2017 

The exhibit is on through June 30, so if you are in the area, do drop by and see it!

While that exhibit is closing, another has just opened -- at the Heritage Centre Public Art Gallery in Stony Plain, AB.  Fibre Art Network's Ekphrastic: Part I will be there until July 28.

Several SAQA WC members are participating, including Terry Aske, Diana Bartelings, Janet Bednarczyk, Joyce Brown, Jan Clark, Alison Dean Cowitz, Gloria Daly, Donna-Fay Digance, Diane Duncan, Dianne Firth, Robin Fischer, Jaynie Himsl, Karen Johnson, Judy Leslie, Linda MacKay, Judy MacLeod, Pippa Moore, Jenny Perry, Katie Stein Sather, Susan Selby and Mary Wilton.

Mary describes the exhibit this way:

This exhibition, is built around four Fibre Art Network artists, interpreting unpublished poems from twelve Canadian poets as a dialogue between the two art forms.

The exhibition has been divided in two to accommodate the smaller gallery at the Multicultural Centre.

The opening [reception] for the Part One will be held on Saturday, June 30 from 1-3.  Part Two will be hung July 30 to August 31 with the opening scheduled for August 4 from 1-3 pm.

Her piece, Visitors at Dawn, was selected as the featured art for the poster advertising this unique exhibit:

Visitors at Dawn
Mary Wilton

Meanwhile, in print, it was exciting to see B.C. member Terry Aske's piece, Aurora, as one of the "Selections from Dusk to Dawn" in the current issue of the SAQA Journal.

Congratulations are in order for Alberta member Ana Buzzalino!  Her piece, The Prairie's Changing Landscape, won First Place in the "Art -- Abstract, Small" category at the International Quilter's Association (IQA) Judged Show, "Quilts: A World of Beauty" in 2017.

You can see a photo and Ana's statement about this work on page 61 of the June/July 2018 issue of Quilting Arts.







Thanks to the hard work of former members Patti Morris and Debra Bray, The Burgess Shale has at last found a home!  All 25 participating artists gave their permission, so these colourful pieces have been shipped to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum  near Grande Prairie, Alberta.  We await news of a possible Open House in the coming months, once the pieces have been settled into their new venue.


And finally -- for the moment -- Alberta member Margaret Blank has recently received word that her entry, Incarnation to Resurrection: Reflections on the Colours of the Church Year, has been accepted into the SAQA exhibit, "Season After Season", which will begin its tour at the Texas Quilt Museum,  La Grange, Texas, in January 2019.

Incarnation to Resurrection:
Reflections on the Colours 
of the Church Year
Margaret Blank

You can read about some of Margaret's journey in the creation of this piece on her blog HERE.

Stay tuned for more exhibit news as we move into July.  That said, your Editor is not a viewer of every available social media platform so please e-mail her or track her down on Facebook if you have news you want to share with SAQA Western Canada (and beyond) colleagues!

And thank you for your support!

More Winners at the CQA Nat'l Juried Show!

SAQA Western Canada is proud of its members who've won with their entries to the 2018 National Juried Show at Quilt Canada, which finished up yesterday in Vancouver:

Blended Petals
Paula Jolly, MB/SK
First Prize, Art Abstract

Sunlit Flowerbed
Anne Rayner-Gould, B.C.
Second Prize, Art Abstract

Streamside Stillness
Karen Johnson, B.C.
Third Prize, Art Abstract

Spring on a Castle Mountain
Judy Leslie, B.C.
First Prize, Art Portrait

Always Fresh
Paula Jolly, MB/SK
Second Prize - Art Landscapes

Evening
Judy Leslie, B.C.
Prize: Excellence in Innovation

Music Bubbles
Robin Fischer, B.C.
Judge's Choice - Elinor Burwash

Congratulations to each and every one of you!

We Have a Winner!

Quilt Canada, the highlight of the year for the Canadian Quilters' Association, is -- as most of you know -- on now in Vancouver.

And this morning, via Facebook, SAQA WC member Terry Aske of B.C. has shared the first *win* that has come across my awareness!


CONGRATS, Terry, for winning the TrendTex Challenge with her piece, Tally to Thirty. For those of you who don't (yet) follow Terry's blog...she's written about making this piece HERE.

Tally to Thirty - Terry Aske, 2018

Now...I know that Quilt Canada's National Juried Show has been a showcase for SAQA members' winning art in recent years...so please, more of you!  Brag on yourselves -- or let me do it for you by e-mailing me particulars, photos, links or whatever details you choose to share with your SAQA colleagues.

Remember that this blog is followed by other Canadian SAQA members, and by many colleagues in the U.S. and overseas.  Let's share our successes!

Good News! Forthcoming Exhibit! Call for Entry!!

Now...I know...some of us -- well, let's just be honest, those of us on the Prairies portion of SAQA Western Canada -- might not have been inspired to enter, unless in our past we've lived near or spent significant time on the coast (any of the 3 Canadian coasts).  But...this will still be an opportunity for those who relate to prepare beautiful pieces inspired by their experience.

Have an idea?  Go for it!! 

SAQA Benefit Auction 2018!

The June 1 deadline for members' contributions to this year's Benefit Auction is looming large -- mainly because it's a received by deadline.  Whoa!

Yours truly will be sending hers out today -- and paying a pretty penny to ensure delivery.  That's what happens when you aren't inspired until almost the last minute -- something I'm sure has never happened to any of you!  😉

Several SAQA WC members, however, have managed to get their works finished well ahead of schedule.  Congratulations to these artists -- and thank you for making your contribution to ensuring SAQA's mission to educate the public about art quilting endures!

You can see all of the Benefit Auction donations HERE -- it will be up-dated regularly until all have been received and documented.  Soon mine will join the group...

Margaret Blank (c) 2018
When I Look Up in the Spring

Please note: it is never my intention to miss someone -- I took care to ensure I "caught" all the SAQA WC members to date...but if I've overlooked you (perhaps because I need to update our list of members again!) please let me know.

More exhibition news is forthcoming as summer approaches...stay tuned!  And be sure to share with me any in which you are involved.  You can e-mail me directly -- and thank you!

Now get busy and get your Auction piece in the mail!  😉