Research and Stories
This is a place where I can share some of my research pertaining to early settlement and family histories intertwined with the story of Lanark County, Ontario, Canada. I’ve been researching and writing for many years and want to make some of my work more widely available.
This blog was originally designed to share my artwork and creative activities during the years when I was exhibiting widely. My art has now taken second place to refining and publishing some of my research, but I have left the art posts available for perusal.
Whatever your interest might be, enjoy, and provide feedback if you can.
Diane
Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on December 1, 2015 in Featured Flag, This And that! | 1 comment
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 down and do some art life sharing! We returned to Calgary June 6, exactly two months from our...
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Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on April 30, 2015 in Books & Art Journals, Fibre Art & Quilts | 3 comments
On my first day in West Vancouver we set out to travel the West Vancouver sea wall and to get a feel for the community we would call home for the next week. A friend alerted me to the proximity of the Cherry Blossom 2015 fibre art show and I was watching for the Silk Purse Gallery during my travels. When I arrived at the gallery the organizers were setting up for the feature event of the week: A presentation about a fibre art copy of Joy Kogawa’s book ‘Naomi’s Tree’. Although I am familiar with other books by this...
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Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on April 25, 2015 in Featured Flag, Fibre Art & Quilts, This And that! | 0 comments
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 closely at her rock gardens and one can find discarded running shoes and other items filled with plants....
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Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on April 24, 2015 in Featured Flag, Fibre Art & Quilts, This And that! | 0 comments
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 or to worry about square corners. She wanted to create something that would offer a surprise to the...
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Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on April 23, 2015 in Featured Flag, Fibre Art & Quilts, This And that!, Watercolour | 0 comments
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 time as a physiotherapist, is maintaining regular studio time pursuing her artwork. ...
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Posted by Diane Miller Duncan on April 22, 2015 in Featured Flag, Fibre Art & Quilts, This And that! | 0 comments
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 than following patterns. Emily Belak, a fibre artist from Grand Forks, BC was a feature speaker at a...
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