The Making of The Dancer - Colour With a U Too

 Today Cathie Ugrin is sharing how her piece The Dancer came to be. Enjoy!

The Dancer was made as part of a dual Fibre Art/ Photography exhibit entitled ‘VIEWPOINTS: a unique photo-fabric journey’ featuring photographer Dmitry Kirshner and myself. The idea was that the exhibit would feature artwork created by the two of us as we played off of each other’s work. In context of The Dancer, Dmitry took an incredible photograph of a beguiling tree in winter which he called Dancer and I created my piece based on this.

DMITRY KIRSHNER’S DANCER

I blew up a photocopied image of Dancer to its actual size of 36” x 24” and traced over all the lines with a fine sharpie to ‘get the image’ in my hands. Through the hours of this meditative work, the plan for the finished piece became clear to me.

DANCER INKED

I would use Sulky Solvy Water-Soluble Stabilizer as tracing paper and recreate the background on fibre exactly as it appears on Dmitry’s photograph. This would be the element that most accurately connected the photograph and fibre art piece.

INKED BACKGROUND DETAILS

From there I trapuntoed, topstitched and appliqued the fabric tree – this element still resembles Dmitry’s tree in the photograph.

Then came the delicate winter-bare branches which always reminded me of a tutu as I was doing my tracing. So much so, I decided to completely break away from the photograph and actually make them into a tutu lending a fantastical element to my fibre art piece. Sewing directly onto the Water-Soluble Stabilizer, I created this filmy, delicate, dark mesh of thread using four different colours and two different types of thread. After immersing the whole thing in water, I was left with just the graceful lace-like thread piece that I then appliqued on to the tree.

Of all the artwork I created for our exhibit VIEWPOINTS, The Dancer was always my favourite. I learned so much as far as technique, inspiration and generally moving outside of my comfort zone. Through the crazy time-consuming process of tracing the photograph, I had an inspired idea, say an image in my head and recreated it into a piece of art I am so proud of. Dmitry and I are very good friends and it was such an honour and a delight to work together with him. Entering The Dancer and being accepted into SAQA Colour with a U Too was the perfect ending to this story.

The Dancer Artist Statement:

In the dead of a Manitoban winter, the ground is covered in a frosty blanket of snow. A tree stands alone … and comes alive.  The frost falls away as her limbs arch gracefully. Dead twigs and branches stitch together to create the illusion of a delicate skirt effortlessly floating. Hovering with the movement imagined, we gaze onto Mother Nature’s Dancer. Resilience, unity, creativity and strength are the unique qualities required to live in one of Canada’s Northern climate cities. We understand and embrace our abounding and unabashed love of what some may call the Canadian Spirit.

 Colour with a U Too will be on display from December 3rd, 2020 to February 17th, 2021 at the J. Franklin Wright Gallery in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia.

The Life of a Fabric Artist -- Cathie Ugrin

In this post, MB/SK member Cathie Ugrin shares with us the very exciting work and exhibiting she's been doing.  Enjoy!

A Day in the Life of a Fabric Artist

Actually, the title of this blog post should read ‘A Season in the Life of a Fabric Artist’ and believe me, this has been a busy one! 

Two years ago, my good friend (and excellent photographer) Dmitry Kirshner and I decided to create an exhibit highlighting both of our work and playing off of each other. We named it ‘VIEWPOINTS – A Unique Photofabric Journey’ and started making our plan.

Featured in the invitation - bottom photo:
Endless Time

Endless Time

Endless Time - Detail

The main focus of this exhibit would be five images taken by Dmitry which I would than interpret in fibre.* Each photograph would be different and unique; each fibre art piece would reflect some element present in each of these photographs. This was one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I have ever done as it really pushed me outside of my comfort zone all whilst meeting numerous and continuous deadlines.

*Editor's Note: Dmitry's photographs are on the left; Cathie's interpretation, on the right.

