The Grand National Fibre Exhibition 2021: Crossroads features some of the best in contemporary fibre art from across the country. Works present a variety of techniques including quilting, needle painting, felting, and rug hooking as well as hand printing and dyeing.
This year’s exhibit, which presents 48 works by 43 outstanding artists, is a juried selection on the theme of Crossroads. Fibre Artists have been challenged with visualizing a decisive moment when a path diverges, and a resolution is made.
The Grand National Exhibition has been showcasing quilt and fibre artists across Canada in a biennial exhibit since 2003. Initially, exclusively a juried quilt exhibition, in 2019, the Grand National Exhibition began to include other forms of fibre art. Crossroads is the organization’s first touring exhibit and makes its first stop at the UNB Art Centre. The tour wraps up at the end of 2022 and brings the show to the Thunder Bay Museum, ON; Woodstock Art Gallery, ON; Victoria Arts Council, B.C, Weyburn Arts Council, SK; and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, MB. The exhibit will be accompanied by a catalogue.
This piece is a result of the synergy of several minds creating a cohesive piece of art yet still maintaining their individuality. It is from the 2019 Improvnorth Quilting Bee made up of 10 artists across Canada. The request was for yellow and white fractured blocks. A black and white stripe was to be inserted to represent their individuality. It was raw edge appliquéd to give the illusion that every block is connected; signifying what can result in choosing to work together rather than alone; the horseshoe representing good luck. The name pays homage to the artist’s sister who reminded us that in the world of design, there is more than one way to hang a horseshoe.
Having only worked alone on all previous pieces, the artist made the decision to work with others to create a piece of art that represented the power of collaboration. Finding an improvisational group of 10 artists set this in motion.
My art has had several crossroads. This last crossroad came when I felt a deep need to start thinking outside my safe box, no matter what those around me wanted. I had to decide whether I would continue to be a representational artist or make the leap into impressionism which I had always loved. So, after my art medium changed, I knew it was the time for a style change as well. It took a lot of courage, but I felt that I had always wanted this and now there is such a thrill and excitement.
Patricia Anderson has worked in three art mediums, acrylic, glass and wool. Her landscapes can be found in private collections in Trinidad, Canada, USA and Britain. She loves the challenges of each medium, from painting in acrylic, to the technical skills needed to create her landscapes in kiln formed glass, to learning how to combine wool fibres to create her felted landscapes. She currently exhibits and also teaches felting to both adults and children.
Entirely inspired by the events of 2020 which will forever be associated with the global pandemic. As human beings, we’ve found ourselves at a crossroads between our "normal" daily routines and what has seemed like an interminable uncertainty of daily news updates, mask-wearing and Zoom meetings. Despite a year of racial violence and unsettling politics amidst health unknowns, we have still been reminded of the human values that are needed now more than ever, to help us survive. We all have choices to make but need many qualities to make the best decisions.
artKWilt connection consists of five award-winning quilt artists living in South Western Ontario, collaborating since 2014. Each is a respected quilt artist in her own right, appearing at numerous local and national exhibitions. With all the challenges of 2020, the group still feels the excitement of working together on a project, without actually meeting in person. Ilene Atkins, Kitchener. Dorothy Holdenmeyer, Beamsville. Marg Notar, Waterloo. Judy Pearce, Kitchener. Nancy Winn, Waterloo.
Rusted railway tracks, with rail tops polished to a shine by frequent freight trains. Thickly painted symbols warn pedestrians and cyclists to be aware and alert. I often use this crossing. And I always pause to admire the striking graphic patterns. Inspired by my own photos.
This quilt started with a vague concept and some of my favourite colours. I said from the beginning that if I didn’t like it, I would cut it up – and I did! My original piecing, although improv and asymmetrical, resulted in a more precise design than I wanted. So, I cut it into 6" squares, and rearranged it on my design wall, making decisions as I pieced. Once I added the negative space to each quadrant, it all come together. The result is an intersection of my original vague concept, my improv process and the colours I love. Inspired by many modern improv quilters.
Driving through the night, across the featureless landscape, headlights and taillights blur into glowing streams of light, crossing in the darkness. As I drive, I realize I am surrounded by strangers; all of us travelling in our own socially isolated bubbles. I wonder about the people in all the vehicles around me. I wonder about their destinations - are they heading home, across town to visit friends, or perhaps starting a long trip toward a new adventure. I wonder about their hopes and dreams. Inspired by many time-lapse photos of highway traffic at night.
