Behind the Art: The World Tree Series

Many artists have themes that work their way through their art as the years progress.  One such theme for me is the four seasons.  In the spring of 2011 as I waited for my second son to be born Spring in the World Tree came to me.  A robin's nest with bright blue eggs surrounded by a flowering tree.  At the time of course it was a drawing that waited in my sketch book while I birthed and bonded with a new baby.

When the time came to make a piece (probably a year or so later if we are being honest) I began work on Spring.  And when it was completed I thought it would be great to create a series of four, one for each season and each one featuring a different bird.  The World Tree, Tree of Life or Yggdrasil in Norse mythology is a fairly common image in popular culture.  What I wanted to explore in these pieces was capturing the essence of each season, along with the essence of a universal tree as it passes through a yearly cycle.

Spring: birth, stirrings of sap, awakening, colour's return...

Summer: Abundance of green, buzzing energy, wild and unruly lushness...

Autumn: Abundance of harvest, bright red apples, leaves turning and falling, fading warmth...

Winter: Grey silence, cold, a whiteness contrasted by the evergreen's promise of Spring....

And the cycle begins again.
Please click through the title of the post to comment or view past posts.  All pieces are currently for sale please contact me via my website for inquiries.

JJ

2016 Vancouver Area Quilt Shop Hop

As often as we can my friend Heidi and I try to take a day and have an adventure together.  This adventure is one that is unique to our interests together and most certainly does not involve "boy things" since the four boys we have birthed between us and the two men that partner us have little to no interest in joining in on our jaunts.
We have flown to Toronto (that was a special 48 hour version), visited the flea market and I believe there may have been a few movies attended long ago.  Last month we decided to shop hop to six quilt & fabric shops in the Lower Mainland.  Here is a little review on each.  (I was planning to take photos in each shop to share but the last two shops suffered from my growing fatigue.  Turns out I'm good for about four shops and then my eyes start to glaze over a bit...)

The Cloth Shop - Granville Island, Vancouver

Our first stop at 10 am (to avoid the crazy amount of people at Granville Island on Saturdays) was this tastefully laid out shop.  They have a great selection of fabrics, notions and books.  This one was Heidi's favourite for the friendly staff, location, fabrics and notions.

Spool of Thread - 15th Avenue, Vancouver

We have both been to Spool of Thread many times.  They have a large area for sewing classes, modern fabrics and lots of clothing patterns.  They curate their fabric very carefully to fit the modern, hipster vibe but are welcoming of sewers at all skill levels.

Fabrics Etc. - Kingsway, Vancouver

As of this posting date Fabrics Etc was the newest shop we visited.  They opened about a year ago and have a large selection of clothing fabrics, traditional quilt fabrics and a large notion section.  The store is laid out in more of a outlet style with plenty of room to browse.

Stitch and Bobbin - Old Dollarton Road - North Vancouver

This shop has a lot to offer.  Classes, Bernina Sewing Machines, a great fabric selection, Aurifil threads, and they do retreats as well.  This shop was my favourite as their fabrics appeal to my palate and the staff are helpful.  I also like that it is in a quieter location with no need to circle looking for parking.

The Needle and I - 6th Street, Burnaby

Offering a more traditional selection of fabrics, some good thread options like Italian thread Genziana, and Pfaff and Husqvarna sewing machines this shop also offers tons of classes.  The owner is lovely and helpful and had some interesting little quilters charms and gifts for quilt lovers you may know.

Quilted Treasures - Austin Avenue, Coquiltlam

Our last stop but not the least by far.  This shop offers lots of kits, traditional fabrics and long arm quilting for hire.  The owner is friendly and gave us several demonstrations of some of the products she has on hand including some applique adhesive paper.

This shop hop does not include all the fabric shops around but was doable in about 4 hours with lunch and tea breaks sprinkled in.  Click through on the title of the post to comment or tell me if you visit any of the shops.  And happy fabric hunting.

JJ

Old but not Precious

"One man's treasure is another's trash." 

I do not think it is too harsh to say that today's North American, and perhaps even Western, culture is disposable.  We are systemically forced to discard a phone, toaster or television that we purchased a few years or dreadfully even months ago and replace it with the latest model.

This culture effects us all in countless ways. Hoarders, collectors, minimalists, consumers: we label our relationship to stuff, justifying our behaviour one way or another.  

My own relationship to things has evolved dramatically in the 20 years I have lived on my own. I love old/vintage things. I grew up appreciating antiques.  I adore flea markets and thrift shops. There are whole professions dedicated to the recording, preserving and caring of vintage treasures.

And then there is just old stuff. 

The linens in these photos are such items.  They are old textiles; I would date them to early 20th century.  A cotton skirt, silk blouse, and two cotton pillow cases edged with hand-crocheted lace.  They are stained, ripped, they smelled of moth balls and the blouse has several holes that have darkened to a crispy brown at the edges.  As vintage items they are not worth preserving.  A museum would de-accession these items.  

But for some artists these items are valuable. While they are not only historically significant in their own right, they also carry stories that can be transformed. In and of themselves they are not precious.  No one will buy them for lots of money at auction, no one has kept them carefully preserved in a cedar lined chest and most would discard them. Their decomposition would resume and eventually their fibres would mingle with all organic organisms.




Since these items were sent to me I plan to transform them. They will be made into art.  This practice of transforming old textiles is a common practice these days in the textile art community. I follow several talented artists who bring new life to unwanted fibres. Amy Meissner has created a crowdsourcing project and people from all over the world are sending her hand work from doilies to needlepoints. Susan Lenz uses old garments for rusting and natural dying. These pieces are unwanted clothing that is then used for installations or cut up for art quilts.

