Photos of Synthesis II opening

After the hanging on Friday,
Helena studies her Vinyasa

Quebec's first-ever SAQA exhibit had its opening today at the Kirkland Library. On display were twenty pieces, celebrating the variety of technique and theme in contemporary art quilts.

Heather, on left, talks to visitor, while Helena
looks into Michele's camera 

Dianne and Colleen discuss the exhibit

On far left is Heather's Tuscany 5, which sold
at the vernissage

We were happy to welcome about 50 visitors
over the two hours.

Thanks to Michele and Helena for bringing their talents and stamina to the hanging of the show!

Plea to all artists to use new media

Thanks for the post on Ann Johnston's new video DVD, Heather.  I am making a plea, though, for all artists to consider making content available for download on tablets.  I was prompted  to the possibilities of this by Delia Smith the cookery celebrity who now has a cookery online course which even children are using by following the recipes on their tablets in the kitchen.  How great is that?

These mini laptops are so portable and are the answer to being able to take the information right to the place of work - garage for dyeing, sewing room for stitching - even retreat for patterns, techniques, etc.

Incidentally, I am about to renew my subscription to Quilting Arts and will go down the online version route.  Several reasons -

1.  I don't have room for any more magazines,
2.  I don't have to pay the postage (expensive to Europe)
3.  I love being able to zoom in
4.  You have direct links to URLs

How times have changed!  Any thoughts?

Hilary

My upcoming solo show

Heather Dubreuil, Open Door, Riga, #2, 24 x 18

Delighted to announce my upcoming solo show, which will be held at the same time and place as the SAQA regional show Synthesis II. I hope to be showing about a dozen of my recent Cityscapes.

These two recent pieces were based on photos taken by Lauma Cenne on her recent visit to Latvia. Thank you, Lauma!

Heather Dubreuil, Open Window, Cesis, 24 x 18 

February 8 - 27 at the Kirkland Library, Kirkland, QC
Monday - Friday, 10 am - 9 pm and Saturday - Sunday 10 am - 5 pm

Vernissage Sunday, February 9, 2 - 4 pm.

Quebec's first-ever SAQA exhibition

Vinyasa, Helena Scheffer

Helena Scheffer and Heather Dubreuil are delighted to have their work included in Quebec's first-ever SAQA exhibition.

As many of you know, SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) is an international group devoted to the promotion of the art quilt.  Its 3000-plus members include several of us at 12 by the dozen. The Central Canada region, with more than 130 members, has put together a juried group show which has already been seen in six Ontario galleries.

Tuscany #5, Heather Dubreuil 

The twenty works by 16 artists celebrate the wide range of technique and subject seen in this contemporary art form.

Synthesis II will be shown at the Kirkland Library, 17100 Hymus Blvd., Kirkland QC, February 8 - 27. Hours are 10 am - 9 pm Monday to Friday, and 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

A vernissage will be held on Sunday, February 9, from 2 - 4 pm.

RED!!!!

our family went to the peter doig exhibition at the montreal museum of fine arts today.
this was hanging in a downstairs lobby

New Year's teasers

Now that all the fuss and excitement of Christmas and New Year is over I have been having fun in the sewing room.  One down, one half way and one on the burner...

Here's a couple of teasers:

Hilary

Green

Usually on the the Saturday afternoon before a Jewish girl gets married, a celebration takes place that's all about the bride! The bride's family, friends, loved ones and members of the community (females only) come usually to the brides home to sing, pay tribute and enjoy delicious eats . It is usually a beautiful, emotional gathering and is a great way for the bride, her family and friends to spend such an auspicious time together.
We had such a celebration on the Saturday afternoon before our older daughter, Orah,  got married 4 months ago.  
The center piece on our dining room table was the most magnificent, enormous floral arrangement which dominated the room giving us all the feeling of being outdoors on a magnificent day in the most beautiful space!
Our color scheme for the day was green.  The walls of our dining room, also being green, fitting in perfectly and so enhanced the ambiance!

I used a photo taken by a close friend, on the Friday afternoon before we started setting up.  I photocopied it onto fabric and then decided that hand embroidery was the way to go!  Problem was that since I had done hand embroidery of this nature so long ago, I had forgotten how long it takes.  Well, this has been my 'hand work' project for the last few weeks............Also used a bit of machine stitching and quilting and beading.  Finished it off with a facing instead of a binding or other technique - first time i attempted this.  Found a great method of doing this http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.ca/2012/09/tutorial-super-duper-easy-way-to-face.html

Now onto red!!!  

RED!

I was doing a much needed clean up and tidy up of my 'studio' and came across this piece of fabric I acquired quite a few years ago and voila!

..... I have finished my next challenge, I think.!   It is very much in the spirit of the season at the moment so may still do another for the finale.  This one was fun but I would like to put more effort into another so this may not be it.

12 By the Dozen: Blue Hibiscus

i don't know if this will appear on the blog but i have cropped you piece here and there and want to put this image forward taking everyone's comments into account.  now to see if it will appear on the blog in the right place!

Website is updated

After all that excitement the website is now up to date.  I have added the latest challenge page and links and images to members' pages.  Please let me know if there are any breaks or mistakes.

I'm just about to update the blog pages as well.

Then it's all system go on that glorious warm red...

Hilary

Collographs

Collograph printing onto rice paper (need to find a tougher paper to allow less colour clumping and retain the luminosity)

Vessel collograph onto Mulberry paper

Fabric and  altered pumice gel give a textured surface that is the perfect height for relief prints. Cotton prints well with manual pressure.

Cloth printed from a pumice gel printing plate can give a nice grainy texture to add colour and embellishment with all kinds of possibilities.

 Drawing into the pumice gel with a stick can produce subtle imagery in print onto a fine cotton.

 

Morning Glories

Trying to find just the right hue of periwinkle for this project was challenging. While I was running one morning, I noticed a large blooming vine of Morning Glories draped over a fence...immediately, I knew that would be my focus...now to translate it to a textile piece. The background is composed of three different pieces of hand dyed cheesecloth that I "felted" onto black batting. Then I layered on the flowers, stems and purple fibers by more felting with my felting machine. The quilting is done with a wool thread for added dimensions and movement.