Terry Aske is a textile artist, who creates her art with fabric, thread and a sewing machine. Terry designs and creates contemporary quilts in her home studio in New Westminster, BC, Canada. Using a variety of techniques, she creates both realistic and abstract pieces. Terry's work has been juried into many national and international shows and exhibits and published in books and magazines. Terry has won awards in both the artistic and modern categories.
Beneath the light of the silvery moon,
One difficult step after another,
Overcoming the hurdles along the way,
Only to come against a cluster that is just too much.
Life is unraveling.
Born in White Horse Yukon, and raised in Vancouver, BC, Diana Bartelings now resides in Rock Creek, BC where she married and raised her family. Creating is a spiritual act for her, making her work intensely personal. She responds to the beauty in nature and in manmade structures; in Spiritual concepts; in family, friends and animals, both domestic and wild; current and historical issues also move her to respond.
Capillaries are the crossroads between arteries and veins. In mammals, capillaries made it possible for larger, more complex life forms to evolve through more efficient gas exchange. The gas exchange that occurs between arteries, veins and the atmosphere is critical to the survival of all living organisms.
Plants produce gases which animals need to survive, and animals create gases which plants need to survive. This results in a web of crossroads between all living things in our world. Inspired by Pat Pauly’s improvisational piecing.
Janet Bednarczyk is inspired by the lines, layers and form of nature. She enjoys working with textiles and creates most of her own fabric from white or black originals. Bednarczyk enjoys the feel and texture that textiles bring to her life.
This is about my life and the women who lived with me in the women’s abuse shelter. After years of suffering verbal aggression, I started to believe that what I heard was true. Believing what they wanted me to believe caused me to lose myself between truth and someone else's imagination. The phrases on the quilt are now parts of my past. The miracle was inside me and it was worth the wait because now I have stopped waiting and have started to act. It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. I lived in the darkness for years waiting for a miracle, let the light shine out of darkness. The light appeared in my mind as the hope of freeing me from pain and suffering through the positive affirmations in my mind, where I started to absorb this light and energize myself because I understood that the miracle that I expected was inside me. "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light" Martin Luther King.
Ana Paula is an international visual arts professional who graduated in fine arts and photography. She presents a unique mix of expertise, creativity and knowledge with advanced fibre techniques. She is currently working with textile art to express the happiness of life. Ana was born into a family of poets, artists and seamstresses. Her love affair with quilting began with her grandma when she was 8 years old. Ana has taught and given lectures since 1988. In the early 90's she appeared on TV shows and her work was featured in dozens of magazines in Brazil. Since then, she has participated in international exhibits in in public museums and galleries. Ana loves to share her art and knowledge in her beautiful and happy journey across the universe of fine art quilt making.
This piece was inspired by an editorial in the Buenos Aires Herald from the 1990s. It talks about a woman standing against a building waiting for someone, and a man who slowly walks by her and then turns and comes back, trying to make eye contact. That repeats for a few minutes until the woman enthusiastically waves to someone and she throws herself in the arms of a man who looks stunned for a minute. They leave together. The other man slowly walks away...hoping to one day meet a woman who is alone and waits, like him.
Ana Buzzalino is a fiber artist, painter, instructor and author living in Calgary. Her work has won international, national as well as local awards, and has been exhibited at national and international venues. Ana's work includes surface design and mixed media techniques to achieve the results she is looking for. Ana is a frequent contributor to Quilting Arts Magazine She has also appeared in several seasons of Quilting Arts TV.
A trip abroad in recent years, in hindsight, may have been the last one for some time to come. We’ve learned to appreciate the freedom we took for granted: the freedom to travel, to hug our loved ones, to go out for a simple meal, and so much more. This global crossroads is one that will not soon be forgotten and perhaps will have a magnifying and lasting effect for decades to come. Will we ever get back to this quiet spot along the canal in Ghent, Belgium? “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault
Yvonne Carlson lives in Winnipeg Manitoba and has been quilting and teaching for many years. Fibre art has started Yvonne on a new path of creativity. Yvonne belongs to MPQ and CQA, Fibre Art Network in western Canada and is a founding member of the Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba. Yvonne’s work is typically a combination of machine and hand stitching, old and new techniques, modern and traditional. Yvonne enjoys finding ways to combine her love of many techniques and crafts in her fibre art.
