The Industrial Shoreline

A whirlwind couple of weeks and such a wonderful experience...all the work got finished on time and turned out so well. My husband, and friend, Monica helped to hang the show and it all fit in and looks much better than I expected.

It's one thing for the piece to hang in a studio or design wall, during the creating the artist develops a very close relationship...one would say, almost intimate. The creator knows every detail, every brush stroke or stitch..after all, their hands and heart are the creator! Sometimes, when the work isn't behaving we can get angry or frustrated and when it is going well they are like our favourite child, the favourite for just that moment in time when it is all just perfect!

But then, the artist lets the work go, into the public, other people see it, form opinions, ask questions, gasp or walk by indifferently. The art has ceased to be the sole custody of the maker, it is now out in the world, rather like the child leaving home to face their unknown future. The work is then owned by the world, will it be sold, taken away to someones' home or wrapped up to be put back into the studio? Either way, it will never be seen in the same way again, it has now become a separate entity from its creator...released.

Do you feel the same way about your art?

Retired to Rust and small collage pieces

When my large pieces were hung with good lighting and seen as a grouping I was entranced - a completely different experience. I had a small opening reception and very thankful for those who attended. I have been in the gallery several times and enjoyed speaking with visitors, explaining the techniques used or inspiration from photos or sketches - its like speaking prouding of ones children...

These three pieces are part of a group of four I have titled Sailing into Hope, a thought that we will, one day, have the desire and fortitude to make the changes we need for a cleaner, sustainable enviorment.

Showing No More Ships, Lost at Sea and Log Boom Near Ledge Point

Navigating the Salish Sea

This one is hanging in the window as it can be seen from both sides. Shipping containers, stacked on the freighter as never just one colour, they can be rusted, marked with graffitti and many colours. I think the shapes and the rigid edges fascinating. I used Thermfax screens and marked the doors on the end of each container.

This shows Waiting to Load on the left, from a photo I had taken while touring St John's Harbour in Newfoundland. I am always entranced by the lines created by the loading cranes and the wires, and often a challenge to recreate in stitch.

Three of my Salish Sea series, these pieces are fun to make with water colour paper and fabric collage. I have made many, many of them as they are popular sellers at the summer shows.

 

In a separate room of the Gallery are Along the Fraser, Loading on the North Shore and The Salmon are Gone. These three group well together as they are also taken from images that are located fairly close to one another in the Fraser River basin. Along the Fraser is seen as soon as visitors come through the door and look to the far end of the Gallery. Visitors are struck by the scale of the pieces, often exclaiming over their size. I find that rather humorous as I began as a traditional quilter, making bed size quilts, so large size isnt difficult for me. Although it terrifies me thinking about working large scale on a canvas!

My central piece in the Gallery was an "installation", a statement and was very much a focus to visitors. Marine Traffic focused on the volume of freighters and other ships crossing the oceans and the impact that our consumer driven society has on the marine environment.

My signage discussed - How Many Ships are on the Ocean?

The main transport mode for global trade is ocean shipping: around 80% of traded goods are carried over the waves. Some 11 billion tons of goods are transported by ship each year. This represents an impressive 1.5 tons per person based on the current global population. Shipping’s capacity to transfer goods and materials from where they are produced to where they will be ultimately consumed underpins modern life.

Did you know that you can track almost every vessel on the ocean in real time? Follow the link to www.marinetraffic.com and pick one small image. Click on it and it will give you surprising information....did you notice how crowded the oceans look with all those vessels? 

I spoke to several people about this part of my exhibition and reflected on our part of this volume of consumption. I like to think I am a wise and knowledgable consumer but would I be willing to give up my morning coffee?

I also made a short video of the exhibtion, you might like to see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5CyG8o4aqQ

Just a last short note...the exhibition came down this afternoon, took just 20 minutes, it's packing away but some will be hung in my studio. Wistful feelings and ready for new adventures. 

And so....

Did you see the information about the presentation I am offering about my art residency in Crete? You can register at this link: Register HERE

Week 34 - Home Again, Home Again

It might be week 34...I just picked a logical number! Now we are home, lighting the wood stove and making savoury soups in our home in the forest....what a change from last week. Its time to reflect on the residency and ... in a different reality (it seems) prepare for my upcoming exhibition!

When I returned from my Iceland residency almost four years ago, it was a happy homecoming in May to spring and new growth, little baby fawns and looking forward to a summer with family!

This time, winter is approaching, the leaves are falling, days are getting shorter and shorter and the temperature change is shocking!

Opposites it would seem, and yet so many parallels - opening the front door and walking into the familiar - hello tables, hello chairs, hello kitchen and....HELLO BED!

Part of me thinks that we can create our home wherever we are - we repeat our familiar habits each day: get up, make the coffee, get dressed - all of those are done no matter where we are, and yet, in the getting up... the floorboards are different, the view out the window is different, the coffee tastes different. Those habits and rituals serve to ground us and give the feeling that we are centered and rooted, right there, even just for that brief time. 

But for me, the coming-home rituals give me the more real and true centered-ness that I need in order to feel entirely whole. I will travel and roam again but will always welcome that time of coming through the door and greeting my furniture!

Here is all my art - packing up and ready for the flights...I am convinced, utterly convinced that a smaller palette or collection of art making supplies leads to increased creativity and encourages us to explore our subjects/topics and mediums in different and surprising ways. My residency evolved into an unexpected path partly because of the items in my box and pile of fabrics....

How would you approach your art if all the supplies were squeezed into a plastic box? Do you think your practise would change? If so, how would it change? Can you envision the art that you'd create? What would you put into the box? I was so surprised that the "vessels" pushed themselves into creation in my residency! I will be planning some research and then a new group of work very soon.

A couple people commented on the walls in the house, the plaster and layers of colour are quite intriguing....

Yesterday I spent the entire day back in the studio and how wonderful that felt! I am preparing for the upcoming Industrial Shoreline exhibition ... the large textile pieces have been completed for some time but I have the smaller items to work on, including a large scale installation piece for the centre of the gallery. This is all new for me and the logistics of working that way are challenging! More photos to come!

In the meantime, I have turned my work table into a "shipping container factory" as I screen print the doors of shipping containers onto stitched units!

Would you like to see this in person? You are invited to the exhibition of The Industrial Shoreline, the Artist Talk is Nov. 16th 1-3pm and I'd love to see you! If you are coming any other time (the Gallery is closed on Mondays) let me know and I can meet you there - the chocolate shop is next door....