Colour with a U Artist Feature: Janet Scruggs

Colour with a U is still touring Canada and will be on display at The Muse, Lake of the Woods Museum in Ontario from April 6 to May 22, 2021.

Below Janet Scruggs shares the inspiration behind her Portraits, Women I Would Like to Have Met piece.

Janet Scruggs - Portraits, Women I Would Like to Have Met

When thinking about what makes Canada Canada, I thought about our history and

the contribution women have made. There have been so many that I decided to narrow my focus to the Arts. Still a vast array of women who have contributed to our culture. I decided to look at those who were “first” in particular categories of the Arts. This took significant research to narrow down each one of those categories to one woman I felt represented a significant contribution and a first in some way. In

researching each of these women, I felt they embodied characteristics I admired. 

They each battled norms in society and often persevered through personal tragedies or difficulties to achieve their goals. Once I made the choice of whom to include, the task then became finding usable photos of each one. As I worked on each step in the process of creating the photos on cheesecloth and stitching, I felt myself becoming not only an admirer of these women, but a kinship and pride in their efforts and their courage.

Once I had picked the women, it was time to find a usable photograph. There are several sites that have public domain photos and scouring these took many days! Trying to track down and locate relatives to obtain permission of photos on other sites seemed too daunting a task with the time I had available. Sometimes there was only one photo available to use so I had to ensure that it was in the public domain, even if the photographer’s name was known. The next step was to convert these old photos to black and white (instead of browns) and bump the contrast as much as possible. 

Next I used paper lamination to get the photos onto cheesecloth. As the title of the exhibition is Colour with a U, I decided to choose a vibrant colour of hand dyed cheesecloth for each of the women. Luckily I have an overflowing basket of hand dyed cheesecloth pieces to choose from! It saved a lot of time. I also needed to coordinate a fabric for the cheesecloth photo as well, but I have a lot of that also, so it wasn’t too big of a challenge. (I am determined to use only what I possess, so buying new fabric was out of the question.)

Those decisions made, it was time to work through getting the photos onto the cheesecloth. I used the same screen to apply the gel medium as I did want some consistency in the look of the photos, even though one is never too sure what the result will be. This meant doing some of them more than once - after all you do want the face to be there! I no sooner finished this part of the process and hung them upon my design wall when I realized that one photo was wrong - she was much to small within the photo compared to the others. So, back to editing and redoing that one. 

With photos complete, hand stitching followed. Many evenings filled with embroidering the backgrounds and choosing part of their clothing and how to embroider it. I wanted some variety in the stitching so each one is unique. Finally with each one stitched, I sewed the individual portraits to a felt background by hand. Finished…… well almost. 

I realized that if this became part of a travelling exhibit, the cheesecloth (not attached) would be scrunched and mushed up (technical language). So, I added small bits of Misty Fuse around each portrait to ensure that the cheesecloth stayed relatively in place. FINISHED! And, so thrilled when I found out it was accepted as part of the exhibit! While I cannot here provide each life story of these wonderful women, I would encourage you to read about them. 

Briefly, they are:

Esther Hill - First female registered architect & award winning weaver.

Portia White - First internationally acclaimed Black Canadian concert singer. 

A person of national historic significance.

Lucy Maud Montgomery - Author of Anne of Green Gables, one of the best selling books worldwide.  A person of national historic significance.

Mary Augusta Hiester Reid - First Canadian woman to have a solo art exhibit and first woman to have her work in the National Gallery of Canada.

Mary Pickford - 1st Canadian woman to win an Oscar. Co-founder of United Artists Studio.  A star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) - Mohawk/English author, poet and performer. First Canadian woman, Author and Aboriginal Canadian to be commemorated on a stamp. A person of national historic significance.

Colour with a U Artist Features: Victoria Gray & Linda Van Gastel

Colour with a U, the Canada wide SAQA Exhibit is now open for viewing at the St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish Nova Scotia. Details for how to book a visit can be found here.

Today we are featuring two Western Canada artists from the exhibit. Victoria Gray and Linda Van Gastel.

The Eccentric Pianist, Victoria Gray

The Eccentric Pianist detail, Victoria Gray

Artist statement: Canada has produced some very colourful characters, one of them being renowned pianist Glenn Gould who became famous for this interpretations of classical music, particularly with the works of J.S. Bach. But as much as this, he is remembered for his multifarious work including electronic media and radio documentaries, and for his eccentricities such as hypochondria and wearing an overcoat and gloves whenever he played. It takes all types to make a country, a world.

 

Othello Tunnels, Linda Van Gastel

Artist Statement: Kettle Valley Railway – Othello Tunnels.  The Kettle Valley Railway was built in 1910-1916 to connect the West Coast to the Kootenay region of BC.  The five closely-spaced Othello Tunnels were the most challenging part of the new railway line. This work is based on a public domain photo taken by James Crookall circa 1925.

In Canada’s early years, railways formed critical connections, enabling Canada to welcome and support immigrants willing to settle in widespread communities.  Inclusion has always been a key element of Canadian culture, as has the commitment to maintain cross-country connections.

