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

New Juried Work

I've been working hard all month to get enough hand stitched art ready for another jurying session at the Saskatchewan Craft Council.  My session was set for first thing Sunday morning.  Now that it's all said and done now and I FEEL AWESOME!  What a relief.  It's been such an intensely focused month.  I feel like I'm free now; free to create anything my little heart desires.  (And my little heart desires to create many, many things!)

I had my hand stitching juried.  I brought along a half dozen pieces of work including the three sage & grass embroideries.  They have textured linen mats.  I was happy with the frames I found locally as they were perfect color matches for the art.  Unfortunately, I found out too late that my framer is on vacation so these are not my typical custom ordered frames.  The jurors noticed.  : )  I think the grooves gave it away.

Both these are potentially sold already (YAY!!), so we shall see what the buyers prefer.  I have one more in the honey color.  I couldn't do them all the same as a set because the one below really looked wrong in the blonde wood.  This was my choice and it works so well I think.

This next image is loaded sideways on purpose.  It's SO big and the horizontal version can only go so wide on my blog.  I have to say though, I like it vertical as much as I like it horizontal.  It has a very bold feel, doesn't it?  We tried different frame styles and matting colors.  This one did it for me.  It feels so contemporary, so fresh, and strong.  It was great to see that the two jurors had different takes on this.  One did not like the presentation - she preferred the earthy, subdued pieces.  They other juror LOVED it. 

boldly going where I've never gone before

I got the snowglobes juried for future markets which is awesome.  Both jurors were bubbling over with giggles as they talked to me about them.  : )  Below is a photo of the teenie art I put in the snowglobes.  I sell the globes every December.

Finally, I had my little prairie rugs juried.  They are all postcard sizes or thereabouts.  They are mounted in wood frames that I thought looked like floorboards.  I have made nearly 20 of these over the past couple years.  I'm not a rug hooker, but I do enjoy this craft and want to continue making more prairie art in this form.

It's done!  It's all good.  I enjoyed the discussion so very much.  I am certainly not afraid of this process anymore.  I have an art quilter friend who told me that she gets juried over and over just for the learning experience and feedback.  I think that's smart.  Plus, the deadline got my but in gear to create and complete a lot of great new work.

Thank you to J & G for the jurying session and great feedback.  ; )  If you want to see the SCC page, you can find my profile here.

Now - off to stitch up some work lovelies for Gardenscape!  See you then,

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.