Northern Lights/Northern Sky

Northern Sky

Northern Sky - Detail

Dancer/The Dancer

The Dancer  - Detail

Golden Aspens/Kaleidoscope of Seasons

Kaleidoscope of Seasons

Waiting/Stormy Skies

Stormy Skies - Detail

The rest of the exhibit was composed of individual work by both of us that fell within the theme. The gallery owner, Jordan Miller contacted the Winnipeg FreePress and VIEWPOINTS was the featured article for the October First Friday column!

Our exhibit dates were October 3 – 29, 2019 and we could hardly wait for our Opening Reception on October 11 - little did we know Mother Nature had other plans!  

Our families and friends were true Winnipeggers though – supportive, brave and not scared of a big dump of snow - and we did have a small gathering of people at the Opening Reception/ Blizzard evening.

With enough food for a small army, all purchased the day before, and lots of room to run around the empty gallery space, my grandkids were probably the happiest people there!
Jordan agreed to a Redo Reception that was well attended and all in all it was a fabulous experience for both Dmitry and I. We are already starting to plan VIEWPOINTS II where we will combine not only the concept of fibre and photography but the actual artwork as well.

At the exhibit, I also featured a sampling of a huge project I am working on for March 2020 - 6” x 6” thread portraits of seventy of the artists involved in the last ten years of the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival.

I started with an ink image that I then traced onto Water Soluble Stabilizer, sewed over the lines on my fabric, dissolved the stabilizer and then finished the detailing and quilting. The finished pieces will hang as a massive grid which will be exhibited during all four days of the 2020 Festival.

Close-up: Matthew Rickets, Composer

Next up, the Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba were asked to show a portion of their Manitoba Moments Exhibit at a Folk Music Workshop in support of Manitoba Opera’s ‘Susannah’, the premier opera of the 2019/20 Season.  As the TFAM Exhibits and Events Coordinator, I am always on the lookout for this unique kind of opportunity. We are so proud of this exhibit and it has been to 16 different venues since June 2018!

Close up: Manitoba Moments

Meanwhile, I was sewing like a maniac in preparation for the Winnipeg Art Gallery/ Manitoba Craft Council’s annual juried event, CRAFTED Show + Sale which took place at the WAG on November 8 & 9. Every time that I am accepted as a vendor at CRAFTED, I create a collection of Table Art specially for this fabulous event. I choose a theme that is reflective of what has been going on in my life – this year it was Inspiration!

I even ended up creating a double-sided, appliqued, reversible Table Art piece that I will definitely be making more of.

The idea came out of the practicality of not wanting the back to look like a dog’s breakfast after all the layers of stitching I was doing on the front. One of the Quilt Store owners who popped in to CRAFTED even asked me to teach this technique in the spring!

Detail: Bloom 'Table Art'

 To the left: Artichokes by the Dozen - from the front.

To the right: Artichokes by the Dozen - from the back

I couldn’t resist doing a few thread portraits of my grand-kids Henry and Ruby  as examples of possible commissions!

Finally, I finished off the month teaching and lecturing in Canmore, Alberta and enjoying a couple of days of vacation in the beautiful mountain air.  

The Play with Piecing technique [shown below] was inspired by the one day workshop I took from Joe Cunningham during 2015 Quilt Canada called Rock the Block. I have since modified the technique, added more fabrics and finishing options.

"Play with Piecing" - Class Sample

From the Editor:  Many thanks to Cathie for sharing a season of her artistic life with us!  This is the sort of story-telling that I believe weblogs (blogs) were made for: an assortment of photos with accompanying text that documents a personal journey and/or highlights events in the life of the writer.

As December winds down, I expect to have fewer opportunities to create posts of interest for our SAQA Western Canada membership, and as you likely know, I am retiring from the Blog Editor position at the end of this year.  If you like to tell a story -- or to help other SAQA WC members share their stories with others, please consider giving the Blog Editor job a go.  Contact me (Margaret) or one of your SAQA Western Canada Co-Reps (see the side-bar for links) if you are interested and/or need further information.

And thanks for your support!