As a reminder, you can watch a video of the exhibit and find dates for when it will be near you here.

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

Colour with a U Video Presentation

When the March 2020 SAQA conference MoSAiQA was converted to an online event due to COVID-19 the organizing committee worked hard to create a video featuring all of the wonderful quilts in both Colour with a U and Colour with a U Too. Below is the link to the video in full. Enjoy.

https://vimeo.com/401994763/228b98385e

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu...

At the Opening Reception for
My Corner of the World
Stratford, ON, May 2016

Checking back in the archives this morning, I found my first post on this SAQA Western Canada Blog.  As its title read, I was the "new kid on the block" -- a newly-minted Co-Rep for our Region, following in the footsteps of Patti Morris (now retired from SAQA), who'd served at least five years of a two-year term.

These were big shoes to fill (yes, I said this at the time, too!)  Patti didn't do much blog writing -- but she did spearhead at least two exhibits, along with her colleagues Jill Sullivan of B.C. and Dawn Piasta (MB/SK): "Meet the Best of the West" and "The Burgess Shale".  The latter exhibit is now part of the permanent collection at the Philip J. Curry Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta -- just 19 km. west of Grande Prairie.

Patti also managed to have almost annual "Parlour Meetings" in her spacious home in Red Deer.  Me?  I live in a 1,050 square foot mobile home in the tiny hamlet of Mirror, a good hour's drive NE of Red Deer.  It's perfect for my life and work, but...not for large groups!

I managed -- with the significant help of members Marie McEachern, Helene Blanchette and Alison Cowitz -- to orchestrate one in Calgary in September 2014.  In a blizzard that brought down trees and coated streets and highways with slush and ice.  The meeting was to include a workshop by Susan Purney Mark.  Bless her and over a dozen others who made it -- including my indefatigable team!  We had a great day!

Except for a brief interlude when Val Wilson (who took on Co-Rep MB/SK from Dawn) wrote the posts, I've been doing this Editorial task ever since.  In the past six-plus years, I've tried to glean news, share solo and group exhibit information, post up-dates re: SAQA Benefit and Spotlight Auctions and Conferences, and share information about our members -- people in a Region that comprises 29% of Canada's land mass, clustered on Vancouver Island, on B.C.'s Lower Mainland, in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg -- and sprinkled hither and thither in between.

But...now it's time for a fresh face, a new perspective and unique writing style to show up on these pages.  Co-Reps Jennie Johnston and Susan Selby have helped me put the word out...and now it's up to you.

Without a willing writer/Editor, these pages will disappear into Internet archives -- wherever that is.  Those who don't keep up with SAQA on its website or on Facebook, who don't (or aren't able to) participate in online meetings, and who don't read their newsletters -- whether from SAQA international or from our Co-Reps -- well...maybe they won't miss the stories about their colleagues, or news about the Region as part of the whole organization.

SAQA Regional Reps - Portland, 2015

But isn't that why we gather -- electronically and, when we're able, in person?

Connection, critique, inspiration, encouragement, education, exhibition...this is what SAQA is all about at every level.

Where am I going from here?  Not far -- not at the moment at least!  I'm a member of the SAQA Regional Grants Review Committee, chaired by Bethany Garner (former Co-Rep, Central Canada), alongside Georgia French, Karen Hansen, Jen Solon (Assistant Exec Director) and Desi Vaughn (Regional Reps Co-ordinator).

I'll be at MoSAiQA in March, and am excited to help Maggie Vanderweit and her team as an on-site volunteer.  It will be my fourth conference and my first since Portland (2015).  It's an understatement to say I'm excited about this first conference outside the U.S.!  Canadian members from coast to coast have played a quiet but firm role over the years, helping our neighbours to the south to develop international perspective as SAQA has grown, and we should be proud of that.

Closer to home, I've been selected as Feature Artist at the 21st Annual Lacombe Art Show and Sale in April 2020...the first time a textile artist has been chosen for that honour.  As I work with the organizers to plan my special exhibit for that event, I am mindful of the role my SAQA membership will play in helping me to educate the general public about studio art quilts -- and I look forward to the challenge.

On January 1, 2020 I'll change the settings on the blog so that Jennie and Susan can be 'writers'. I'll keep my access to the blog in order to help a new Editor feel comfortable, and then bow out.  That said, I won't be a presence at all after March 31, 2020, and what will be, will be.

Thank you all for reading, all these years.  Thanks especially for those who sent me news to share, photos of their work, awards, workshops and other accomplishments.

I'd be remiss, though if I didn't close with a couple of reminders 😉:

The Call for Entry for Colour with a 'U' closes Friday, January 3.  Better hop to it if you plan to enter!

AND...submissions to the SAQA 2020 Spotlight Auction can be sent in any time now! (Eeeek! I have to make mine!)  Online submission ends February 1; Canadian artists have until February 21 for their piece to arrive at Maggie's home in Fergus, ON.  See this page for details!

All the best to you for the New Year -- and the New Decade...May 2020 bring you inspiration, creativity, new friendships and experiences...and many happy memories.  -- Margaret

It's October 4...

