This is a Great Show, don't miss it.

Melanie Thompson has a show at the Saltspring Gallery.  It isn't going to be up for long... so do get to see it soon.  It is a pleasure an easy on the eyes roomful of sculptural forms that invite you to pay attention to the shadows that are created.  Above is one of my favourites, but you can see more if you go to Melanie's Instagram site.

Ledger of Thoughts is for sale online

I have just learnt that Ledger is for sale online.
Dimensions are given under Additional Information.  It is a good size.
Check out the link - with 3 views of the piece at HERE

Thank you Viewers

Please see the winners of the National Art Prize.
Go here to see images of the finalists' work. then click on  Winner to see the winning pieces and hover over an image to see more information.

The winners of the Parallel Show of which I was a part are also online.
I am happy to be a recipient of the 2nd People's Choice award ie., second place.
The works will all go on show again soon.  More information will follow.

Ledger of Thoughts (my favourite side view, detail)

Karin Millson 2019

Congratulation too to the Youthful exhibitors and the winners of the Youth Show

It's Happening - SSNAP and the Parallel Show

Come and see the Parallel Show, featuring artists from The Gulf Islands, District 64.
I am so pleased to be showing alongside the talented artists that have been selected for this show.
It must have been very difficult to make the juried selection and keep within the gallery's space constraints.
I hope we get to see the other fabulous art submitted to SSNAP and the Parallel show in due course.

See you at the opening this Friday - or when I am sitting the show - which I love to do, to hear your comments.

Also note that the main SSNAP is now open and is a stunning collection of super high quality works by younger to older artists from across all Canadian cultures, including lots of fibre related pieces, beading, weaving, embroidery, wool work! and more....
All great reasons to make a trip to Saltspring Island.

Thanks for your support - Jane.

I am getting a lot of support from friends and family. I give thanks for that.

This time it was a generous gift of ends of spools from Jane Stafford.
Imagine my happiness to discover this Aladdin's Cave of threads available on my doorstep - a half an hour's drive north, on the island.
Jane wants to empty the spools / I want a selection of coloured threads for my next knotted piece of art.
A marriage made in heaven.  How clever of Jane to propose it.
Thanks again Jane.

The Institute for Canadian Citizenship has given me some ideas for colour combinations.

I don't want to get into trouble for illustrating this blog entry with their logos... do go here to learn about all their good works.
https://www.inclusion.ca/about/

My works recently are about thoughts and connectivity, particularly across cultures
I certainly won't be using their (probably copyrighted) colour choices, but the concept of using colours for suggesting diversity is clearly sound.

Whilst searching about on the Institute's website I learnt about the LaFontaine-Baldwin Lectures ( since 2000) and am now listening to them (online).  What a gift too.

Showing work with Printmakers of the Saltspring Painters' Guild

 I showed two small pieces.  Just an extension of the work I often do on paper, as studies for the works created in mixed media and fibre.

Voyage #1 Paper, Multiple Monoprinting and resists

Karin Millson 2019

 Voyage #2 Paper, Multiple Monoprinting, collage and resists using upcycled Tectronic Ink
                                                      Karin Millson 2019

"I hope that you had a chance to see our recent show at the library. As always, the calibre of the pieces was excellent. I heard many positive remarks about the show. I was impressed at the many interested people at our pop up sale that asked many interesting questions about the techniques and processes of printmaking."  Johanna Hoskins

If you are interested, the group meets at Artspring, Saltspring Island and the next (fall) dates are - September 17th (next Tuesday); Tuesday, October 22nd and November 26th.  Email me (or comment) if you want more information.

Saltspring National Arts Prize - Parallel Show - Ledger of Thoughts, accepted.

Photo Credit Seth Berkowitz

Ledger of Thoughts (Detail) 2019

Artist Karin Millson

Happy to acknowledge the jurors of the Parallel Show Quentin Harris and Celia Duthie.
Ledger of Thoughts has been selected to show alongside some 50 Gulf Island Artists in the Parallel show.
I am thrilled and humbled.

More details on the show, opening, and talks etc to follow.
Also on the SSNAP show which is coming soon. Check here for details NOW.

IN/FROM/OF - THE FOREST

Mixed media work by Karin Millson will be on show in ArtSpring’s lobby for the month of May.  Karin invited Bernadette Mertens-McAllister to show alongside her.

In Karin’s FIBRE CYCLE: A SERIES we are invited to walk through stands of assorted trees, take in views to the sea, intimately observe deeply-grooved and sculptured bark.  The pieces demonstrate the fibre cycle, from strong, tall tree growth, through logged and split lumber, to the recycling of paper and back to the growth of healthy woodland.

There are oblique references: a telegraph pole with coloured wire and staples, holding remnants of shows long past; and finally, you are invited to add your chewing gum deposit before entering the theatre.

 “HEART GROVE SERIES” by Bernadette Mertens-McAllister uses mixed media and an unconventional use of paint and photography.  The artist expresses her feelings caused by human greed, negligence and disrespectful practices of forestry. By using art material in an insulting and abusive way Bernadette expresses her grief, confusion and fear    

Such is the demand for exhibition space at ArtSpring on Saltspring Island that I have had this space booked for more than two years.

I cannot believe that that is how long we have lived on this fabulous, art-enriched place.  I am thankful for whatever cause it was that brought us here be it fate, planning, luck, or the west wind.  One thing is certain, in this environment I am supported and strengthened and my art has the opportunity of developing.

This latest exhibition explores..... well, here is my artist statement, and that of my accompanying artist collaborator... Bernadette Martens Mcallister.

Artist: Karin Millson

 FIBRE CYCLE: A SERIES

This body of work demonstrates a mental struggle that I have.  I want to be an environmentally responsible person living respectfully on this planet yet I know that I cannot but have a devastating effect on my immediate surroundings simply by being.

In this series of works, I attempt to depict what I see, feel and think when I take a forest walk, as I acknowledge that forests exist alongside humankind as part of a cycle of fibre – from wood comes lumber, from lumber comes paper, from paper comes compost, in compost grow saplings and so on.

The artworks are made of predominantly up-cycled materials.  The methods are as eco-friendly as I could make them, yet this collection forms part of the cycle and the conflict itself.

Artist: Bernadette Mertens-McAllister

 “HEART GROVE SERIES”

This body of work is dedicated to a small cluster of magnificent cedar and fir trees that are being clear-cut for lumber.  It is a special place nested in a 45 acres lot on Beddis Rd, Salt Spring Island.  Beneath the towering trees, I found a large heart on the ground made of boughs covered with moss.  I call this place Heart Grove.  When standing there, one is connected with Nature, the trees and the forest.

This series is about grieving for the Heart Grove and all our forests doomed to be greedily clear-cut. Like any clear-cutting practice, my art displayed here seems to be done with negligence, disrespect and lack of beauty. It expresses my confusion and fear every time I hear the harassing noise of the chain-saw a breath away from my doorstep.

Forgiveness and a realisation that all is impermanent will carry me through these months of devastation.  I hope and wish that this secret and sacred place, I call Heart Grove, will remain intact for all of us.