Festival Ha'Rikud: Celebrating Friendship - 2017

I have a piece in this upcoming exhibition at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery opening May 4th, 2017.  I will not be able to attend the opening but would be happy to meet anyone there to check out the show before May 22 if you can make it.  For those who can not make it here is my piece and artist statement.

Look In, Reach Out, 20 x 20 Inches, Mixed Media Quilt

Friendship is a cornerstone. As human beings, we are constantly learning to connect, to talk to each other, to listen, to empathise and relate.  When engaging in friendship we also have a chance to have ourselves reflected in the mirror of our friend’s being.

The labyrinth is a tool for self reflection and a good friendship also fills this roll.  Through our engagement with the other we learn truths about ourselves.  If we are open, we can learn and form a deep bond that grows like a tree and blossoms into a lasting connection of spirit.  These bonds can help us weather the storms of life and support us on the journey of moving around the sun as a collective.

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JJ

Deconstructing a Quilt

One of the things that I love about my medium is its ability to be reborn.  Cloth can change forms; a sheet can become a shirt, a curtain can become a pillow or in this case a quilt can transform into another quilt.

The story of this quilt is the longest quilt story I have.  It was the first one I made.  It held all the magic that a gateway quilt could offer up.  My gateway into loving quilts was the wonderful richness of crazy quilts.  Elaborate, heavily embellished and in most cases not very practical, crazy quilts entice many textile enthusiasts. My aunt had two crazy quilted pillows which I loved.  I proceeded to make a crazy pillow for myself and others.  And then I decided to make my bed cover for when I moved away to attend Post-secondary education.  I spent many an hour the summer before my first semester sewing away in the kitchen of my family home.

Did I know what  I was doing?  No.  Did I have experts around me that could have helped? Yes.  Did I ask advice? No.  I sewed that baby together and used fabric that my mom had in her fabric trunk. The only new piece of fabric was the large blue sheet covered in white starts we found for the backing.

Did I love this quilt?  Yes.  Was it technically a quilt?  Just barely.  It had three layers,  but minimal actual quilting.  I'm rather glad about that slip up because deconstructing it was much easier with less stitching.

So here is the pre-deconstructed quilt and as you can see, the design was very willy-nilly.  Making this was part of my transition from living with my family to moving outwards into the world on my own.  Essentially I wrapped myself in the comforts of home each night.  Looking back on that time it seems that this object was a talisman that gave me strength and reminded me of where I came from. Little did I know as I headed to art school that it in fact represented where I would end up artistically years later.  The spiral of life is a powerful force.

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JJ 

 

Cherry Blossoms - A Textile Translation 2017

While spring may seem a bit late in arriving this year on the west coast, you'll have a chance to see some cherry blossoms in textile form from March 21 - April 9 at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver.  My piece "Spring in the World Tree" will be hanging in what promises to be a colourful show that runs in conjunction with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.

I wrote about the series of four that this piece is part of here.
I will be at the opening Tuesday March 21st, from 6-8pm.  Hope you can make it.

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JJ

Around Town - February 2017

I had the pleasure of attending two art events last Saturday.  The first was Shedding Layers, Feb 18- March 11 2017, a three person show at the Deer Lake Gallery in Burnaby.  My friend Nicole Smith's pottery crows were featured along with paintings by Jenn Ashton and David Righton.  This show was a bright and cheery way to spend a winter afternoon.  Both painters use strong colours and nature inspired imagery.  Ashton's work is fluid and whimsical, while Righton's paintings use an impasto technique that delineates his figures dramatically.
Smith's crows use various clay techniques including the raku glaze featured on the birds in the photo below.

After the Shedding Layers opening, my friend Dorothy and I attended Lori Goldberg's artist talk at the South Main Gallery in Vancouver.

Goldberg's show title was derived from Pierre Burton's idea that a Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe without tipping it over.  Using various painting techniques her imagery ranged from portages in the forest, to lone paddlers on lakes, and solitary canoes as objects in their own right.

My favourite pieces were O Canada, Spring Melt, and Homage.  South Main Gallery is a bright space that feels intimate yet was spacious enough for the paintings to breathe.  Goldberg talked about the paint techniques that she used to create the work, along with why canoes and their history compelled her to explore further.  The show is up until this Sunday February 25.
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JJ

Atelier

This word has stuck with me the last two weeks.  I love it.  This french word for studio or workroom, atelier, it is superior- if a word can be that.  It is a romantic word.  A word of action and substance.

