On Youtube - Our Prairie in Fibre Keepsake

Oh !  It's online!  Want to hear about the show and see all of the art?  It's here in this 16 minute video.  All artists are listed in the credits at the end.  The show is now over and the art is all packed up.  This video interview is a wonderful keepsake of a beautiful art exhibition.  : )



(No - I hardly ever sit that still nor talk that slow.  lol  And yes... I am sad for the show to be over.)

I also have this.  Over 300 comments including 1 teacher representing 45 children.  I can't even imagine how many visitors that means.  There are people signed in from several BC locations, Alberta, all over SK, Manitoba, Quebec, many from Ontario and Nova Scotia.

I even saw Texas and Indonesia in there.  Thanks to all of you for the comments.  I'll be passing them on to the artists.

HAPPY Thursday.  Yes it is!  : )

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).

Grateful to the Brim

I'm still digesting last night.  What a transformational event that was for me.  I did my 'Curator's Talk' for the Our Prairie in Fibre exhibition.  I was nervous, but I just told my story - my truth.  I had never attended a curators talk before, let alone gave one myself.  The house was packed and more chairs had to be set up.  And then shortly after 7pm, I began.

tweeted image from the SCC staff

I spoke about my experience with 'treasure hunting' for pieces on my checklist (because that's what it felt like).  I explained why I needed the range of fibre art, the four prairie seasons, and having all the elements represented.  I spoke about how things came together and how the show took on an unexpected life of it's own.  There were pieces that surprised me, pieces that jogged my memory, pieces that made me laugh and pieces that made me cry.  I learned so much.  I grew so much.  I'm entirely inspired by the honesty in the art.

I shared some of the artists' stories with the people who gathered around to listen last night.  I tried to articulate why I feel those stories are important.  I looked at the faces around the room and saw over a half dozen people with tears in their eyes!  It was that moment when I knew the show did what I had hoped it would.

Our connection to prairie:  it's a BIG DEAL.  And for so many of the artists in the show, the love for their prairie has become their life's work.  The show is on until February 21, 2015.  To all the people at the Saskatchewan Craft Council, the artists and the visitors to the gallery who leave comments - THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

I have gallery images, articles, and videos to share with the each artist as a thank you.  I'll also have guest book comments for you to enjoy.  I will be emailing you all next week!  : )

The Joy of Threadpainting

It's been a pretty great week so far.  I had a studio visit from yet another Australian Canadian.  It's really fascinating how many people from Down Under purchase my work.  This is the one that that was made for her, but she still wanted to have a peek around just in case she fell in love with another threadpainting.

Gentle Autumn, 2015 (sold)

I'm a tad frustrated at how muddy and grey the image looks.  It's very light and soft and happy.  I think it's the photo editor I'm using  The entire background of the editor it black, so when I"m adjusting the colours to be 'true', they aren't.  While editing this on a black background, it seemed as if I had set it very bright.  Now on the white background of the blog, I see that it's not.  Even though my monitors are set good not, I will look around for another system to use for brightening and cropping images.

...but you didn't need to read all that.  Boring technical difficulties!  : )

I finished off another little canola field.  I left one in the Craft Council Boutique and it was sold right away.  "Road Trip" - thank you so much to the new owner!  I've had my work moving at the MacKenzie Gallery shop in Regina too!  Wonderful news!

The Height of Summer, 2015  5x5" framed to 10x10"  *Available*

And I am slowly (slowest ever) getting this class sample done.  It's so pretty, but because I've never done this piece before, I am taking my time.  I don't want to wreck it!

chick a dee dee dee dee

It's interesting going back and forth between yarn/crewel embroidery and free machine threadpaintings.  They are such entirely different processes.  I forgot how fast machine work is in comparison to hand stitching large pieces.  It's good for me to break up the style and approach.  Too much of one thing can get uninspiring.  I admit, I miss the hum of the sewing machine.  I feel a surge now of wanting to do a whole pile of free motion pieces again!  Now that I'm settled in my space, it's all coming together so much easier.  The studio visits are helpful because they force me to tidy up and keep things fairly organized.

