The Making of Help Me

Today's feature artist is Diana Bartelings from Rock Creek, BC.

To view more of her work visit:

https://bartelings.wixsite.com/dianabartelings

Diana writes:

The Pacific Ocean is a part of my heritage, having grown up in Vancouver, BC. To know that we are destroying this part of our world strongly affects me. I chose to focus on the wildlife that is caught up in pollution that freely roams the ocean with the tides.

I began with some of my ice dyed fabric that represented the beauty of the ocean itself. I soak my fabric in soda ash, place some in the bottom of a smaller container, cover in ice and sprinkle the Procion MX dye powders on then continue to layer more fabric, ice and dyes until my container is fairly full. I put a lid on it and then let it sit for 24 hours. After that I wash it out using sythropol.

I used commercial fabrics to make the turtle and, in an effort to recycle, an avocado bag for the netting. The diver was appliqued on with recycled cotton as well. We are so careless in the way we discard our garbage that I chose to add a piece of plastic that holds pop, juice or beer cans together. These are often found on sea creatures.  

"Help Me" Diana Bartelings

The Making of Eh, Utopian Sky

Our featured artist this week is Colour with a U artist Dawn Piasta from Manitoba.

 “Eh, Utopian Sky” Dawn Piasta

Dawn writes:

It did not take me long to decide on a subject matter for my Colour with a U submission. I had the idea swimming around in my mind for years.  The design developed as I was studying the works of various Canadian artists.  The style that struck me the strongest was that of Emily Carr.

   

My subject matter was to be a mix of wild cranberries and the Northern Lights.  Six months after our wedding, as a young bride my husband took me, for the first time, to his family home in Manitoba.  The skies were alive with the Aurora Borealis every night of our visit.  I was bewitched by their vivid colours.  Three years later we moved with our 8-month-old son to a farm just north of Dauphin.  Shortly after our arrival I met my first friend, Angie.  To me she was like the sister I had left behind.  She showed me how to navigate within the new world I now lived.  She had a lot of secret places to reveal. My most treasured memory was the days we went picking wild cranberries along the Wilson River.  The bushes were amber and chartreuse, the berries were scarlet & crimson. This was the vision that would become “Eh, Utopian Sky” I have sadly had to say good by to my friend, but my memories are cherished and are now memorialized in this quilt.

I sourced the fabrics from a resale shop.  Natural fibres of linen, cotton & silk were used. The berries were made using the Aplquick method of applique. The background pattern developed due to the fact that my fingers were raw from applying each berry and stem by hand (without a thimble). 

For more information about Dawn's work please visit her website. dewpointarts.com