As for what my old but not precious items will become I am still pondering.  Gently washing them and hanging them in the sun to dry was my first interaction with them.  As an aside if you have vintage linens that you want to preserve hanging them in the sun is not recommended.  The beauty of linens drying on a clothesline in the sun was too hard for me to pass up.  I think they will tell me the story that they need to tell in time.  I am grateful that art offers up a place for old things to transform and that I get to use my own hands to transform them.

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JJ

Uncovering History

Hilma af Klint: Recently discovered as a pioneer of abstract art

There are always biases and preferences in our working life.  The diversity of humanity is refreshing and helps us to feel like we are not alone.  The internet has opened up a world to us introvert types; it is a place where we can seek out role models, heroines and positive reinforcement for the path and choices we are making.

At art school I learned about hundreds of artists.  So many that my mind blurs when trying to recall any exact amount.  Art history is a vast world of smooth faced cherubs, imposing bronze sculptures, colourful impressions of landscape, and hard edged acrylic surfaces.  I certainly felt inspired by many artists: Monet, Klimt, Schele, Raphael, men who's last names say all that needs to be described about their identity.  Household names by and large.

While their work inspired me, as an individual I was not inspired.  There was little to nothing about their lives that I could relate to.  Not merely because they lived in different eras but mostly because they were men.  I felt deep down that their way of seeing the world and living in it was vastly different than my own.  And while I could share their sensibilities about creating I could not use their life stories to inspire choices in my own.  I needed role models that had broken through a patriarchal system to expose their work.  I had to search,  look deeply at the handful of women artists presented to us in art history texts to find the women whose work and lives I could relate to.

The internet and a growing understanding of the exclusion of women in the art history world has seen tons of women artists being pulled out of the shadows.  Many worked alongside men who became famous but never achieved that level of recognition.  Some were muses, some were muses and then mothers to babies begot by their famous lovers/husbands.  Some pushed against glass ceilings, fought mental illness, hid and painted but never had a single show.

On my way to New York city in the late 90's I read Judy Chicago's book: Through the Flower.  Despite her huge impact on me I was not able to see her masterpiece The Dinner Party in New York at that time.   Now the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art in the Brooklyn Museum houses The Dinner Party permanently.   I see these changes as very positive for the art world.  Now young (or not) artists can find role models with more ease.

This long explanation has been my little manifesto into why I am so heavy on the female artists.  I admire many men for their achievements, but in this space I focus more on the women's side of the stories.  Someday I may not need to have such a bias, but until then I want to share the work of women, including my own, and let our voices reverberate in a changing world.

If you feel compelled to know more about women artists in history I recommend the following links:

Jennifer Higgie on Instagram

The Story of Women in Art a BBC Documentary

Why Have there been no Great Women Artists by Linda Nochlin

Back Soon.  JJ

Art and Family

Sometimes it is hard to know where to best post when my art and family life intermingle.  Over at my personal blog is a post about raising kids as an artist:  http://chasingdomesticbliss.blogspot.ca/2016/02/growing-up-with-art.html

Back soon with more art related news and views.

JJ

Put a Bird on It: A 2015 Art Review

Snow is falling softly here as I write today.  It seems a good time to take stalk of a bumper year for me in terms of career opportunities.
January will always mark an important time for me as it was 3 years ago this month that my work was first exhibited in the Lower Mainland in an emerging artist group show.  It was a great success all around when I not only got into the show but also sold the piece that was submitted.  Three years in and I have shown many more times, learning a lot about what is and is not possible at this stage.
Of course things are always changing, so I continue to challenge what appears possible.
I don't think that 2016 will be any different in that respect.
As for 2015, my impression of the year overall harkens back to the title of this post.  My bird obsession was not obvious to me until the last few months of this year.  But as the last three pieces I've made have had a bird in them (the new one I'm working on now adding a fourth) I feel it is safe to say I'm in a bit of a "bird phase."  
I know for sure that after this current piece is done I will make at least one more piece with a bird as a focal point.  I haven't intellectualized this too much as of yet.  I think it stems from nature as inspiration and birds being the wildlife that I am exposed to the most on a daily basis.  We live in a forested mountain area so birds are all around us.  Plumage is also very beautiful to paint and stitch.
There is much folklore and many myths attached to certain birds. I don't think of these animal's appearance in my work to be coincidence.  There will not be a time that I will be done with birds as subject matter since I made no concious effort to study them or use them exclusively as a muse.  I assume that they will flit in and out of my work forever.  Only time can tell.  But what a pleasure to sit with these creatures and come to know them in such an intimate way.
To stitch, study colour and gesture, it forms a bond.  An understanding of the type of space that they take up in the sky or on a branch.   It is a sincere pleasure to observe and depict.

In case you are not familiar with the post title (used in a very tongue and cheek way)  please click through to this Youtube clip of the funny show Portlandia for an explanation.

Wishing you all a very happy new year!       JJ

     flight, 2014

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Fabrications - 2015 Juried Fibre Exhibition

My final exhibition of 2015 (and first of 2016) opens tonight at Quest Art School & Gallery in Midland Ontario.  There are many wonderful artists included in this Fibre show so please check it out if you are in cottage country over the holidays (show closes January 6).

Five Pillars is hanging alongside the stunning piece above and many more.  2015 has been a great year for gallery shows for me and Fabrications is my first exhibit in Ontario.  It is very exciting to be showing across Canada.

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JJ