We make decisions everyday—some more complex than others. Decisions can affect those we love, and not always for the better. Do you maintain the status quo, unhappy with the situation, in hopes of making the situation liveable? Or do you forge ahead with a new life, attempt to overcome obstacles that will inevitably occur and hope the new path doesn’t harm those you love the most. Both roads come with benefits, both with hardships. This piece was created with unique monoprinted fabrics, stitched, and stabilized to create a 3-dimensional piece. The piece, like the decision at hand and the paths ahead, has a light side and a dark side.
A love of textiles was kindled early, dabbling in various fibre endeavours over the years. Chriss Coleman turned to quilting as on outlet for her creativity in 2015. She enjoys projects that explore new pathways, new ideas, and new techniques—those that require her to puzzle solve her solutions are the type that appeal to her the most.
I came to a Crossroad when my youngest son entered university, and I decided to return to school. I enrolled in a one-year art program 400 kilometers from my home. I was three times the age of the average student and didn’t fit in but I took every opportunity and pushed hard. My then traditional rug hooking changed dramatically. I changed the materials, scale and concept for my pieces. This body of work examines women’s roles in the family and society. It honors domesticity while challenging the status quo. Who raises your children? Who cleans your home? Who fills your bowl?
Charline Collette is a New Brunswick artist of Acadian heritage. She is a textile artist working with traditional rug hooking techniques, making contemporary hooked pieces with paper. She has developed an artistic language combining hooked surfaces and photographic imagery. Charline’s work has shown throughout Canada, as well as in the United States. Her pieces have recently been juried into two international competitions, are held in private collections and in the CollectionArtNB public collection.
After enjoying the past 20 years in traditional art quilt-making, this piece signifies a "Crossroad" for me. Choosing a new path, I studied with contemporary artists working in photography, graphic arts, and mixed media art forms. I have now chosen to reduce the significant layers in my art, minimize the machine quilting and adjust the primary colour palette to shades of grey. This piece is a metaphor for this new path. Although the piece seems to have more light, the end is not in sight.
Canadian Contemporary Fibre Artist, Paulette Cornish, from Vancouver Island has been exhibiting her Art Quilts for more than 20 years throughout Canada and internationally. Her past works have focused on landscapes. Over the last two years, studio downsizing has led to a "Crossroad" for her. Coupled with a burgeoning fascination for computer/iPad design, she has undertaken a substantial change in technique and studio practices. Printmaking on her own fabrics, while using commercial paper & other mediums in her learning, she is going down a very different road from the past.
Inspired by the theme and very personal firsthand experience. It was 1984, I was on the cusp of living or not living. I was in intensive care, and I could see the graphs and numbers on the monitors. Working in health care, I should have been terrified, but there was that bright white warm light surrounding me. I felt loved and totally cared for. There was nothing to fear. All was well. Now in this pandemic, I think of those in intensive care, also on the cusp. I wish for them that light and warmth, and hope that regardless the outcome, that they too will feel that love.
Millie Cumming has been quilting for almost thirty years and has been creating her own designs for most of that time. She uses many sources for inspiration, but especially textiles (new and recycled), nature, her own photography, her canoe, her many experiences in health care, and last (but certainly not least), her strong family ties.
When I chose to work with indigo, it was to draw on the culture I knew. I worked with hand dyed fabric like a "BORO" (worn or used fabric). This celebrated the work and art of people who wasted nothing. The piece became for me a crossroads. I had to choose between following the culture I knew or taking the other path of building upon that culture while totally immersing myself in my adopted culture and new reality. This was a significant point of understanding myself as a person and an artist.
Hanna Yokozawa Farquharson moved to Canada in 2011 from Japan, she saw lots of quilts in family houses and at the Care Home. She saw that they have something special in them that evokes healing and safety. In 2015, she found one beautiful modern quilt and she was so moved that she started quilting in 2016 and that led her to textile art. She uses Japanese aesthetic philosophies 'Wabi-Sabi' and 'Mono-No-Aware' in her art.
Trasna: Irish word meaning 'to cross'. Venturing through the maze of life, one encounters crossroads that require important decisions to be made. Each decision could take one in a different direction. Our lives do not always follow straight pathways. Often times, life meanders through a maze of fascinating crossroads. A meaningful decision in life is simply to follow one's heart when pursuing personal pathways. Inspired by my personal attraction to mazes.
Eileen Findlay has been working with fabric since her teenage years, at which time she designed and sewed her wardrobe. She later taught Home Economics in NS and BC. She has explored many fibre art techniques and has taken numerous courses from interesting and motivating teachers. Eileen's creativity is nurtured by her association with talented fibre artists who inspire her to expand her horizons.