And that means there are fewer than three (count 'em!) months left to the deadline for entering the "Colour With a 'U'" Call for Entry.  SAQA WC's Co-Rep for MB/SK is on the committee charged with recruiting artists for this exhibit, and she's sending along these words to encourage any who are working on their entries, have just started them, are still pondering them, or didn't plan to answer the Call.  You know who you are... 😉

You will never have a better chance!

You will never have a better chance to have your work accepted into a SAQA exhibit.  The ‘Colour with a U’ call for entry is an all Canada  and Canada only SAQA  show.  The exhibit organizers are expecting about 100 artists to enter pieces into this call.  Between 30 and 45 pieces will be chosen for ‘Colour with a U’ and a further 10 to 12 pieces chosen for a smaller exhibit ‘Colour with a U Too’.  Both will tour around Canada for three years.

Can you do the math?  Your chances of your work being chosen are excellent, especially since only one work per artist will be accepted.  The deadline is January 3, 2020:  you have time.

You will be able to take ‘Get into a SAQA Show” off of your bucket list.

-- Susan Selby, SAQA WC Co-Rep, MB/SK

  (emphasis from the Blog Editor) 

You're Invited to Join the Conversation!

That was the "fall-out" from the First Ever SAQA WC Regional "Zoom" Meeting on Sunday, August 18th.  There were six of your SAQA WC colleagues in attendance -- and two of them were your Co-Reps, Jennie Johnston of B.C. and Susan Selby for MB/SK.  Three more were former Co-Reps -- Valerie Wilson, Dawn Piasta and yours truly (Margaret Blank).  Brigitte Red from B.C. rounded out the group.  Perhaps more of you might have been there but were out of town; nonetheless...we missed you!

It's hoped that there'll be another such online gathering in a few months, so please stay tuned for date and time - because you missed an interesting and inspiring hour of getting-to-know-you-better conversation.

One of the topics that took up a great deal of our time together was the subject of Entering Juried Shows: the themes, the size requirements, the costs, the benefits, the nerves (Rejection?!  Aaaargh!)  

Each one of us has experienced the highs and lows that come from Putting Our Work Out There in public -- whether in a group show, a solo exhibit, in a gallery or Show-and-Sale, or as an Artist in Residence.

Most recently, Susan's been celebrating the acceptance of a piece to the SAQA Juried Global Exhibit, Upcycle! which opens at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, this fall.  I mentioned this in the post introducing her to our Region -- but now she's been able to share with us a photo of her piece entitled Riparian Autumn:

Riparian Autumn - Susan Selby

Specific to this discussion was the Call for Entry for the up-coming All-Canadian exhibit, Colour with a 'U'.   More than one of us expressed reservations about the theme -- mainly because, well, we just couldn't seem to "get it"!

But Susan?  She was excited!  She urged us to read the Prospectus at least a dozen times, slowly, carefully and thoughtfully.

After the Zoom call ended, I did just that...and got an idea for a piece that is now in the "research-and-sample" stage.  Clearly Susan's enthusiasm was catching...and so I'm sharing it with you now -- in her own words:

Colour with a U: You Should Read it Once More

...and then once more again.

I have been encouraging fellow fibre artists to enter “Colour with a 'U’", the upcoming SAQA Canadian exhibit opening in March 2020.  A few artists have told me they are having difficulty finding their creative inspiration for this show.  I have encouraged them to read theCall for Entry several times, focusing on one section at a time.  The theme is very broad, the size has very few restrictions and many interpretations are possible, making the choice challenging.

So, I encourage you to read the call again, find a phrase that speaks to you, let it simmer in your artistic brain and then be inspired to create. Some of the words I like are unusual, unexpected, unbound (you mean we don’t have to finish the edges?) and uncanny; all words to describe fibre art and fibre artists.  The theme is Canadian values of diversity and inclusion; our art is certainly diverse and includes anything and everything we can dream of. There are questions asked such as ‘How do you colour yourself into our Canadian culture?’ Your art can answer one of these questions.  

One discouraged member just wrote to say she has found her creative spark with a further reading of the prospectus and is off and running with enthusiasm.  We still have four months before the deadline of January 3, 2020, which gives us plenty of time to work.

And while you are visiting the SAQA site, watch out for more news about the SAQA 2020 Conference in Toronto.  I hope to see you there.

Now to find my own inspiration,

Susan Selby, 

SAQA Western Canada co-Representative (MB/SK)

Meanwhile, Valerie Wilson can help -- if you have an idea for the Call for Entry but...

• You want to know how to blend values;
• You want to be able to determine value in fabrics;
• You want to be able to select fabrics in the right values for a portrait; and/or
• You want to be able to to use shading to create dimension.

She asks you to imagine for a moment what it would be like to: 

• Easily identify value and choose fabrics effortlessly;
• Know how to blend values; and
• Create depth and shading in a portrait.

And she assures you this can happen!

Valerie has mounted a FREE Five-Day Values Challenge that offers to help you develop these skills -- which just might give you the confidence to answer that Call.  Check out her website HERE for more information.