A week or so ago the Fibre Optics Group experimented with some novel ways for dyeing silk scarves. I love the results! Dyeing with Bleeding Tissue Have you discovered how to use bleeding tissue paper to colour some scarves? I did and love the results. I used the ‘cool’ colour package that has a variety of blues and greens with purple blue as the really dark colour. Experimenting with different ways to use the tissue and to fold the...

This is just an advance peek at what is happening in the studio. I’m battling a flu bug at the moment so haven’t taken the ‘official’ exhibition photos for submission to the Fibre Art Network (FAN) ‘Botanical Reflections’ exhibition and sale to open at Van Dusen Gardens in Vancouver on 27 January 2017. These were quick shots taken with my tablet under low light conditions after I completed the framing this...

    I’ve been watching for additional shows to enter and a couple of years ago I had flagged the ‘Focus on Fibre’, a biennial exhibition in Edmonton as a possibility. The 2016 theme ‘My Heritage’ was especially appealing as it fits so well with my current work direction. Over the past couple of years I have been working on a piece ‘just because’ I wanted to, without a schedule or plan for it!...

Last year a group of Calgary and area Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) decided to meet and share ideas. This gathering resulted in the assembly of an exhibition ‘Road Trip’. The theme was an invitation to share memories or dreams of a road trip. This show was non-juried and limited to new work. It portrays a wide variety of artist styles and interpretations. Earlier this year, this exhibition was shown at the Fish Creek and...

I am the third generation to appear in this series and what do I say about this piece and myself? For me the series has been about family traditions and memories and the richness to be gained by passing these on to subsequent generations. In previous posts I have talked about Grandmothers and the legacy they left me, my parents and how they influenced my view of the world. This fifth piece is about the synthesis that occurs when that ingrained...

Although Dad didn’t participate in needle crafts, he inspired my work in many other ways. I chose to include him in ‘The Tie That Binds’ because we shared an interest in genealogy that led to my desire to record family history in a variety of ways.  In this piece, I even included one of his favorite ties! Early Life JRE Miller (Ernie) was born at Glen Tay during WW1, attend Glen Tay Public School (SS#3 Bathurst, also my alma...

Evelyn Mather was an only daughter and grew up on a farm near Balderson ON with her three brothers. She didn’t talk a lot about her childhood but based on information from Uncle Gord, her early childhood may have been greatly affected by her Mother’s farm accident. She seems to have had a love of needlework all her life and was probably inspired by her Mother’s work. Mom was a star pupil in SS#9 Bathurst and went on to do well...

Grandma Bella was a little more of an unknown to me when I undertook this series for the TREX exhibition. Although Grandma and Grandpa Mather were frequent visitors, especially for Sunday evening supper, they did not play as large a roll in my life as Granny Alice. As youngsters, we stayed with these grandparents for short periods during the summers and it was during these stays that I was able to take a few swimming lessons at the Perth...

Each piece I prepared for The Tie That Binds has a series of stories embedded within it. Granny Alice is the first fabric collage/assemblage created for this series and I found myself taking a major trip down memory lane as I worked on it. First of all, Granny Alice and I were very close. I was the eldest of four children and we shared a house with our paternal grandparents for most of my childhood. By the time I was wandering around, she was...

I’m looking forward to the opening of a new Alberta travelling exhibition(TREX), The Tie That Binds. This year north central Alberta will be treated to the work of f0ur Alberta fibre artists….. and I was invited to be one of the four! I share this exhibition with Judy Weiss, Edmonton, Margie Davidson, Edmonton, and Matt Gould, Red Deer. Opportunity! I was first approached in early 2015 and I almost couldn’t believe it when it...