In recent years I have realized what a gift it is to be able to live the creative life that calls me. Following the loss of my husband’s job, I was faced with the decision to leave my creative space and follow an opportunity to work outside of my art. I arrived at this crossroad understanding that it was a necessary path to take, but one I chose reluctantly. Living a creative life comes with a magnetic pull, and if we can just remember to look up toward the future, we can always make space to follow our purpose. Inspired by my daughters.
On a countryside of fields and wide-open spaces, the prairie grain elevator stands stoic and holds its ground as a reminder of times past. The souvenir still demands the respect of passersby, stopping them at the crossroad. Take a moment to look down the track and appreciate the promise of this beautiful, prosperous country. The abundance which has passed through this intersection has sustained rural communities for decades. Pause to admire these giants that stand guard along the rail line across the prairies. Inspired by my father.
Julie Garcia has been experimenting in the fibre medium for over twenty years. Raised on the Prairies, her work is inspired by the Canadian landscape and the challenge of creating depth and textures with a complex mix of fabric and thread. Originally a quilter taught by her mother, Julie created her first landscape quilt in a class with Judith Baker Montano. Julie continues to experiment with fibre and create art pieces from her Winnipeg studio.
When my daughter was in her late teens, she led camping trips in the BC Coastal Mountains. This image is from a photo taken on one of those trips and, to me, embodies her self-possession, strength and passion for life. She is poised at a crossroads in her life and my hope is that she will cultivate joy and harvest wisdom.
Janet Harper has long been fascinated by the colour and texture of fabric, yarn and thread and amassed quite a collection over the years. From sewing clothes, she graduated to making quilts and then to textile art. Her work is inspired by geometry, nature, dreams and the work of others. Her quilts usually involve solving a geometric problem, while her wall hangings are primarily free form pieced using recycled ties, velours and silks and/or miles of threads. Each piece is a learning experience.
My most profound, life-altering crossroad came when I got married. I was a single, free-spirited Montreal fashion designer who traded my dream-job, apartment, city, and the life I loved for a new, unknown future in Toronto. Using deconstructed wedding gowns, this art-piece represents the complexity and fragility of uniting two lives, and the life-altering crossroad we face when we "tie the knot". Through partnership, growth and camaraderie along with challenges, conflict and struggle, marriage can endure, with bonds that grow stronger, knots that get tighter. As an artist, I enjoy manipulating and embellishing fibre, orchestrating subtle colour combinations, and creating unique textural surfaces and shadows.
After graduating from Sheridan College and York University in Canada, Patricia Hertzberg attended the Penland School (Textiles) in North Carolina. She was a Resident Artist at Mississauga's Living arts Centre for six years and is a member of the 'Connections Fibre Artists' group. Her art has won numerous awards and has been exhibited across the country. It can be found in both corporate and private collections in Canada, USA, Britain, Mexico and Italy.
For Southern Ontario, March 13, 2020, signifies the end of large gatherings, closure of non-essential services and isolation. My needle-felted artwork is based on a photograph which I took on that symbolic day. This premonitory view of a "corona" cloud formation above 17th Street descending the Niagara escarpment over Lake Ontario and distant Toronto also captures a physical crossroad leading into an unawakened vineyard. 17th Street itself leads to old Lakeshore Road which runs the circumference of Lake Ontario. The work is a metaphorical crossroad intersecting the "normal" and the "pandemic" landscape. Inspired by the onset of the Corona-19 Virus and a serendipitous sighting of this scene.
Greta Hildebrand’s fibre and textile artwork explores nature and its ecological fragility. Educated in fine arts and interdisciplinary Canadian Studies provides her with a rooted knowledge; her lived experience in the Fiji Islands, New Zealand and Canada, career as an educator, and travels, prompted her to create and share these perspectives.
This piece is a visual interpretation of the numerous small decisions we make each day. How we chose to spend our time, choices we make in our diet or how we care for our body and mind all play a role in our well-being. One small daily choice isn’t likely to make a profound difference to our lives, but those same small daily choices when added up over decades will absolutely have an effect. Each seam was a conscious decision following my intuitive guide. Each button colour and its placement were likewise decided individually. The small choices add up to a harmonious whole.
Jaynie Himsl uses fabric and a domestic sewing machine to make statements about her environment. Design classes over the years along with sewing skills practiced for decades provide a firm base for her creativity. Working intuitively, she uses a variety of construction techniques to complete her original art quilts. Himsl is an award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally.
The world is at a turning point right now, having been turned upside down. The emergence of the beautiful fireweed after a fire can give us hope for a new more conscious way of being in this world. Inspired by the contrast of the colours of the fireweed growing in the ashes.