As we walked the ancient narrow streets of Montpellier France this summer we came across this lovely scene. Others may have noticed the dresses first, or the freshly watered plant, or the lovely hand painted sign saying "Le Fil et son Aiguille" (the thread and its needle).

But I looked inside and saw a solitary artist making her work.

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction..." -Virginia Woolf

Not only to write fiction, but to paint, to sew, to make, to think, to be.

An atelier of one's own.  A space that is quiet, and yours.

Just a simple thought for today in a time that is not simple.

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JJ

On Being a Maker

One of the wonderful things about being an artist working in quilts as a medium is that I get to make art and functional objects. The Quilt Industry is vast and includes hobbyists, professionals, artists, crafters; in short, lots of people who make things for many reasons. Where one falls on this varied spectrum is a matter of self definition in most cases.  Since I went to art school calling myself an artist has become my natural default for categorisation.  For some, having to pick a strict definition is daunting and they refuse to do it.  I understand that sentiment but I have not problem ticking several boxes off and moving from one to the next.

So while my serious career ambition is to make art, and that is art that hangs on walls, is seen in galleries and fits with most traditional capital A art categories, I am also very much a Maker.

The things I make are usually functional and usually fabric. I make them for myself and my family and also friends. These are objects made with love for specific people. The energy that goes into them is different from my art making. In some ways I still consider them to be art or artistic but they are a product of spreading joy to my loved ones rather than an expression of a conceptual idea.

Making these objects balances me out creatively. In the same way that painting one day and writing a poem the next day would. You are working different creative muscles and channelling your inspiration with another intent. Luckily for me making a bed quilt still works my technical skills in a way that can enhance my art quilts.

Creativity is a fluid thing. It needs to move like water and should not be controlled rigidly. Marking special occasions with making carries on a rich tradition of giving that has always been a part of quilt making.  This can be applied to many types of making too. Cooking & baking, scrapbooks, cards, candles, there is no end to a human's capacity to make with artistry and care.  And that is a beautiful thing.

*The quilt pictured above was a joint effort between myself and my friend for a gift to a very special little boy with much love.  And we used this pattern.

JJ

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Long Shadows : 2016 In Review

                          

This morning I walked over hard packed snow to clear my head and get the blood pumping in my veins.  2016 was a year of great highs and many lessons.  Some of them easier to accept than others.

The sun rarely shines here at this time of year, today I tried to absorb that sun, notice it as much as I could and let it's ancient wisdom burn away some confusion that is clinging to me.

Its warmth is not as all encompassing as it was in the South of France this July.  That heat was so intense that it blocked out reflective thoughts.  The sweet relief of floating in the sea after 20 minutes of trekking to our favourite beach in Bandol was a highlight of the year.  That place is deep in my bones now.  Even if I never return, the memory of stitching while listening to the sound of the cicadas and the shift of the trees outside our apartment as the mistral blew will stay with me forever.

Today what struck me about the sun was its long shadows.  The sun sits so low in the sky that the shadows stretch meekly over the land.  That meekness resonates with me.  I felt that often when trying my hand at things this year.  Somehow when I stepped out of the shadows and into the light, letting boldness take over things crashed around me.  The universe knocked me down a notch or two and I'd step back into a meek shadow once again.

The lessons I have learned from this year do not feel concrete.  But I will write them here in case someone else may resonate with them in some way.

1) Laying the foundation of your career means putting yourself out there and waiting.  Results are not instant.  The publication of Imago Mundi Oh West Canada! took over a year to manifest.  And there are several submissions made in 2016 that I am still waiting to hear about.

2) Expect more no's than yes's.  I learned this in Jackie Battenfield's fantastic book The Artist's Guide: How to Make a Living Doing what you Love.  Her point was that you should be getting tons of rejections because that means you are trying.  And the only way to succeed is to keep making the effort.

3) My top lesson of 2016, one that I am still working on and will be for years to come is: Put yourself out there, meet people and make connections.  This is my biggest weakness in terms of my career.  And I need to challenge it, push and mould this part of myself.  I will always be an introvert but the career I desire as an artist will not manifest if I let that part of me call the shots.  So as uncomfortable as I feel in those moments where I am asking for what I want I force myself through that discomfort.  Maybe some day the discomfort will lessen.

2017 is looking good from here.  I have a milestone birthday and I am planning some new and exciting projects.  All will be revealed as the months progress.

Happy New Year...JJ

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