NEWS UPDATE!

SAQA WC members Lesley Turner and Barbara McCaffrey are also members of the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association...which has an exhibit on NOW at the Portals Gallery, run by the Cowichan Arts Council.

Entitled "Current Threads 19", it includes work Lesley showed earlier this year in Gimli, Manitoba, as part of an exhibit by the group known as Articulation.  It also includes Barbara's piece entitled "Ogham, Oracle of the Trees".

Lesley reports about the Opening Reception HERE.  It will be up through October 24 -- which is Thursday THIS WEEK.  If you are in the area, and haven't seen it but want to...get thee to the gallery pronto!

• Gallery Location: 2687 James Street, Duncan, B.C.
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Over and out!  😉

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.

What Our Members are Up To...

While the Blog Editor's away, our SAQA WC members continue to 'play'...  😉

Play a key role in the textile/art quilt community, that is, bringing their work to the world both through SAQA exhibitions and on their own.  I'm just back from 17 days in Scotland...mainly off line -- and here are just a few bits of news that came to my attention once I reconnected!

Cottonwood Delta Blues
Jaynie Himsl, SK

Jaynie Himsl of Saskatchewan's piece, Cottonwood Delta Blues makes a 'splash' as SAQA's H20H! exhibit -- currently on show at the National Quit Museum in Paducah, Kentucky -- is highlighted in a video on The Quilt Show blog.

B.C. members, Lesley Turner and Sarah McLaren, held a short but successful exhibit, Colour: A Personal Response, at ARTSea Gallery in Sidney, B.C. (You can read more about this on Lesley's blog, HERE.)

And SAQA WC Co-Rep for B.C., Jennie Johnston, has secured a spot as in Artist in Residence at the Forest Grove Elementary School -- where her sons are students -- via an Artist in the Classroom grant from ArtStarts in Schools.  You can read more about that adventure on her blog, HERE.


In the 2017 SAQA Benefit Auction, which continues through October 8, B.C. member Terry Aske was thrilled to have her piece, Heron Reflected 2, sold on the opening day!  Karen Johnston's piece, 4-Patch and Beyond, was also sold during Section 1, while pieces by Margaret Blank and Susan Selby are now available for purchase in the SAQA Store.


Still available in Section 2 are pieces by Pippa Moore and Karlie McChesney, while coming up in Section 3, opening Monday, October 2, at 2 p.m. ET, are pieces by SAQA WC members Ellen Bourassa, Jaynie Himsl and Susan Purney Mark. 


Of course, there are also dozens of pieces by our SAQA colleagues from all around the globe, some of whom have become very well known, and others who may be entering the exhibiting world for the first time with their auction pieces.  Selling a piece is a real boost to all artists, but selling that very first piece...well...that's something particularly special! 

Best wishes for success for all who participated in this year's fund-raiser and wide-open exhibit opportunity!

Remember, if you have an item of note -- a technique, process, artistic experience or exhibit to share with your SAQA colleagues; an article published; a prize won; a book to recommend; a new member (even if it's yourself!) to introduce from your part of our wide Region...please contact Margaret, your long-suffering Blog Editor!  😉  She'll be happy to report it, and will give you any guidance you need in preparing the information needed for the blog post.

Thank you for your support!

Congratulations, Lesley!

SAQA member Lesley Turner of B.C. has created a piece that's been accepted into this year's World of Threads Festival in Ontario.  Her work "Earth Repair" will appear in the "Late in the Season" exhibit at the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre, Oakville, from October 29 through November 27.


To see a photo of the work and learn more from Lesley, check out her blog HERE.

"Meeting" SAQA Members at "The Edge of the Forest" -- Online

Thanks to a lovely blog post from SAQA member Lesley Turner (B.C.), you can see her and several of her colleagues with their pieces from the exhibit, The Edge of the Forest, currently touring in British Columbia.  For those of us in the hinterland of the Western Canada Region (grin), it's an opportunity to put faces to names we've heard or seen on mailing lists.

SAQA members included with Lesley in the blog post: Donna-Fay Digance and Terry Phillips.  Click HERE to view the blog post.

The Edge of the Forest is an exhibit created by Canadian members of the Surface Design Association; as of this writing it's last planned stop will be at the Fibreworks Gallery on the Sunshine Coast, opening July 9 and running through August 21, 2016.

Thanks, Lesley!

More Exhibits Worth Viewing!

Lesley Turner
Photo: LinkedIn.com

B.C. member Lesley Turner is an artist with a clutch of exhibits happening this spring.  Yesterday she posted on her blog about the installation of "Aunty Flow Speaks Out", a collaboration with Kirsten Horel, at the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria.  The piece is part of an exhibit the CACGV is mounting at its Bay Centre gallery -- Women Hold Up Half the Sky -- in honour of International Women's Day.  This exhibit is on now and runs through March 13.

Oh to be able to take that in on an Artists' Date!

In addition to this newly-opened exhibit, Lesley -- with several SAQA Western Canada colleagues -- has work in Edge of the Forest (see this blog post) which will open at the Coast Collective Arts Centre in Victoria in March and at Fibreworks Gallery, Pender Harbour, B.C., in July.  She also has several exhibits throughout the spring and summer at Tulista Gallery and other B.C. venues throughout the Spring and Summer.  For more details, check the side-bar of her blog HERE.