Exhibits -- Recent and Ongoing

A week ago I stumbled over an exhibit that was opening in La Conner, Wa.  The stumble was made on Facebook, with photos from B.C. member, Katie Stein Sather.  I got a bit more info from her -- but not the dates of the show.

Sigh.

I thought I had some time to group her part in the exhibit with other posts from other members about their work -- because, frankly, I don't like to innundate members with several posts in a clump.  I'd rather showcase two or three events in a single post.

This time it backfired on me.  Today -- and Fridays seem to be my best days to post at the moment -- I went to the link Katie sent me for the venue, only to find out that the venue was the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum and the event was the International Quilt and Fiber Arts Festival 2019 -- which ran from October 10 through October 14.

And Katie -- per her post -- had five pieces of work in that show!  Well done, Katie!

For those of you not on Facebook or Instagram, here are the photos she shared on FB, over which I stumbled.  They reflect her love of nature, and her passion for wielding a paddle in a canoe.  Enjoy!

Meanwhile, MB/SK member Cathie Ugrin and her collaborator, photographer Dmitry Kirshner weren't cowed by the blizzard that blew through Winnipeg recently.  Undaunted, they moved their Opening Reception from October 11 to the 16th -- and the show goes on!

• Where?  cre8ery Gallery, 125 Adelaide Street, Winnipeg, MB;
• When? On through October 30.  Gallery hours: Tues. - Fri., noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.
• What? "Viewpoints: A Unique Photofabric Journey" that encompasses contemplation, creative voice, seasons, collaboration, texture and movement.

Here are a couple of examples -- photos shared by Cathie on her Facebook page:

For more information about Cathie and Dmitry and their work, check the gallery's website HERE.

And now a word from your Editor:

 I've been a member of the Blogger weblog "community" since 2003 because, well...I like to write, and to tell about the processes involved in my artwork, as well as to express ideas and thoughts on a variety of topics.  Currently, in addition to my personal blog, I maintain a blog for my parish church and I contribute every other week to posts on the blog owned by the shop where I work part-time.  I also have two Facebook pages (one personal, one business), and manage two others (parish church and local community).

I've been the collator and/or Editor of this blog for about six years now (with time off briefly while Val Wilson took it on.  Thanks Val!) Most of the "news" I glean by accident -- usually via Facebook through pages of friends and colleagues and/or the SAQA Members Only page.  I also follow a few SAQA WC members who post regularly to their own blogs, so pick up news from reading their posts.  Other news is sent to me directly by the Regional Rep(s) -- and very occasionally I will get a direct request to make a post on behalf of someone leading a workshop, for example.  Sometimes, as you read above, I collect the news but...there's a short time-line by the time it finds me (or I find it!) and while it's still worth sharing, it also may be just a touch out of date. 

I try to post every week or two, as long as I can find something interesting going on to share with readers who might not be on Facebook or Instagram, or who might be in another Region (yes; we have readers in other parts of Canada, as well as in the U.S. and Europe/Middle East).  And every few months (or as needed) I update the information in the left side-bar re: SAQA events, our reps' contact info, and our membership list -- with links to their websites or blogs if available.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but blogs tell the story behind the pictures -- and that's why I've enjoyed blogging so much for so long.

That said, sometimes...well...it's time for a fresh face, a fresh voice on the page.  So...if someone out there is a story teller, if someone feels called to share SAQA WC news with his/her colleagues, and/or if someone hankers to suss out this news on a variety of social media and present it here for those who prefer this space to others...Please let me (Margaret) -- or Jennie Johnston (Co-Rep, B.C.) or Susan Selby (Co-Rep, MB/SK) know.  I'm thinking January 1, 2020 -- ending this decade with a face to the future -- would be a good time to pass the torch.  And thanks for your support! 

Let's Talk

From a Facebook post -- happening this evening in Winnipeg, Manitoba,

with SAQA member, Cathie Ugrin

More from Manitoba!