Karen Johnson has been sewing since she was six years old and has never tired of the process. She participated in a 4-H Clothing club growing up, moved on to a Home Economics degree with a major in Clothing and Textiles before teaching Home Economics. Experimentation with art quilting techniques has contributed to more abstract interpretations in her work. Her inspiration is shaped by daily walks as well as travel and photography.
Inspired by the crossed roads of freeways, this piece evokes the abundance of choice we face in our western world. We can pursue any of so many paths. When we come to crossroads, we can go ahead, turn to left or right or even retrace our steps. The possibilities in our lives are endless. We need to wake up and see the rainbow: the richness we all can be. The piece also expresses the limitless potential of colour and texture, inhooking and punching, as craft and art. I express gratitude for my life.
Sara Judith is a rug hooking artist creating works vibrant with colour, texture and fiber. She has a deep connection to her environment and the natural world and explores this through abstraction and landscape. Her signature works explore new directions and innovative approaches, incorporating weaving, spinning, dyeing, stitching and felting. Sara is also known widely as a teacher who provides opportunities to explore concept, materials and method in hooked and punched works.
Inspired by time spent waiting in transit at various airports. Airports are vast public places where we become entwined with the intimate emotional journeys of strangers. At Arrivals - excited voices welcome loved ones. At Departures - quiet weeping signals separation, sometimes forever. We are framed by security and surveillance. I am frayed and pulled apart at this emotional crossroad. In my imagination, the red stairways mark difficult life journeys; cloudy skies shroud tear-drenched runways. I feel that I am dissolving and uncertain as I take flight to visit family far away. Can I land in a new place and put down roots?
Inspired by my own reflections about maintaining family connections before and during the pandemic.
Airports are modern Crossroads with busy runways that connect us to family and friends across the country and around the world. The pandemic disrupted this easy flow. My roots are in Central Canada; my family has migrated west and now I believe I must choose where my future will thrive. I was feeling stranded in a dark place between airports, confined against a backdrop of rust-dyed memories. Now I imagine that a marvelous crack has opened in my mind, and "that's how the light gets in" (Anthem, Leonard Cohen). Bright possibilities at this Crossroads give me courage to move forward.
Joan Flett Kilpatrick is a fibre artist based in Toronto, Canada, inspired by deep personal and community experiences. She adapts contemporary collage and fibre processes to create complex layered works, often based on the transformation of her photographic images. Joan's work has been juried into regional and national exhibitions including "Fibre Content 2018" (Burlington ON), the 'CQA National Juried Show' (2019, 2020) and the SAQA Canadian Regional Juried Exhibition 'Colour with a U' (2020).
Sewing and art are two pastimes I embraced as a young child: as I grew to adulthood, they 'Merged' into one compulsive passion. Design, media, sewing, and art when combined together shaped me as a mixed media artist.
Numbers, measuring, arithmetic, and formulas are the foundational tools of Karlie Norrish McChesney’s multimedia art. Right out of high school Karlie worked as a draftsperson in an architectural engineering firm before pursuing her BEd and MEd in Studio Art Practices. Retired from her 30-year teaching career she now pursues the arts fulltime. Karlie’s studio is located in Chilliwack; she exhibits her work locally in British Columbia, across Canada, and in the US.
A pandemic with the magnitude of covid is a never before event in my lifetime. It has profoundly affected so many, and in many different and uniquely personal and sometimes tragic ways. "Canadians come home now!" Lockdown, quarantine, self-isolation, worry, fear, courage and hope are depicted in my work. The technique was inspired by Claire Benn.
Marie McEachern’s art has evolved over time, always from a love of fibre, initially with traditional quilting and now focusing on fibre art. Her inspiration comes from her travels, the photographs she takes and the marks she makes. Marie uses a variety of techniques including machine and hand stitching, fusible applique and free motion quilting. She also experiments with dyes and other surface design techniques including mark making.
Should someone get to decide for others whether they live or die? Behaviour in a pandemic seems to say yes - the ultimate crossroad decision. The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of the New Brunswick Arts Board. L'artiste remercie chaleureusement le soutien du Conseil des arts du Nouveau-Brunswick.
A quilter for twenty years, Lee McLean creates original art in fabric and thread. Emphasis on strong line, negative space, and visual texture appeals to her. Interested in the increasing invisibility in society as we age, McLean’s practice honours traditional quilting techniques while exploring innovative composition. A certificate holder in Foundation Visual Arts, she is enrolled in Advanced Studio Practice program at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design.
