Catch Up Time!

Woah - a whole week of sick kids, then a whole week off school with a sick mama.  I haven't been at the computer at all, but I have been stitching in between sleeps, tea, and hot baths.  I *think* I'm done the old corn field.  I expect that matting it will add that perfect look.  Want to see?

Old Cornfield, 2015  8"x20" / 20cmx50cm

This is number 4 of 12 that I'm creating thanks to a grant with the Saskatchewan Arts Board.  There is baby blue in the puddles but my camera appears to not see it well.  I also have lumps and bumps stitched in with other yarns, and some beads and rocks too.

detail of work in progress

I'm still on the watch for Stitch magazine to arrive in our city's bookstores from the UK.  I was assured it't coming but is very late due to weather.  In the mean time, I got this.  A Needle Pulling Thread (Canada) winter 14/15.  My goodness, goodness... I love how Carla colour themes her issues.  This one is indeed STUNNING.  There's the prettiest tea cosy ever, and an absolutely gorgeous winter cape.  I wish I could make everything in there.

hot off the press

The back pages have a regular column titled, 'In the Loop'.  Look!  There was coverage of the Focus on Fibre Arts Association show.  That is wonderful to see!  : )

'In the Loop' - A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine

Two pieces on those pages are here in Saskatoon as part of the Our Prairie in Fibre show - Judy Weiss' Mosquito Country (middle right edge), and Leah Gravells'  Canola Fields (upper left corner).  Can you believe that it is coming to an end?  I wish I wasn't so sick.  I want to go spend more time in that room.  I want to run my fingers through the yellow frayed fabric of Heather Lair's torn strip landscape, The Ice that Hid the Sky.  (No no, not allowed of course... I'm just sayin'!)  I want to run my fingertips over those thousands of hand stitches in Arlee Barr's Winter Prairie.  I want to squish my hands into all of the hooked rug art - I'll have to get one of Jean Ottosen's Prairie Sky pieces sooner or later.  It really takes a lot of restraint to be an admirer of fibre art.  So for those of you who are just that, kudos to you!  Though, (haha) I wonder what happens after you purchase a piece and take it home.

Okay - the last of the news:  Saturday, Febraury 21st.  That is it.  That's the last day to see the exhibition.  It's a bit sad, but I feel so fulfilled by the whole event.  The show really took on a life of it's own, and so many new opportunities were made because of it.  Did I tell you?  One depiction of a piece in the show that was drawn & coloured by a kindergarten boy was loved so much by the fibre artist who made the piece, that she plans to display his rendition alongside her art in an upcoming exhibition in Regina.  WOW.

And the tears during the curator's talk were so humbling.  Leona Larson's passionate endorsement of the show that night still has me tearing up.

It's wonderful how your homeland can heal you and ground you..  While at a school, I noticed one of the staff having a rough moment after a phone call.  I walked into her office (uninvited) and held up a student's colourful prairie fabric art.  She exhaled all that stress she was holding in, her shoulders dropped, and she said, "Thank you.  I needed that."  And then she breathed in and said, "Wow.  That really is beautiful."

The stories that have come out of this curated show are unending.  In retrospect, this has been the BEST part about curating.  I witnessed people feeling deeply, expressing, discovering, connecting, and carrying their inspiration forward into the community as a result of the collection of art in that room.  It's been an absolute gift (and extremely difficult to put into words).