Commissions on the Go

Starting the year off with a BANG!

Friday night is the closing reception for the Dimensions 2013 show at the SK Craft Council.  I hope to attend that.  It will be nice to visit there.  I feel badly for missing the Boutique opening.  Gosh darn this cold snap.  UGH.

She's Blooming!, 2013.  on tour

Sunday, I'm teaching a Beginner Threadpainting Class at Bernie's.  It was postponed due to illnesses and emergencies from last November.  I look forward to that class!  I love going to Bernie's attic.

I'm also in process with four commissions.  One is a secret.  (Shhhhh.)  One is for a threadpainting of a photo I took at Blackstrap Lake in the fall.  (Thank you!)  Another is for Y. in Australia.  Her husband snapped a photo of these purple trees canopied over a roadway.  That will be fun!  I have never seen purple trees before.

I did a fast sketch to place the vanishing point over a bit.  I'm waiting back to see what she thinks before I start.  While they were having spring, we were in the middle of Autumn.  The Blackstrap commission is all oranges and yellows, so it will be nice to work on both of these at the same time.

That one is quite busy when you really look at it, so I'll have to think through it a bit to get it work and not look like a giant mash of threads.  I've condensed some things, and edited the length a bit.  I look forward to working on the deep shadows and bright sun in both these pieces.

The last one is this.  It might look simple, but it will be more challenging for me since it's not something I have done.  This is a paper pieced wall hanging that my friend J. made.  She would like me to add some bling - some texture, stitching, and embellishment.  It's hanging in my studio awaiting inspiration.

J. felt the yellow was too overpowering.  I will likely use some soft yellow fibre packs I got from Nells Embroidery out of Vancouver.  She does custom fibre packs.  She's awesome.  : )  For now, I began to remove the black threads from the yellow fabric.  They were bothering me.

The slope is odd.  Most farmland on the prairies aren't on steep hills like that.  I'm tempted to round it out a bit.  We shall see.  I have my ideas...  : )

That will be my January.  Stay warm!

Sunday Snapshots

!

I am having such a fun weekend.  On Friday night I went to my great aunt's (tante's) book launch.  It was nice to sit around in the bookstore and listen to everyone speaking Deutsch.  Her name is Waltraude Stehwien and she does the old German art of 'Scherenschnitt' or black & white silhouette paper cutting with GREAT detail.  Her book is In Black and White: A Stroll Through Canadian Landscapes.  I am so proud of her!  You can read more about it HERE.

That was the same night that 'Little Gems' opened which I chose to pass up for the book store.  Saturday morning, my youngest and I headed out to the annual Saskatoon Spinners & Weavers guild sale.  Ooooooh ... heaven!  We had so much fun.  My daughter made these at the craft table.

made by my 7 yr old.  xo

!  Adorable!!  Then as I shopped she headed to the next table to create these little weavings.  They told her they were 'god's eyes' but she misunderstood and presented them to me as 'goddess eyes' (which is equally awesome).

god's goddess eye

Later at home, she took out her popsicle sticks and showed me how to make them.  VERY fun.  With the exception that we suddenly became very hungry, we would have stayed all day.  Women were spinning on such gorgeous spinning wheels.  Some were weaving on floor looms, some on inkle looms.  sigh.  : )   And the scarves and cloths and bags and shawls around the room were incredible.

I bought stuff.

yup.

...spoiled myself.  No more presents for me.

I also headed to the SK Craft Council to renew my membership and was WOOHOO!  surprised to see that Dimensions is already up!  I really like where my piece is placed.  I nearly cried.  I was so embarrassed I had to get out quick.  lol  I still can't believe my embroidery is part of it.  The reception is at the end of the show, in January 2014.

I headed across the road to Handmade House to see Terry Lindsay's paintings that are currently featured there and fell in love with nearly every hand crafted item in the place.  I am blown away by people's crafts.  I find that I'm developing a real soft spot for other people's fibre art.  So, to add to my handwoven mobius shawl (WHICH I WILL LOVE FOREVER thank you Alison Philips), I now have this lovely charm floating and spinning in my sewing room.  Her name is Judith.  She is literally swinging from my chandelier.  She is fantastic to watch as she slowly twirls her magic in my studio.

created by Shirley Taylor, purchased at HandMade House, Saskatoon

Thanks to Barbie, I have never liked dolls.  I absolutely hated them as a child.  Now that I'm all grown up, I finally found a doll to call my own.  She's my favorite ever.  If you know Shirely, PLEASE tell her how much I adore Judith.  : )))

So there it is... a very happy Sunday.  I'm off to 'Little Gems' today to volunteer from noon to 4ish, then off to yet another art show & sale.  Enjoy your weekend!

Answering the Call

The photo I took of the prairie grasses in bloom... they kept singing, "Stich me!  Oh Please, stitch me!"

 

So I answered the call.  : )  I worked all afternoon and into the evening on this one, completely unplugged.  I think I am about 40% done, and 99% fulfilled!

unplugged.  work in progress.

It's been raining for 2 days, and it will rain for two more.  I'm going to finish up a bit more stitching with the silks from Margot and then deepen the purples with 12 wt thread another day.  This afternoon I need have a nap, and then drive down to Regina and back !  Tonight at 7 pm is the reception for the biennial touring juried show of the Saskatchewan Craft Council - Dimensions - which is also celebrating it's 30th year.  What to wear? What  to wear?  (Besides rubber boots, rain gear and an umbrella.) The show & reception is at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.  I am so excited to see the entire exhibit!  I still can't believe I get to be part of it.  WOO!

Have a great night!

The One That Got Away

Someone in Winnipeg counted how many pieces of my art there are on the walls of the Prairie Ink Restaurant.  "Twenty-three.  I thought there were supposed to be twenty-four?" she commented.  Yes, one didn't make it all the way to Winnipeg, but for good reason.  It's in Regina right now.  I'll tell you why.

detail of She's Blooming!, 2013

She's Blooming! was my mega-handstitched canola field that I thought I'd take a chance on entering into a provincially juried show.  ('Mega' as amount of time stitching, not size of work.)  Well lo & behold it was accepted!  It feels surreal still at this point, but I know it's a really significant achievement within out Craft Council that I need to make a big announcement about.  So here it is:

You know it's big when THEY use exclamation marks in their formal correspondence.  ; )

She's Blooming!  has been accepted into Dimensions 2013 - a Saskatchewan Craft Council touring exhibition of fine craft.  There were entries in all forms of fine craft (from woodworking to jewelery, sculpture to quilts, etc, etc..).  35 are juried in for this show every two years.  I was lucky enough one of them!  Dimensions is on the road now, touring galleries around the province and beyond.  I feel at a loss for words.  I'm thrilled but extremely taken back by this.  Maybe that's why I didn't make a huge post about it when I found out last month.  I'm such a newbie - and there are loads of people with decades of craft under their belt that my embroidery will be along side of.  My friend Elizabeth Cumming has her Motherwell Barn art quilt accepted into it to (YAY ELIZABETH!!!).  Maybe I'll hide behind her when we go to Regina for the reception & awards night next month.

So this is big news!  Yes - the wine has been cracked open.  From now until the end of August, Dimensions 2013 is on exhibit at the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan.  Click HERE for gallery info.  I'll keep a running tab at the top of locations as the show changes.

: )
Have a happy day.