Inspired by a camping trip to Golden, BC. A web of tracks makes a crossroad for marshalling and reassembling freight and passenger cars in a shunting yard. As a city person the only time I ever think of this is when camping. Campgrounds are often near railway lines and at night you hear the remaking of trains in a shunting yard, not to mention the frequent passing of trains taking people and goods across the country.
Thelma Newbury is a Vancouver born artist working in fabric and fibres. She loves working with vibrant colours. She has always pursued creative crafts. After a career in accounting, she wanted her retirement years to be filled with beauty, creativity, and satisfaction. She took a one-day course to make quilted stained glass-looking angels for her grandchildren. From there she adapted her learning to satisfy her own need to explore with fabric.
Inspired by the Canadian Pandemic Tracking charts. In the fall of 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau was quoted as saying that Canada was "at a crossroads" in the COVID-19 pandemic. This year has repeatedly exposed us to language that has indeed been unprecedented. The country may be at a crossroads, but as individuals, we are, too. My obsessive need to regularly check the charts tracking the rise of the pandemic has somewhat subsided (though you see it reflected in this quilt). I’m reminded that if we acknowledge the dark side of the news, yet choose to look beneath, we can focus on a visionary tool for coping: resilience.
Born in Montreal and currently living in Waterloo, ON, Margaret Notar is a social worker by education, and since 2006, a self-taught quilt artist whose work has been exhibited at national and international quilt exhibitions. Increasingly, she has been enjoying using free-motion stitches to fill the negative space in her work, and typically, a psychological interpretation of sorts seems to weave itself into her designs.
Inspired by a love of maps. My move to Canada was a very big decision as seen from the emotions displayed on the centre panel. This was probably the most far-reaching decision I have ever had to make and was certainly a personal crossroads. Having wanted to make a map quilt for a few years this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Through the two maps I aim to show how different my way of life would become if I crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Interestingly in these covid-19 times these 2 maps are so very relevant with their different topography and population density.
Juliet Nowlan has been quilting for over 35 years. Much of her work is based on nature and she specializes in landscape wall art. A lover of travel, much of her work is based on photos of places around the world that she has visited. Juliet admits she can never take enough classes and loves to challenge herself with new techniques. She has been teaching locally in the Atlantic Provinces for the last 25 years.
My work centres around connection and the building blocks of ordinary people and actions. This piece is more about the path to the decision rather than the direction chosen. As social beings we count on others to be present. However, today's forced isolation challenges us to make our choices without the benefit of the physical presence and comfort of those we rely on. We can, instead, turn to our inner strength and wisdom to make decisions. The quiet, rhythmic work that made these hands is like meditation or prayer. The found rosary represents found faith in ourselves or a higher power.
We are at a crossroads. It is time to rethink our care of the elderly. A daily array of heart wrenching situations has been paraded before us for months. We cannot forget, we cannot let it dull our outrage. We must find solutions to treat each person with the respect and love they deserve, otherwise, it demeans us all. Each day...ask yourselves: What is one small thing I can do today to help the change move forward? Each day...Do that one small thing.
Rosemarie Peloquin is a franco-manitoban artist who sculpts wool. Her portraits and vignettes are expressions of moments in time. Her work has been featured in video-reportages on Radio Canada, TVA and TFO, has appeared in international magazines, and has shown in exhibitions across Canada. Rosemarie was awarded the honourable mention at the International Figureworks 2019 Art Prize and has recently finished a commissioned wool bust for Campaign for Wool Canada's patron, HRH The Prince of Wales.
This piece shows two paddlers in the midst of a draw turn, consequently traveling away from the original destination. Paddling a canoe is akin to life itself. One can drift with the prevailing current, accepting its destination, or determine your own path on the water. The journey then becomes truly your own.
Katie Stein Sather’s work reflects her passion for the outdoors in general and paddling in particular. Water and land with her people are often her focus in her art. She has been studying the transformation of blank textile to art from a number of local and widely known quilting instructors. Colour and colour interactions drive her design process. Katie is a member of the western Canadian Fibre Art Network, and Studio Arts Quilt Association.
Inspired by Susan Furneau, who suggested that if figures stop feeling alive—stop working on them. Our natural world is teetering on a fine wire. We have answers without actions. We are in conflict. We are submerged and struggling in contaminated water and we cannot decide whether to swim or simply allow ourselves to drown. We can reverse the damage. Drought, floods, plastic filled oceans and bleaching coral are real. Yet, consumerism prevails, plastics still wrap, and processed food proves faster. The task to change overwhelms the individual, it asks for community, but community seems uncertain and disjointed. What will instil togetherness, solve the conflicts and allow us to swim towards safety?
