What a roller coaster I have been on! The year has flown by and I am just now collecting myself enough to get back to blogging. When I left off I was traveling in British Columbia, having great adventures and meeting wonderful people. The problem was, I frequently had little or no internet! And our planned three to four week excursion stretched into two months!  And thanks to subsequent events, it has been a while since I have felt I could sit...

Donna Polos works with colour not only in her fabulous painted landscapes but also in her wonderful, whimsical gardens. I recently had the pleasure of spending time with her and learning more about her work. Outside her home her spring gardens are flourishing and attest to her loving care.  The children’s tree-house is now a favorite place for summer afternoon painting and a small greenhouse is a mix of art and plant seedlings. Look...

Marianne Parsons was one of the people to whom we owe gratitude for the formation of the Fibre Art Network (FAN). She is one of the charter members of the group. Coming from a farm background in Saskatchewan, this woman has taken her early training in clothing construction and her training as a teacher to influence the lives of many. After teaching quilting for a number of years she decided she didn’t want to sew any more straight lines...

Janet Bednarczyk recently moved from North Vancouver to Oliver BC and can’t believe her luck in finding a home with space for a studio with a wall of windows overlooking vineyards and orchards. Janet and her husband Don are busy personalizing the gardens surrounding their new home and building a controlled environment greenhouse for Don’s prize orchids. They are busy settling into their new community but Janet, now working only part...

Diana Bartelings, lives and works near Midway BC, a small town along Highway 3 in southern British Columbia. She joined FAN about the same time I did and has been an co-exhibitor in most of the group shows since 2010. Diana’s story is similar to that of many fibre artists in that she entered the fibre art world via traditional quilting. As she learned the basics she discovered that she really liked ‘doing her own thing’, designing rather...

Only a few days before departure on our ‘bucket list’ trip to the west coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, I realized that this was an opportunity to connect with as many FAN (Fibre Art Network) members as possible. I’ve belonged to this group for several years and have met a number of members but how better to get to know people than to see where they create their work. It is also a way for me to personalize this bucket-list...

  I am really enjoying the 5 day art challenges that are currently circulating on Facebook and have just been challenged to do my bit. I must assure you that I don’t mind participating but now I have to make a decision about what to post. If you have visited my website and/or blog you may notice that I don’t post a lot of pictures of my current work. Rightly or wrongly, I am playing it safe. Most of my current work is destined...

The past year has been an interesting one. A mixture of good and bad times, joy and sadness, successes balanced with unfulfilled dreams.  It has been a very busy year, hence few blog posts! My days were often long, leaving little time for reflecting. 2014 included some real successes in my artwork, travel, lots of Grandma time and time spent with new and old friends. In many ways 2014 was an ‘ordinary’ year. But today I found...

I believe that if a four year old can spend most of a day working on a project and still be anxious to do more I can count the project a success. Look at what she produced – gifts that will soon be mailed to special people in her life! The results of the day were quite attractive and putting the last few ‘sparkles’ in place was a great way to delay bedtime!   And Grandma found time to make a tutu for a little girl who...

I’m learning to work with a short production week! I’ve got a four year old in my life who ‘loves’ doing crafts with Grandma. As she visits often, the weekend is often focused on our joint efforts. This is ‘work in progress’ of the start of our Christmas crafts. These Christmas ornaments are now dry and waiting for their hangers.