Fields of Gold

It's that time again - I have work exhibited in Edmonton Alberta with the Focus on Fibre Art Association.  This year, the theme was 'Climate Change'.  Boy did that stump me.  Melting glaciers and skinny polar bears were all that popped into my head, and I thought that would be common.

I did a google search to see how my immediate environment is changing:  'climate change effects on the Canadian Prairie'.  Wow.  I learned so much... and so I'm really grateful for the push this theme gave me.

First - animals are affected.  Birds are migrating later and laying eggs earlier.  Wildlife are moving further north for food (deer and moose) because the tree line is receding north as well.  Aspens - MY FAVOURITE EVER - are dying off at a very high rate.  The result of all this is a larger expanse of farmland.  Did you know all that!?  All this, right under our noses. Making 'another prairie scene' was perfect to get my point across.  You think you know what it's all about, but you can't see the changes over time in a single snapshot. Such is Climate Change.

In this piece, I tried to show a greater expanse, receding trees and included the birds.  Of course, there are other issues with lowland flooding and lack of rain, so who knows if 'more farmland' is necessarily a workable thing or not.

So this is my entry!

fabric selection and colour matching threads

The sky is a very subtle hand dye.  I chose it because it's rather non-eventful.  I wanted the focus to be on the land.  Plus, a plain sky does not infer rain.  The ground fabric is a strip of commercial batik.  The threads - all kinds, any brand, cotton, poly, solid, variegated...

free motion machine work complete

Next, I added long handstitches in the foregound, some water lying on the field, as well birds in flight.  The embroidery is three times as wide as it is high.  I did this to give it a very endless horizon.

click to view full screen

I double matted with a cream mat, and had the perfect pieced frame for it with all the beautiful maple syrup colours.  It's under plexiglass for the show.  Here are the details!

Focus on Fibre Art Association

Juried Biennial National Textile Show & Competition

May 3 to July 3, 2018

at Enterprise Square

10230 Jasper Ave NW

Edmonton AB Canada

This show has a great variety of pieces that everyone will enjoy, from hooked rug art to art quilts, felting, soft sculpture, wearables, embroidery...  and everyone interprets themes so uniquely.  I hope you get to see it!

I have a second entry in the show, but I'll save it for another post.  If you want, you can get a sneak peak on my Instagram feed:  monika_kinner

Have a great day!