Today is the day I put all the class supplies together for the schools I'll be at this week.  Did I say 100 kids?  I was wrong.  It's 125.  I can hardly wait to show you all the beautiful projects they will be doing!  Also, if you don't hear back from me soon, Thursday is the curator's talk at 7pm for the Our Prairie in Fibre exhibition.  It was a great show to put together and I'm excited to share my experience with you.  I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to talk, but I'm guessing it will be an hour?  813 Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon.  The show will stay up until Feb 21.  See you there! : )

linking to WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN

One Down, Eleven to Go.

Did you think I've forgotten about you?  I have been trying to blog but we suddenly have the slowest internet connection possible (or so it seems).  It's painful.  2 hours to upload images and make one blog post is just plain painful.  BUT - here I am.  I did it.  I'm so excited to show you this!

It's done!  With the exception of deciding on matting & framing, this is complete.  This is my first finished piece as part of the SK Arts Board Grant.  I proposed that I would create at least 12 by July 1st.  One down, eleven to go.

This was stitched with yarns and threads - cottons, silks, synthetics and wool.  It's quite large compared to my finer threadwork.  I'm heading up to Melfort at the end of April / beginning of May. This may be part of my show there with Ken Wilkinson, potter.  We shall see.  We still have a long way to go to get that exhibition together.  My threadwork is under glass, but my large yarn work has not been.  I'll need to which artwork would be the best for that space as well.

By the way, if anyone has seen this week's Saskatoon Express, there's a write-up about the Our Prairie in Fibre show.  I cannot for the life of me find that paper anywhere.  It was supposed to be out on Monday I was told.  It didn't arrive at our home.  I went to 2 nearby malls and the Co-op grocery store lobby where I always see them, and each time the shelves were empty!  If you live in Saskatoon and see any, would you grab them for me?  They are free publications.

* * * On the topic of the exhibition, you can now see ALL pieces in the show!  They are online HERE (click to link).  Then scroll down a bit to click on 'current exhibition' and you will be able to view each piece until February 21, 2015.  Vivian Orr photographed every piece and has them up on the SK Craft Council Website.  I'll sign off here and let you go see them.

Again, a BIG THANK YOU to all the artists who provided work for this beautiful exhibit.  : )  It was a pleasure to curate and I'm so happy to be able to hare the exhibit with all of you who cannot be there at the gallery.

Have a great day!

Friday Finish

Well... the show begins today and there is still many things to complete, but I suppose I can chalk this moment up as a finishing point.  The pieces are all in, the gallery is all set up.  The reception is tonight - Friday, January16th at 7pm.

detail of 'Coming to Canada' by Linda McBain Cuyler

This morning I was up bright and early to promote the exhibition on the local Global Television morning show... and back at home long before the sun came up!  You can view the video clip here, as I have no idea how to embed it.

I watched it by accident with no sound.  You'll think I'm trying to fly away or something.  !  I forgot how much I talk with my hands.  I do recall public speaking in Winnipeg 2 years ago, and a photographer pulled me aside to show me all the photos after the event.  She kept saying, 'look at you!  You like you are dancing and swimming and flying!'  lol

Ha ha - oh well...

See you all tonight at 813 Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon!  Many of the items are for sale FYI.  Several of the artists will be there, so please come and say hello to them.  For those who cannot be there, please sign the guest book so that I can share your comments with them.