Kemo Schedlosky’s experience with craft began in a flower shop. She was taught textures, colour theory, design and handmade compositions. It required tactile and fine movements of the hand. With time, practice and critique came skill and a love for making. She went on to study fibre arts in Newfoundland and Vancouver. Moving amidst studies led to new methods, vocabularies and views. She practices knitting, quilting, embroidery, weaving and sculpture in her artwork and designs.
A parent on life’s journey with an addict comes to many crossroads not contemplated before. The path is usually interrupted by relapse and the necessity of crawling out of the abyss to get back on the path. A seemingly right path can end in tragedy. This piece illustrates my view of the various paths taken by the addict and caregiver, the relapse interruptions and unfortunately, in our case, the tragic end result - death. While struggling on the chosen path, we both see with desire and envy the few successful ones represented by the circles -not perfect, but whole.
When mixed media artist Janet Scruggs looks at the world through the lens of her imagination, she sees texture, colour, line, shape. For Janet, who has a degree in education and a Level 3 Certificate from City and Guilds, a love of learning is matched by a love of teaching. She teaches, mentors others and exhibits. Her interest is piqued by themes and opportunities to use surface design techniques in conjunction with extemporaneous hand embroidery.
Inspired by prairie landscapes. Leaving home to attend school in another city was a crossroads for me and my family as all three of my children left home to pursue their educations in the same year. While they returned at various times, they never lived at home with us in the same way again. This artwork depicts the road ahead, travelling into a sunrise, beginning the journey toward a new chapter of our lives.
Susan Selby has lived most of her life in Manitoba and finds much of her inspiration in the landscape surrounding her, often using her own photographs as her creative spark. She has learned to use fibre in unique and varied ways, working with her dye pot, paintbrush, scissors, needle and sewing machine on fabric to create her art.
Carbon emissions and temperature rise are intimately linked. This quilt illustrates the average annual temperature in BC during a 100-year period. The "you are here" marker represents the present. Continuing to release high carbon emissions into our atmosphere will result in an alarming rise in temperature (upper right). Lowering our carbon emissions will slow this significantly (lower right). Which road do you want to take? This piece is an interpretation of "Warming Stripes", designed by Ed Hawkins, Climate scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading. Used with permission.
*Temperature data: www.climateatlas.ca via Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, University of Victoria.
Natalie Skinner has been a self-taught quilter for over 20 years. She lives on the west coast with her husband, two kids and dog.
Inspired by my own photos of Victoria's Inner Harbour and an improv class with Chris Bowen. Architecture is fascinating. Styles of buildings reflect our social and cultural history. They change, as has my technique for constructing buildings from fabric. Victoria has been around for almost two centuries. The buildings in the foreground were built in the late 1800’s. The whimsical fabric versions, composed several years ago, vanished into my stash. During the lockdown last spring, I dug into the back of my cupboard. These became the starting point. The more recently constructed background buildings were added to the composition. They are stitched using modern improv piecing techniques.
Susan Teece has been stitching her whole life. Another favourite activity is her love of adventure in our beautiful part of the world. Teece’s inspirations come from years of sailing through the Gulf Islands and of visiting other parts of the world. She began her textile art business in 2005. The inspirations for new projects continually flow.
Inspired by political upheaval, I express concern about the deterioration of values I had understood to be universal. It is as if the sands have shifted and all that we thought was true is now in question. The figures in my work represent humanity standing at a crossroad, exposed in a changed landscape, at a loss for which way to turn. I offer hope through the imbedded words of wisdom (stitched beneath the figures). May we all use these to gain footing; those of Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou; amongst others, who offer support and courage to guide us on our journey.
Daniela Tiger has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from O.C.A.D.U. and is, as well, a graduate of the Art Cloth Mastery Program with Jane Dunnewold. Her work has been exhibited internationally, in juried shows, awarded prizes for creative artistry, and she has received scholarships both from O.C.A.D.U. and the University of Toronto for academic achievement. Thematically, her work focuses on issues of interpersonal relationships, connections, and cross-cultural studies.
When you come to the crossroads of something monumental, outlook and faith have a huge impact. A slight shift of opinion or attitude can completely change your perception of the situation. A giving up of control can allow freedom. This is not easy to do or even imagine. The falling figure in this fibre art piece is right there, at the crossroads. Are they in flight … or freefall? Do they come from a place of trust or stupidity? Is there acceptance or denial? Conviction or disbelief? Sense or nonsense? Freefall or Flight?
