I am not sleeping

These little posies begged to be photographed.

My fingers and fingernails are black and split and my time is eaten up with running stitch - which is duller than running on the cross trainer, but does give me time to think or listen to the world news and The Archers on the BBC. To top it all off, I hate the feel of the synthetic wadding, but the look and variety of the little blooms is well worth the suffering! I do believe.

Moving swiftly on...

Calgary in September

After a quick visit to the Epcor windows where one artist was installing trees and pine cones in knitted sleeves, I went to the Art Gallery of Calgary on Stephen's Avenue. This gallery had turned me away twice as it closes everything except the gift shop when it is taking down or installing a new exhibition and my timing was bad twice.

This time, however, timing was good and I got in for $2 (lunchtime special) and saw some stunning images of Rodeo, black and white printed up BIG and even BIGGER by Donald Woodman, A thought provoking film (b&w) by Colin Kirkpatrick - The cowboy and the spaceman and a collection of 50 artworks from Calgary Civic Art Collection - Hmmmm.

Art talk - Judy Chicago

Of note for the future is the exhibition Sept 25th - Jan 23 2010 When women rule the world: Judy Chicago in Thread. Included in this period is an Artists talk at the Glenbow Museum on Tues Sept 29th, and several workshops on spinning, weaving and wet felting.... etc, see website.

Summer Highlights

I've been away from Calgary for about 2 months - but the time was well-spent with refreshing days spent in the Mountains, sketching and stitching time on hillsides and beaches, eco-art produced after Goldsworthy and trips to bump up cultural experience in Liverpool and Bristol (UK) and now returning here to begin a, hopefully, inspiring year in Calgary.

Tate Liverpool

A wonderful setting on the docks and great place to see many very strong and noteworthy pieces. Dan particularly enjoyed some post modern stuff and we had our chance to see an unadulterated Damian Hurst dotty piece which we later saw much improved by Banksy.

Banksy at the Bristol art gallery

Great fun with mind opening and awakening ideas very cleverly presented. I wasn't offended overall, but some of his ideas do not match mine. I thought of the link between his work and comments and my neice's work in progress on greed in art. I wish she had been there.

Crosby - Another Place

The beach at Crosby, NW England is the location for the installation by Antony Gormley which includes 100 cast iron men looking out to sea, from their vantage points at various postions on the beach.

Steaming individuals

There hasn't been a lot of new stuff coming off the presses at my house. However I have been steaming individuals for my landscape pieces. It has been really uplifting (excuse the geological pun) to listen to what words people use as they view my work in progress 'landscape', 'hoodoo', 'organic' and other words that I have used myself to conceptualise my work.

I have also been thinking about the way some artists need to get a deep and meaningful (and often disturbing) message across with their work. That is the point of their work. I guess I am a more spiritual, peaceful person and I am happy to express in my work, my own experiences of the natural world and perhaps draw others to see the wonderful contours, shapes and colours that we have around us. That's all. I could turn the piece darker and indicate that the destruction of all these environments in imminent. But why labour the point it is getting plenty of press as it is... let's also give time to enjoying what we do still have.

I have, once again, been studying Shibori (reading Wada's book) and was stimulated to try a new (to me) binding method. From this I have produced a few pieces that are just sweet. They have the suggestion of sea lilies and hydroids about them, which is great, as they are very closely related to corals and anemones... it all ties together. Or as Richard Box has said - I have learnt my lines... (as in color, tone, line, shape and texture). I intend stitching these with fine fuse wire to imitate the skeletal structure of the organisms, this will also assist assembly of the landscape they will grow into.

In researching hydroids I found myself back at Nudibranchs.. I love them.... so stimulating in an artistic way and so bizarre that they allow me to go very abstract. They are exciting don't you think?

I have got to do something with the shadows that these organisms create... whether it is via the lighting of the landscape I intend building, or by printing up the shadows or using photosensitive paper, I am not sure yet. A shadow (such as the one below at top right) could prove to be a wonderful backdrop.

Holidays - a great excuse for self indulgence

No photos for fear of breaking copyright law... see the links below...

Al and I have had a great day in downtown Calgary. I was so disappointed that we had missed the exhibition Experimental Art and Culture at the Calgary Art Gallery (it finished a couple of days ago - just my luck) but actually this was no bad thing as they were completely closed for exhibition change and we were forced to go to the Glenmore Gallery and Museum - where we were lucky enough to see the Joe Fafard exhibition of sculptures.
We took the (free) audio guide and Aliya listened to every entry - we found the works amusing, disturbing, beautiful, complex and were in awe of the techniques.
We then (had a drink of course) went to the hands on make your own art (ARC discovery room) - Al did a water colour landscape (Fafard was a farm boy) and I had a go at a pastel drawing of a horses head (he loves his horses and cows!) and we watched a video of him discussing his work.
Comment to say with me - 'If you go into your studio and you say to yourself "I don't have any idea of what to do." Then you should leave the studio straight away.' Creativity should be a natural process and not a struggle, it should be a joy that comes from you and isn't forced out of you, then I guess it is pure pleasure.
Of interest might be the upcoming Sew City: a community project for mending and making May 23 & 24th and the Celebrating Quilts May 1 - July, 2009

Holiday Boredom - I don't think so

Easter holidays are for being with the children and Aliya and I have had fun making gifts. The large block is a gift for us I think.

The rectangles are brooches for her school friends.
Heat transfer inks and foils on table cloth plastic, with Golden gel medium. Clever girl Al!


Then reward yourselves with an afternoon out to Nakiska, Alberta. I am the slightly taller one on the right! Wonderful spring skiing by the way.

Non-stitching the hoodoos with thread

I added stitching to give an impression of joints and bedding planes on the hoodoos' surface . I realised why I didn't like the result. My shibori pieces take on delicate forms with the play of light and shadows being very important as well as the composition of shapes and the interplay of the coloured lines which are echoes of the line of the thread used in the negative tied die method. Added stitchery can so easily detract from the beautiful shibori forms.
So I thought I would just do minimal stitching... very 'in' at the moment.

Then I remembered the effect you can get by having threads within a 3D surface... 'Non -stitching' was invented at that very moment. Non-stitched lines are blue in the two samples shown above. Maybe I will go with this.
The non-stitching creates the very muted lines within the hoodoo. Sometimes the colour reaches the surfaces just like the lines of veined rock surfaces.

By the way these are the first images taken using my new camera... I was very lucky that my older camera packed up within its warrantee period. Of course they didn't have another camera of the same ilk to replace my camera... (all this done across the 1000s of miles owing to the fact that the Omani warrantee doesn't extend to Canada) so we paid up another $100 and they sent me (successfully via DHL) a new one, and it is an upgrade. I think the macro will do, don't you?