Later this Spring, in Central Ontario...the Encounter Art Quilt Group from Israel will be exhibiting their work at the Jewish Community Centre in London, Ontario.  Several of the artists in the group are SAQA members. 

To quote from today's post on the SAQA Central Canada blog,

“Encounters” was established in 2009 and includes 15 Israeli Art Quilt artists. [Their] meetings are bi - monthly, and the emphasis in each meeting is the exchange of opinions, ideas, mutual enrichment and fertilization, practice new techniques and work toward exhibiting our works together. 

The exhibit's theme, "Song of Songs" is taken from the book by the same name (sometimes called the "Song of Solomon") found in the Hebrew Scriptures (referred to by Christians as the Old Testament).

Christine Seager, Co-Rep for SAQA: Europe and the Middle East, shares this information about the theme and the artists' inspiration:

The book incorporated Love Songs: between a lover and his wife, among family members and the love of Israel and their God.

Many verses were composed into songs that are an inspiration to feelings and emotions, describes colors and intensity, and glorify landscapes and way of life.  

Each quilter chose different symbols she felt expresses the verse of inspiration in the best way: flowers or thorns, fruits (apples, pomegranates and grapes), depicted places, use traditional images and symbols to create colorful, realistic and poetic exciting quilts.

Some of the topics you'll find in this exhibition:

• "As the lily among thorns": symbolizes Israel surrounded by a hostile environment.  

• "My Beloved"; "Doves eyes"; "The fairest of women": an expression of a private love.

• "Doves in the clefts of the rock": descriptions of nature viewed from a home window or caves in the desert.

• "Refresh me with apples"; "Apple among the woods": the female's voice point of view, seductive, full of love and loaded with Garden of Eden features.

On my wish list now?  A prayer that this exhibit would be held over through the end of May so I could see it when I'm in the area for the opening of the My Corner of the World exhibits!

Meanwhile...those of you in the Region who are having solo shows or have work in wider exhibits in your area or elsewhere -- whether those showings are SAQA-founded or not! -- please let your Co-Reps know so that this information can be shared with your colleagues.

Viewing the work of other artists, colleagues and others, is one way to fill the well of inspiration we all carry within as we create our own work.  Soak it in and enjoy!

Special thanks to Bethany Garner (Co-Rep, Central Canada) and Christine Seager for passing on this information.

Another Exquisite Exhibit

I subscribe to the blog written by member, Lesley Turner, of B.C.   Yesterday she posted about a beautiful exhibit now on at Portals in Duncan, B.C., under the auspices of the Cowichan Valley Arts Council.

Entitled "Garden Tapestry", the exhibit features work by the members of the VISDA -- Vancouver Island Surface Design Association -- including B.C. SAQA member, Sarah McLaren.  For photos of some of the artists with their work, check out Lesley's blog HERE.

And if you are fortunate enough to be in the area...

Thanks, Lesley!

Spring Shows to See - Part II

Synesthesia 24: Golden Yellow
Lesley Turner

In addition to "People & Places" showing in Manitoba, I know of at least three shows in B.C. that have opened this month.  All have been listed on the "Networking" page of this blog, but here are a few visuals:

Synesthesia 4: Spring Green
Lesley Turner

In addition to her participation in "Edge of the Forest", B.C. member Lesley Turner is showing several pieces in an exhibit entitled "Small Expressions" which opened March 4 at the Tulista Gallery in Sidney, B.C. under the auspices of the Community Arts Council of the Saanich Penninsula.  The show runs through March 29.  If you're in the area, do treat yourself to a viewing of her little gems.


Meanwhile, B.C. member Catherine Nicholls is involved in three exhibits!  The first is "Mended", a group exhibit presented by the Surface Design Association - B.C. and The Yukon -- which includes work by several SAQA members:

Participants who are SAQA members include:

• Anni Hunt
• Linda Ingham
• Barbara McCaffery
• Catherine Nicholls
• Susan Purney-Mark
• Kristin Rohr
• Jill Sullivan
• Lily Thorne
• Patt Wilson

"Mended" opens March 17 at Il Museo, part of the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver; from there it travels to Fibreworks Gallery on the Sunshine Coast (August 20 - October 4) and next year, to the Place des Arts in Coquitlam, B.C.

At the same time, Catherine has a solo show opening March 17 at the City Atrium Gallery in the North Vancouver, B.C.  Note that it runs through May 11, and that Catherine will be giving an Artist's Talk the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24:

AND....at the end of March, some of Catherine's work will be included in the exhibit, "Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation", opening March 31 at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver.

I await Catherine's permission to post particular photos of her work on this site, but meanwhile, you can catch up with her on her own blog HERE.

P.S.  Special thanks to members Terry Aske, Karen Johnson and Jaynie Himsl who are going to be at Quilt Canada 2015 in Lethbridge, AB (June 4-6) and who, though they are volunteering at the Fibre Art Network booth and elsewhere, have offered to spell me off a bit at the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show (Section "F") booth.  I will be "personing" the booth most of the time between June 4 and June 6...If anyone else would like to volunteer to ensure I don't starve, thirst (coffee!) or otherwise injure myself (ahem!)...please e-mail me at margblank@xplornet.ca.

And thanks for your support!