Have a good weekend,

Gearing Up

Woo boy.  I'm a tad nervous.  The show I've curated is up and almost ready for Friday night's opening reception.  I have to speak at the reception.  Oh boy.  I have to say, what an amazing feeling to see the art in person.  I went again today to do some last minute hanging on one final wall, and spent some time walking around, looking close at each piece.  Until now, the show has only been a vision and a series of emailed jpegs for the most part.  I was lucky enough to see and chose some pieces in person, but WOW.  Seeing it all come together is great.  The exhibition coordinators Stephanie and Les were so terrific at putting it all up.  Les was the man with the hammer and so often directed me to stand back to look and see how each piece worked on the wall.  "Okay.  A bit to the left.  Now lower the right side.  Lift the whole thing up.  Now - woah.  Stop.  Down a bit.  Perfect!  Oh.  Wait....  is this floor crooked?"  lol  And then on to the next one.  I'm so glad I didn't have to do all that by myself.  It would have taken me a week.  I'm feeling really grateful for the whole experience so far.  It was really nice to be alone in the room afterwards to soak it all up in silence.  What a great collection.

Poncho by Cindy Hoppe, Saskatchewan / Hooked rug by Rachel LeBlanc, Alberta

There's quite a lineup of artists.  Some are very new.  Some are long standing professionals.  Some have passed on from this world, but it warms my heart to be able to share their creations long after the fact.  What else can I tell you?  Some artists were born and raised on the prairie.  Some moved here and had to learn to love & connect with it.

I love the variety.  I love the cohesion.  I love the stories.

'Waiting for the Wind' by Judith Panson, Manitoba

Well, I could talk and talk about this on and on.  lol  I'll stop here.  Perhaps this will be a good time to sort my thoughts into something articulate and purposeful.  Ooooh - wish me luck!  And to each and every artist who has lent me their creation for this exhibition, thank you so much.

Our Prairie in Fibre
813 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon
Jan 16 - Feb 21, 2015
Reception 7pm on Fri Jan 16th
Curator's talk 7pm on Thurs Feb 5th

Enjoying the Process

Here's something you might not have seen yet.  It's inspired by images of heather I noticed in the background of an ad in a waiting room fashion magazine.  (I know... it's so not me).  However, I was smitten with the contrast of the pops of pink on such heavily shaded ground.  I could not stop thinking about those colours!  I headed for the studio and I pulled out a large section of black felt.  It's one of those things you keep but you don't know why.  Thank goodness I hung on to it!  I began stitching into it with black yarn to create texture.  Crazy, right?  It's loaded with seed stitches.  I added some gorgeous dyed curls that were a gift from a student (THANK YOU!!) and began little rows of French Knots in various pink cottons and silks.  I don't know if it's emulating heather perfectly, but I'm okay with that.  I stitched and I stitched.  The curls are needle felted in place.  I'm not exactly sure what this will look like when I'm done, but I have some ideas of how to incorporate silk ribbon into this.  It's somewhat experimental but I do have a vision for it.  And I AM enjoying this!

It feels good to spread my wings.  This is quite a big piece still in progress.  It is in the style of my 'Where Sunlight Falls'.  Deep shadows and bright highlights all done by hand of a ditch.  This won't but for sale right away.  It is part of my new body of work that I'm establishing thanks to the SK Arts Board grant.  (My contract asked to kindly promote that, so here you go...)

thank you!

I intend to create a whole new batch of work in the next several months thanks to this support.

AND guess what!?  Our Prairie in Fibre opens in ONE WEEK!   :)   I'll be spending time at the gallery mid-week to open up all the pieces that have been sent in.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all the artists involved in this show.  I am thrilled to be able to see all that amazing work in person.  Yes - I am enjoying the process of curating.  I promise to make up an artist list and link to their websites so you can peek around and enjoy.  PLEASE feel free to copy and paste this promotional poster below as it is intended for sharing.  : )

Prairie inspired Felting, Hooking, Crochet, Quilting, Knitting, Weaving, Embroidery
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Wall art - Sculptural - Wearable - Video Installation

One last thing - a bit of housekeeping.  If you look at the top tabs on my page, you'll see some things have changed.  My CV is linked off of 'About the Artist' and a new tab is there with information on how to purchase.

Have a great weekend everyone : )
Thanks for stopping by.

Curator Update - Oh So Happy!

