Monday, June 6, 2016

Two Show and Tells

I have a great gang of women that I meet with twice a year. We are all textile artists of one kind or another. Many of us have been stitching for ages and ages. It is an exciting group and this post is about them.


We have gathered at Gaspereau Valley Fibres, here the most wonderful wool shop in the whole nation. It is housed in a barn that has slowly been refurbished. Chickens, Cotswold Sheep, Llamas and cats help set the scene, but I am always in such a hurry to get to the wool, that I forget to photograph the location.


We gather for the day, usually it is a bring your own lunch event and a few of us provide the coffee and tea and someone always bakes something delicious.  We stitch and talk and wander around looking at the wool and each others work.


Before the main event, the Show And Tell began, we were visited by a very demanding hostess.


Once everyone has settled with a beverage, the real fun begins. We go around the table showing what our latest projects are, explaining any techniques or motivations we have. This work, by Penny Berens, has threads and fabric dyed in her stream with natural elements, black walnuts or red mud or you name it. It is free form, distorted stitching.


Some projects are huge, as the one above is, while others are smaller.  Margi Hennen, known for her whimsical dolls has had a bit of a slump and decided that collage of magazine cuttings are pretty darn fun for now.


Cathy Drummond, a local quilter with a lovely sense of balance and colour is exploring how to translate water colour abstractions into cloth. These swaths of colour are just the beginning and she received more advice than anyone could possibly take in. The beauty of this gang is that there is never a lack of advice, on pretty much any topic, so beware.


Alex Schofield, a multi media artist is exploring textiles inspired by over six years of daily drawings. The stitching is an image based diary, not linear or narrative but more a collage of moments.


Celeste Thibadeau recently discovered that she has Celtic roots as well as her Acadian ones and she is exploring the goddess Brigit.
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Kate Madeleso had this quilt on tour and is explaining the techniques used in the theme "Structures". The photos of the remainder of the group were back lit by the huge windows or too dark, and didn't come out so well.


Our demanding hostess was exhausted by the show and tell and demonstrated the best way to end the day.


It is pouring outside, I can't get my energy up to get to the gym and that is bad. The day is so over case that when I went into the kitchen just now, I thought the clock (not digital) said 5:00 pm. It actually said 12:30, but I believed it and started making dinner. So to cheer myself up, and those of you also sitting in a rainy day, here are a few photos of my garden.


This hosta is simply gorgeous this year. It has never been so sprightly. To its left, we dug out the orange day lillies and put in a blue hosta that should be huge in two years.


From the same view point, you see the beehive.


A lone little bee has come out to check the temperature. She wandered back in and a few minutes, the gang followed. The place literally hums when they all get to work.


The garden is a lovely place in June. Mostly it is green. Flowers show up here and there but those are extra. We have a small pond that struggles to drown out the sound of traffic. 

 

The pond area is getting a face lift this summer. We have never been in a garden for so long that it becomes overgrown. After 20 years, it is time to do a bit of pruning. Where the cat is sitting, we have dug out a pernicious weed (green goutweed). Beside her is a lovely Lady's Mantle that the weed hides under. Yesterday, before the rain hit, I dug it out. I am hoping to put a small fountain there to link up to the existing one. No real reason beyond that the hole is already dug. 

And that's it, Shows And Tells over.

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