Welcome to Abstracted by the Fibre Art Network

Exhibit #1
For those of you who are on the West Coast or visiting ...
I  curated a Canadian exhibit for the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum in Washington, USA.
This will take you to their website www.laconnerquilts.ca
La Conner is on the coast of Washington, near Anacortes and about 30 minutes north of Seattle. It is a charming little tourist town. The La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum is in a beautiful old mansion that has been restored and has two floors for exhibits.

To see the full beauty of the pieces, it is of course best to see the exhibit in person. Meanwhile, you can enjoy our work in this blog.

ABSTRACTED was very well recieved! 
Exhibit Dates: October to December 30, 2014 in La Conner, WA, US


Exhibit #2
June, 2014. http://www.canadianquilter.com
Our show traveled to the CQA/ACC conference in St Catharines, Ontario. We had over 1500 visitors and rave reviews!

Quilt Canada 2014  St. Catharines (Niagara Region)
ONTARIO  June 11 - 14, 2014

UP COMING EXHIBITS:
July & August, 2015 at the Weyburn Gallery, Sask. Canada
http://www.weyburn.net/attractions.html

Sept & October, 2015 at the Maple Ridge ACT http://www.theactmapleridge.org/gallery

Additional venues are in the planning and will be added to the blog.
Interested galleries please contact me: vivian.quilts@gmail.com

........................................

Be sure when you reach the bottom of the first page of the blog, look to the right and you will see 'older posts'. Click on that and you will see about 5 more pages. There are 44 pieces by 40 Canadian fibre artists!

A Forest Surprise: Diane Duncan, Judi MacLeod

.......................................................................................................

A Forest Surprise

Representative

Diane Duncan

The highlight of a day in an ancient forest was the discovery of this lichen. Surrounded by moist black organic soil and fallen needles, it was the star of the show. It was growing from an almost buried fallen tree that provided yet another texture to the scene.  Capturing both the essence and the reality of this fragile beauty was a challenge!

When choosing a photo to use for our work, Judi MacLeod and I independently selected a photo of this same species from our personal photo collections - a meeting of minds.

Techniques: Machine and hand stitching, machine and hand quilting, paper cloth, free motion stitching, crochet.

 ......................................................................................................

 

A Forest Surprise

Abstract

Judi MacLeod

This abstracted piece was done in collaboration with Diane Duncan who is doing the realistic piece.

Technique: printed, machine and hand stitched.

Process: Diane and I emailed and set up a Skype session where we discussed what we would decide to work on .. Both of us are inspired by nature ..we exchanged several photos by email and then decided on a photo of Diane's of some lichen in a forest . She proceeded to design her realistic piece and then sent me a photo  which I manipulated in Photoshop, then had printed onto fine cotton at a printing facility. Then I did a lot of hand embroidery stitches that Diane also used. Diane had also sent me a sample of the colour threads she was using along with a piece of black painted material, which I cut up and used on the piece. I did some machine stitching but really did more hand stitching.A fun project!

Arbutus: Sara Judith, Pippa Moore

.........................................................................................................................

Arbutus

Representative

Sara Judith

The beauty, colour and texture of nature inspire me to portray the wonder of world I live in. This arbutus tree with its magnificent change of colour through the seasons, the sinuous, twisting curve of its branches and its resilient, tenacity, clinging to a rocky outcrop, spoke to me. It is a metaphor to me of how to live. So I express it with an old craft form transformed in a modern art context.

Techniques: Hooked and punched with hand dyed wool cloth strips, wool yarns, mohair and cotton chenille on a linen backing.

Process of rug making:

...............................................................................................................

Arbutus

Abstract

Pippa Moore

After deciding that it is the lines of arbutus branches that draw me in and delight me most, I studied one particular tree, simplifying its lines, then repeating and connecting these in an abstract composition. While it references the colours and lines of original tree, I hope to convey something of what I imagine is its inner life, its life story.