It's wonderful!  It's coming together.  It's almost 40 pieces of prairie inspired fibre art from women across the prairie provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  It's my first curated show (meaning I just might try this again), and I really look forward to being in that gallery space once it's all up.  This is it!  The exhibition poster created by Vivian Orr / SCC Communications below.  It's AMAZING.

The art featured on the poster is by Sandie Irvine, a fibre artist in Saskatchewan.  It is a photo I took of her custom dress entitled Mid-August Wildfire.  That's right: a dress!  There are more wearables, wall art, sculptural pieces, and also a video installation.  All major areas of fibre art art represented, as well as each of the four seasons on the prairie.  It feels like I've been working on this forever and now it's about to become real.  Mark your calenders! January will be here before you know it.

(Sooo...  too many exclamation marks in one post?)
: )

 

Linking to WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN

Winners Posted & Call For Entry

Thanks everyone for jumping in to the draw!  I let my son Liam being my 'random number generator'.  Congratulations to the winners!

* Kathy MacKie for the $20 MeinkeToy coupon.  Congrats Kathy!!  Thank you for following My Sweet Prairie.  I'll email you with the details...

THANK you also to the newer followers.  I have presents for you!   
Denise Epp,  
Judy Applegarth (->wooo nice blog Judy!  I'm a new follower),
& Kathleen Prescott.

Congratulations ladies!  You can send me your snail mail info to Monika @ My Sweet Prairie .ca  (no spaces of course...).  I have ribbons, silk, sparkly things, weird things, all waiting to be sent your way.

Fun.  

I love sending people presents. : )

********************************************************************

Now for some housekeeping / reminder:  

ONE MONTH LEFT for my call for entry!  

Two people asked about size requirements.  My answer: there are none.  It's a curated show.  There's no juried requirements you have to meet or hoops you have to jump.  Just send me images of whatever you have that is fibre and glows with prairie energy.  : )  A giant wall quilt... a teeny felted creature...  it makes no difference.  I just want to put together a show that will be very fun, beautiful, interesting... to show off to non-fibre artists the huge range of our craft, and to show off love for the prairie.

Another question asked was regarding use of kits and patterns.  If your item is based loosely off a kit or pattern, we need to see where it originates.  If it's too much kit, then likely no.  If it's a doll body that you entirely embellished your own way, then likely yes.  Just let us see the source so we can decide.

Finally - the overlap concern.  I know that there is a juried show in Edmonton through the Focus on Fibre Arts Association.  We decided this would not be too much of a problem through the deadlines are similar.  The Edmonton show is in May.  The SK Craft Council Show is not until 2015.  Finalized entries for this show won't until occur until the fall of this year.  We need entries in now to be able to show content for a grant application that is coming up.  Simple as that.  : )  In fact, I plan to head to that Edmonton show to peek and hopefully take names if I need more pieces.  **Anna Hergert had a blog post a couple years ago all about 'juried vs curated'.  I'm unable to dig it up now. If you see that or something similar, please leave the link in the comments section here?  Thanks!  ***

 

I am getting excited!  We've had some fantastic images roll in.  Please send them to the SK Craft Council.  Some have come to me and I did forward them on.  I get a LOT of email, and I would not want to chance missing a fabulous entry.  Call for Entry details are linked HERE on this blog post.  Please pass it on!  You do not have to be juried or be a member of the SCC.  You do have to be a prairie dweller, and the piece has to be fibre.

Final notes - PLEASE don't think I am only looking for landscapes like my own.  I want anything that makes me smile and connect with prairie.  Lightning.  Gophers.  Fallen buildings.  Fishing ponds.  Pussy willows.  Wild Roses / Tiger Lilies / Crocuses.  It can be wearable, sculptural.  Aboriginal creations too please!  Women farmers.  Prairie People.  Birds...  My goal is to have people walk into this gallery space and stop in their tracks with - WOW.  LOOK at THIS!  and OH MY! Look at THAT!  and even some quiet contemplations. Maybe a heartfelt tear.