Congratulations, Terry!

Just sharing this for those of you not on Facebook or Instagram...

B.C. member Terry Aske's piece, Rain with a Chance of Sun, has not only been juried in to the SPUN exhibit in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but is also featured on the poster advertising this event!

Congratulations, Terry!

Rain with a Chance of Sun
(C) Terry Aske

And...Surprise!  

If you look at the list of artists on the above clip of the poster, you'll see the name of a former SAQA Western Canada member...Mardell Rampton.  Well done, WC artists!  

TFAM is Coming!

What's TFAM?

Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba!

             

All textile and fibre artists in Manitoba are invited to become members of TFAM.

An inaugural meeting will be held Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 7:00 to 8:00 pm, at Creative Manitoba, 300 – 245 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg.

Email tfamartists@gmail.com if you are interested in attending or would like more information. 

Interested, but cannot attend the meeting?  Email tfamartists@gmail.com with your contact information and we will keep you informed.

Susan Selby

SAQA WC member Susan Selby of Manitoba tells us more...

We are excited to announce the inaugural meeting of the Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba (TFAM).  The meeting will take place in the Small Meeting Room at Creative Manitoba, 300 - 245 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg on Wednesday, October 25 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.  Refreshments and discussions to follow.

All textile and fibre artists in Manitoba are potential members of this group.  Our goals are:

* Networking amongst the diverse artists throughout the province.  Technology will be used for those in remote areas;

* Sharing our expertise and experience;

* Advocacy for our arts, promoting the art forms, arranging group shows; and

* Learning and encouraging artistic development.

 A newsletter will keep members informed and meetings will rotate throughout the province. 

If you are interested in our mandate but unable to attend this meeting, we would still like to hear from you; please email tfamartists@gmail.com to introduce yourself and share your experiences.  Your ideas will be welcomed.

TFAM Steering Committee,

Yvonne Carlson, Elaine Filyk, Susan Selby, Cathie Ugrin and Krista Zeghers

Moody Manitoba Morning
Susan Selby

Editor's Note: due to the distances between us across the SAQA Western Canada Region, getting a group together is a challenge (just ask your Regional Co-Reps, past and present!)  We need to support each other and our work, and come together with enthusiasm and engagement, whether in a POD, at a Regional Retreat, a SAQA Conference -- or just over a cup of coffee.  Best wishes to Susan and her colleagues for the success of this initiative!

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!

MCOTW: Canada -- off to France!

If you want to see the SAQA exhibit My Corner of the World: Canada sometime in the next year, you'll have to travel to France to do it.  As SAQA member Bethany Garner has just reported on the SAQA Central Canada blog, here are the four venues in France where the work of les canadiennes will be showing:

Exhibition sites in France during 2017-18

MY CORNER OF THE WORLD- CANADA

LINK for exploring the site:

 

Catalogue available!
https://twitter.com/patchwork_epm/status/906149021202440194/photo/1

SAQA Western Canada artists represented in MCOTW: Canada

Terry Aske

Margaret Blank

Jaynie Himsl

Paula Jolly

Marie McEachern

Mardell Rampton

Janet Scruggs

Congratulations to all the participants!

SAQA's Annual Online Benefit Auction 2017: SAQA WC is There!

In just a bit more than a week, SAQA opens its 2017 Online Benefit Auction, with it's "Diamond Day, September 15th.  At 2 p.m. Eastern Time on that day, all the pieces will be up for purchase for $1,000 USD each!

Those not sold on Diamond Day will proceed to the weekly auction, starting with Section 1 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, September 18.

This year, nine SAQA WC members have contributed to the Auction:

On offer in Section 2

On offer in Section 1

On offer in Section 3

On offer in Section 3

On offer in Section 1

On offer in Section 2

On offer in Section 2

On offer in Section 3

On offer in Section 1

Thanks to you all for contributing your time and talent to SAQA's fund-raising efforts!  Funds raised go, in part, to ensuring that the art quilts created in "our corner of the world" travel abroad, secure and insured, to educate people everywhere about the power and beauty of the studio art quilt.  😊

Meanwhile in Calgary...

Just opened in Calgary -- through mid-September, so catch it quickly while you can!

Contextural describes itself thus:

Contextural is a community of textile artists fostering a cooperative creative environment in support of the production of artistic works. Contextural contributes to the artistic advancement of our members through access to a collaborative working environment, professional development and the exhibition of new work.

This particular exhibit is the group's annual show of work done during its summer residency at the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD).  Several SAQA Western Canada members belong to Contextural -- Diane Duncan,  Terri Illingworth, Wendy Klotz, Lorraine Ross and Lynda Williamson.  However, as of this writing, their participation in this year's exhibit is unconfirmed, for which I apologize.  (If one of these gals can elucidate in the comments or by e-mail to me, I'd appreciate it!)

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!

Camrose Art Walk 2017

Once again Camrose member Mary Wilton is part of the Annual Art Walk in Camrose, Alberta -- and you have just a few weeks left to catch this varied exhibit in this lovely Central Alberta city.

Yes -- that's Mary on the cover of this year's Art Walk brochure.  In the centre is her husband, Terry, whose photography is also on exhibit, and to the right is their colleague, Jim Brager.

Yours truly had the pleasure of visiting the assorted venues with Mary about ten days ago, so I'm happy to share just a taste of her work on display, in case you can't get to Camrose to see it for yourself...

Manitoba Thanksgiving
Wet felting, free-motion quilting,
mounted on artist's canvas

Autumn Birches
Painted whole-cloth, glue resist
fused applique, free-motion quilting

Top: Ontario Summer
Bottom: Newfoundland Sunrise
Wet felting, free-motion quilting
mounted on artist's canvas

The Art Walk runs through September 5, 2017 at various venues around Camrose.  Downtown Camrose is ideal for strolling -- with galleries, an art supply shop, a large quilt shop, and some very good eateries: perfect for an Artist's Date!

"Bridges" in Calgary!

The Alberta Society of Artists is celebrating 85 years with a special exhibit, entitled "Bridges" -- and two of the featured artists are SAQA members from Alberta: Barbara J. West and Ilse Anysas-Salkauskas.

September 1-30, 2017

Calgary Central Library

 616 Macleod Trail S.E., Calgary.

Reception: Thursday, September 7, 2017

An informal guided tour begins at 7:30 p.m.

If you have an opportunity to visit the library in September, do be sure to take in this special exhibit!

Making Her Mark

Photo: courtesy of Saanich News

Susan Purney Mark of Victoria, B.C. is at it again!  She gave us a wonderful workshop on mark-making at our Regional Retreat in May, and she's been carrying on ever since.  This coming weekend she'll be at it again.

Thanks to B.C. colleague, Andree Fredette, for sharing on Facebook that Susan will be making more marks on August 13 when she goes to the annual Bower Creek Brush-up in Oak Bay, B.C.   She'll be one of three dozen artists in the park that day, sharing their work with the public.  The event runs from 11 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. at 1700 Hampshire Road, Oak Bay, B.C.

If you're in the area, do drop by and say "Hi!"  

Make some marks!  You might just get hooked -- like I did!  

Wall - Margaret Blank (c) 2017
12" square
Materials: Kona cotton, other commercial fabric
and hand-dyed linen, fabric paint, polyester thread,
poly-cotton batting, embroidery floss.
Techniques: mark-making, stamping,
machine quilting, "big stitch" hand quilting.