Techniques: Fusible appliqué, machine quilting.

Barcelona Fruit Stand: Judy Leslie, Robin Fischer

.......................................................................................................

Barcelona Fruit Stand

Representative

Judy Leslie

Process

Judy's photo that started it all!

Along La Rambla, the tree-lined pedestrian mall in central Barcelona, is a fabulous fresh food market.  Produce is displayed to best advantage in slanted bins which abound with a bountiful assortment of luscious fruits and vegetables. Please savor this presentation of a partial view of one of these bins!

Techniques: Machine appliqué of hand-dyed cotton, silk and wool roving.

Building the design

Individual felted Fruit

Barcelona Fruit Stand

Abstract

Robin Fischer

Textiles nourish my soul & keep me wondering what I can do next to make it interesting. I enjoy making original art pieces & love using fabric that is unusual. My inspiration comes from my surroundings, especially our garden. 

The community of quilters is sharing & generous which also inspires me.
I enjoy the collaborative process 
as I think it stretches you as an artist. 


My piece is based on a photo by Judy Leslie.

Techniques: Hand dyed fabric, machine appliquéd and machine quilted. It is hand beaded with: Shiva Paintsticks,  thread embellished and foiling.

Chooutla: Diana Bartelings, Cathie King

................................................................................................

Chooutla

Representative

Diana Bartelings

Chooutla was an Anglican residential school in Carcross, YT. It became a place where first nations children lost all they were. They lost their language, their sense of belonging and their very identity. In 1972 it closed down and became an alternative school. In 1979 it was returned to the First Nations people who as part of their healing process chose to dismantle it.

Techniques: Machine appliqué, ink & crayon, rust dying, hand dying thread painting, machine quilting.

Note: In the original design I had the road leading out of the picture to return up at the school. Having taken a design workshop with Vivian Kapusta at Quilt  BC in Penticton, I learned that once the eye followed the road out of the quilt it might not make it back in to see the rest of the piece. So I did change up the 

design to have the road curve up to the school.

process photo

Process: I enjoyed having a partner but we did not find the time to work together as we thought we would. We did connect and share photos and I did bring my piece to her work so she could see what I was doing but time to get together did not present itself until the very end when we decided to ship our pieces together. There were some great ideas that flowed between us and I think I would have made a few different choices had I clearly understood all that she was doing a little earlier on. As it is though, I feel our two pieces fit well together and we think of them as one piece of art.
                        




                           .....................................................

Chooutla

Abstract

Cathie King

The Phoenix rising is representational of the First Nation people rising above the attempted assimilation and societal collapse, and the rebirth of language and culture.  The destruction of the Chooutla School helping in the healing.

The word fragments tell the "Milestones" of the Anglican Indian Residential School in Carcross YT.

Process Photo

Techniques: Photo printing on fabric 
(photo shop pictures), fusible appliqué, 
thread painting, machine quilting, fabric painting 
(word fragments at top).

Credit: Native artist 
Richard Shorty - 

Phoenix image used with permission.

Colours to Live By: Marianne Parsons, Karen Johnson

.....................................................................................................

Colours to Live By

Representational

Marianne Parsons

Bright cheerful houses perch boldly on the Maritime hillsides, dressed in colours we love but are reluctant to put on our own house walls. They always make me smile. (And my house exterior is painted beige.)

Techniques: raw-edge machine appliqué and machine quilting. 
Process: 

...........................................................................................................

Colours To Live By

Abstract

Karen Johnson

Colours on the RockAfter seeing images of Marianne’s Colours to Live By, I was drawn to the bright colours and shapes of the Newfoundland houses. Photos of more houses, tourist booklets and the TV show, Republic of Doyle, helped further my design process. This was an exciting challenge although it was also a struggle at times. But in the end it was the bright colours of the houses on the “Rock” and the rugged landscape that were reflected in my abstracted interpretation.

Process:

First Concept

Second Concept