I think it must be a type of "Murphy's Law" for those of us who used blog posts to spread news, as I do with this SAQA WC blog:

Every long, newsy post published will result in getting news of something else you could have included!  😉

Sure enough; right on the heels of my latest post, I stumbled on this great news from Manitoba member, Cathie Ugrin:

Wishing I could see this in person -- and hoping someone shares photos from it, or from the Opening Reception -- 12th Street Studio, Gallery & B&B, Brandon, MB (this Friday). 

Congratulations on your solo show, Cathie!!

More in La Conner...and in Manitoba!

Or..."If You Post It, They will Tell You More".  ;-)

Another SAQA WC member has come forward to share her work, which will also be showing at La Conner this weekend -- Margie Davidson of Edmonton.  Her piece, entitled Remembering, is a tribute to her father.  Here's her artist's statement about the piece:

"Remembering" by Margie Davidson -- responding to the poem,  "Elegy" by Carla Funk:

I remember giving Dad ties for Father's Day and birthdays.  Mom said he wore the ties that I gave him most often.  I remember, but with Alzheimer's disease he no longer can.  The father I knew is disappearing.  Making this artwork with my hands and Dad's ties is my elegy.

It is part of the Fibre Art Network exhibit entitled "Ekphrastic":

The term ekphrasis is derived from a combination of two Greek words: ek, which means 'for the sake of,' and phradzein, meaning 'to show, point out or describe.' Ekphrastic poetry is a genre of poetry in which the poet responds to or describes a piece of art. This exhibition will turn this notion on its head by visually interpreting a selection of poems.

Remembering - Margie Davidson

I've been assured that other SAQA WC members are part of this exhibit...please share your work with your colleagues in this space.  To do so, please contact Margaret (Co-Rep, Alberta and current blog editor).

And Cathie Ugrin continues prolific...for while she is in La Conner, she reports that her piece, "Listen Softly", will be on exhibit at the Manitoba Fibre Festival:

Listen Softly - Cathie Ugrin

Listen Softly - Detail

In the newest issue of the SAQA Journal there is an article by Judith Trager entitled, "Rejected? Don't Play the Pity Card..."  It's about putting your work out there -- and dealing with the consequences.  

If you find yourself wishing you could be a Cathie or a Margie or a Katie or a Karen or a Val or a Terry or a Marie or a Janet or an Alison or any one of the members featured in these blog posts with success in exhibits and galleries, you might a) read Judith's article; and b) think about attending our first ever Regional Retreat in West Kelowna, May 4-7, 2017, when the over-arching theme will be "Out of the Studio: Into the Wider World".  Presentations and a panel discussion will focus on preparing your work for exhibit, whether it be for sale in a show or gallery, or entering a juried exhibit.  

Volunteers are needed to help Coleen and Val bring this event to fruition (Margaret will no longer be Co-Rep...that spot also needs filling in Alberta!)... Please contact Coleen (Retreat Co-ordinator) directly if you are willing and prepared to help in any way...and we thank you for your support!

Ongoing and Upcoming in October

First...this weekend at the Quilt and Fiber Arts Festival in La Conner, Washington, viewers will see this piece by member Cathie Ugrin:

Sea at Storm  - Detail at right

Congratulations, Cathie!  

Next, opening shortly in Vancouver, B.C. - this exhibit by members Katie Stein Sather and Karen Johnson:

On her blog, Katie describes her work for this exhibit -- an expression of her spiritual journey.  Best wishes to Katie and Karen for a successful show!


Meanwhile, in Alberta, member Margaret Blank has been preparing for the debut of her installation:

Margaret has written a book about this three-part work, describing the journey she and her family took with her late husband, living with "T1D", and the inspiration to create these pieces after his death.  The book is available online in both e-book and trade paper format at Blurb.com.  All proceeds from the sale of the book will be divided equally between JDRF Canada and the Canadian Diabetes Association.  

"Mark on the Body: Making My Mark", the second part of this installation, is ongoing and participatory.  Margaret invites interested stitchers to contact her for a kit to create a small stitched quilt "sandwich" that will hang as part of a mobile or series of mobiles as the installation goes forward.  To date, over two dozen have been completed; Margaret's goal is at least 100.