Cathie Ugrin is a Manitoba based fabric artist whose work is characterized by a rich, inventive use of colour and unique approach to geometrical design. She has studied with a diverse collection of artists continually expanding her technique and approach.
Climate change Crisis = opportunity. A small "found" baggie of irregularly cut scraps made me think of heat and desertification causing water shortages and a dislocation of populations around the world. It reminded me also of the hollowed-out rural villages I had seen first in France, then in Canada, whose remaining residents now needed cars to access the malls and supermarkets built at the crossroads of the new superhighways that have by-passed the villages...lives quietly fraying at the edges. Increasing urbanization, social isolation and air pollution—I mourn yet hope for activist youth’s solutions.
Joan Hug Valeriote is an award-winning Canadian fibre artist with roots in traditional quilting. She was introduced to art quilts in the late 90’s and created quilted landscapes inspired by images captured with her camera. Influenced by years living in Europe and California, she began exploring abstract art in 2013, expressing the joy of working with colour and shape in textiles, and is using this opportunity to highlight the damages caused by climate change.
Inspired by Nature. There is always choice to be made with unfinished objects (UFO's) in a quilter's stash. Are they worth keeping and finishing? Is there a way to make loose elements join cohesively? This quilt is about random bits that I found in the bottom of the pile and finally decided to sew together. They tell a story about reclaiming, repurposing and redeeming old work, after seeing it with fresh eyes. The quilt appears soft focus because it is organza quilted over black felt.
Maggie Vanderweit is a Juried Art Member of SAQA and belongs to Connections Fibre Artists. She exhibits globally and has won numerous awards. In 2019, her quilt "Indigo Party" was used as the logo for IQA’s Houston Market. Maggie taped three episodes on Quilting Arts TV on painting, stamping and eco-dyeing and has been included in a recent compilation DVD on dyeing. In 2021, "Calling All Angels" will be exhibited in Quilt National at the Dairy Barn in Ohio. She is now retired after a fulfilling career teaching, lecturing and doing shows and is concentrating on her volunteer commitments at SAQA, family and friends and her studio practice.
This work was inspired by an autumn walk through a preserved area of natural prairie in Battlefords Provincial Park, Saskatchewan. In the fall of 2014, I was exploring my relationship to the land in which I grew up: the Canadian Prairie. My grandparents were immigrants, and they loved living here. Was my connection to the land the same as theirs? On a walk through a preserved area of natural prairie, it struck me that the wildness and beauty I was seeing was exactly what they saw when they arrived. In that moment, I realized that I was rooted here too. It was precious to me too. Aspen Parkland captures the moment when I resolved to become a "Prairie" artist.
Judy Weiss is a visual storyteller, capturing moments in time and the enduring beauty of the landscape in mixed media textiles. Each artwork is characterized by rich surface texture, layered and unusual materials, surface manipulation, and stitch. Combining a Fine Arts certification from the University of Alberta and numerous workshops with internationally known textile artists, Weiss has developed new approaches to traditional materials and techniques. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US and New Zealand.
Inspired by views of the Arizona Desert. Over the past half-century, humans have populated the Arizona desert valley with homes (originally adobe, but now any style) forcing the natural cacti habitat to be pushed aside. Valley roads now extend for over a hundred miles east/west with north/south roads crossing the once parched desert floor. Will humans leave any of this valley to nature?
Krista Zeghers loves artwork where the image is recognizable to the viewer but has something unique and special about it. There could be a change of scale, a different colour scheme, a close up of a small section, a repeated pattern or shape; any element that makes the work come alive and provides interest. Krista feels art needs to intrigue the viewer, make them want to look closer and spend time with the piece. Krista is a member of Fibre Arts Network (FAN) a western Canadian fibre-art group. Also, Krista is a founding member of Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba (TFAM).
The ultimate Crossroad is the passing from this life to the next for both humans and animals to fly free of their pain. Although a very peaceful transition, it still leaves a loss for those left behind to pick up and start a new life without them.
Using nature toward a realistic voice, Coreen Zerr experiments with new techniques to incorporate reality into her pieces. Her works have been displayed throughout North America, winning numerous major awards, and juried into many Fibre art shows over the past 20 years, including "Best of Country" at the World Competition. As a highly regarded Fibre Artist and mentor, she has taught her techniques extensively on Vancouver Island Coastal region as well as across Canada.
