Call for Participation! We need you.

Kelowna Retreat in 2017

How can you contribute to our region?

Hello everyone. For those of you who are new my name is Jennie Johnston and I live in BC and was the Western Canada Representative for 3 years (2017-2020)

There are many things that make a region rewarding for members, and some of them require volunteers to stay running. We have two main homes on the internet beside the SAQA website itself that are for sharing and staying connected in our region. This blog is one method and the other is our Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/saqawesterncanada/

Our blog is for sharing new exhibits, techniques, personal journeys, and the social media accounts and websites of members. Since our dedicated member Margaret Blank (also a former Western Canada rep and active SAQA member from Alberta) stepped down from the blog, I have been doing my best to maintain it. My time is no longer allowing me to keep the blog updated and this is where you come in.

Please consider taking over this important connection point for our region. We use the Blogger site to host it and it is a very user-friendly platform that anyone can learn. Ideally one or two posts a month would be all you need to do to keep members engaged in both larger SAQA and things going on in our region. Contact myself at the email on the sidebar or Susan Selby our current rep if you are interested and I am happy to go over the logistics.

If no one steps forward I am afraid this wonderful resource will become dormant and not be updated with new member information etc.

For the time being, I will continue to maintain our Instagram, so please send me any images of your work and relevant information for the caption if you’d like to have your work featured. Currently we have over 500 followers, so this is a great platform to share your work on.

Thanks everyone.

Jennie

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!