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This exhibition, is built around four Fibre Art Network artists, interpreting unpublished poems from twelve Canadian poets as a dialogue between the two art forms.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

Winter Got You Down?

Time to check out the art on show by our SAQA Western Canada members!

Looking for some colour to offset cloudy skies?

As mentioned in the post at the end of December, members who also belong to Fibre Art Network (FAN) and Fibre Arts Voices have exhibits now running in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island, respectively. 

Also in B.C., member Lesley Turner* and her artistic partner, Sarah McLaren have just mounted their show, Colour: A Personal Response at Place des Arts in Coquitlam.  Below is just a sample of this project, which is being featured in the Atrium Gallery there.

Photo: Lesley Turner

All three exhibits have Opening Receptions this week:

• Fibre Arts Voices - TODAY at 2 p.m.; 
• Colour: A Personal Response - Friday, January 12 - 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• FAN's Ekphrastic - Saturday, January 13 - noon - 3 p.m.

*If you've never installed an exhibit, check out how Lesley and Sarah went about it (with help from the Gallery) HERE.

Caught in the Deep Freeze?

Warm up with a Festival!

This weekend in Edmonton, Alberta is the 11th Annual Deep Freeze Festival, organized along 118th Avenue by the good folks at Arts on the Avenue.  Events run Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. -- family-friendly indoor and outdoor fun: sports, games, music, entertainment, food -- and ART!

Dervish!
15" x 15"
Monoprint, machine quilted
(C) M. Blank, 2016

Alberta member Margaret Blank has two pieces accepted into this juried show, and both will be available for purchase.  She expects to be at the Festival on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the festivities and take in the full art exhibit.

The Festival's Art Exhibit is up now at the Gallery in the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, 9225 - 118 Avenue, Edmonton, and may be previewed prior to the Festival. 

Gallery Hours: 

Preview: January 10 & 11: 10 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

During the Festival: Saturday, January 13: noon - 8:00 p.m.

and Sunday, January 14: noon - 6:00 p.m.

Opening Next Month!

SAQA WC members are showing their work as part of two group exhibits opening in British Columbia in January:

The Fibre Art Network's Ekphrastic will grace the walls of the Peachland Art Gallery in the Okanagan Valley, from the Opening Reception -- Saturday, January 13, 2018, noon to 3 p.m. -- through Saturday, February 10, 2018.

Participating SAQA members include Terry Aske, Diana Bartelings, Janet Bednarczyk, Joyce Brown, Alison Cowitz, Gloria Daly, Donna-Fay Digance, Diane Duncan, Dianne Firth, Robin Fisher, Jaynie Himsl, Karen Johnson, Judy Leslie, Judi Macleod, Pippa Moore, Jenny Perry, Dawn Piasta, Katie Stein Sather, Susan Selby and Mary Wilton.

And Pippa Moore and her colleagues will present their Fibre Art Voices exhibit at the Old School House Arts Centre, Qualicum Beach.  This exhibit runs from January 2 through January 27, 2018, with the Opening Reception being held January 10 at 2:00 p.m.

Both will be a feast for the eyes to those fortunate enough to be in the Okanagan or on the Island next month!

Opening in Kamloops in September!

SAQA WC Artists are once again front and centre in the latest FAN Exhibit...this time in Kamloops at the Kamloops Art Centre Main Gallery in the Old Courthouse Cultural Centre...

Thanks to member Valerie Wilson (Co-Rep, MB/SK) for passing on this poster via her Facebook feed.   In addition to Valerie (a slice of her piece, Maple Keys, is shown on the right, above), the following SAQA Western Canada members are participating in this beautiful display of all things botanical:

Terry Aske, Diana Bartelings, Janet Bednarczyk, Paulette Cornish, Alison Dean Cowitz, Margie Davidson, Donna-Fay Digance, Diane Duncan (a slice of her piece, Cherry Blossoms, is on the left, above), Robin Fischer, Victoria Gray, Jaynie Himsl, Linda Ingham, Karen Johnson, Judy Leslie, Karlie McChesney, Linda MacKay, Judi MacLeod, Marie McEachern, Pippa Moore, Jenny Perry, Terry Phillips, Dawn Piasta, Katie Stein Sather, Janet Scruggs, Susan Selby, Patt Wilson and Mary Wilton.

If you cannot see it in person, you can see this exhibit on line at the FAN website, HERE.  Enjoy!

SAQA Members "Travel" to La Conner with FAN

In a recent blog post, we shared the information that Alberta SAQA member Margie Davidson, whose piece, "Remembering" is part of the Ekprhastic exhibit recently debuted by FAN -- Fibre Art Network, the Western and Northern Canadian fibre art co-operative.  Of course, Margie isn't the only SAQA member who is also part of  FAN... :-)

B.C. SAQA -- and FAN -- member, Judy Leslie, has shared the wonderful news that this exhibit is now up at the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum for an extended time -- through the end of this year.  The Opening Reception is Saturday, October 15, at 2 p.m.

Congratulations to all the participants!  

From British Columbia...

                

The Edge of the Pond
Terry Aske

Mindful Shadows
Gloria Daly

Seasonal Forlorn
Donna-Fay Digance

Woodsmoke and Whiskey
Marcy Horswill

Remembering Our Stories
Karen Johnson

                                                      

In Praise of Shadows
Judy Leslie

A Moment in Time
Judi MacLeod

     

Hoping
Pippa Moore

October's Fragile Beauty
Terry Phillips

There is a Season
Katie Stein Sather

From Alberta

Winter Sprites
Joyce Brown

Call for Redemption
Alison Cowitz

Remembering
Margie Davidson

The Promise
Diane Duncan

Poem on the Stairs
Dianne Firth

Visitors at Dawn
Mary Wilton

From Manitoba

Winter Deer
Dawn Piasta

  

Winter Deer
Susan Selby

From Saskatchewan

My Turn
Jaynie Himsl

To see all of the pieces in the Ekphrastic exhibit -- if you can't get to La Conner -- click HERE.

Thanks again to Judy Leslie and Co-Rep Coleen Adderley for forwarding the photos.

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!

"Canadiana" Exhibit Back in Canada

Having toured in New Zealand earlier this year, the Fibre Art Network exhibit, "Canadiana", curated by SAQA member Pippa Moore of B.C., returned to Canada and opened at the Langley Centennial Museum, Langley, B.C., in August.  It runs there through November 8, so if you're in the area in the next week, be sure to catch this beautiful show!

Participating artists who are SAQA members, in addition to Pippa, include Diane Duncan (Alberta), Terry Aske (B.C.), Jaynie Himsl (SK), Judi MacLeod (B.C.), Joyce Brown (AB), Marcy Horswill (B.C.), Judith Panson (MB), Karen Johnson (B.C.), Terry Phillips (B.C.), Helene Blanchet (Atlantic Canada, formerly in AB), Jenny Perry (B.C.), Diane Firth (AB), and Katie Stein Sather (B.C.).

By Chance -- Another Exhibit!

I continue to encourage members to send me information about exhibits and shows in which they're participating -- whether affiliated with SAQA or not -- so their work can be shared with all of us.  Sometimes, however, these things are brought to me serendipitously.   For example, I stumbled over this item from member Diane Duncan of Calgary while browsing Facebook this afternoon.

Diane's piece (the windmill, centre of the poster) is only one of what looks to be a fabulous exhibit of textile art by members of the Fibre Art Network (FAN).  If you happen to be in Duncan and area before it closes, do take it in!