Marie o' the Sea

When the sun shines

2011-06-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Piece of the action

2011-05-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a little glimpse into the May 12 gallery opening. I received some great feedback from the visitors to the exhibit. Most people thought I had made a pretty pink skirt that was artistic. The woman pictured in the first image with the look of shock on her face is learning that the skirt is made from real love letters that I had collected. She proceeded to tell me that she had a bundle of love notes herself - and her husband told her she had to get rid of them. The two of us mourned this fact and read one of the letters I received from my high school sweetheart, at age 17. It was a moment I'll remember well.

The 2nd image captures more of this feeling of surprise and desire to touch and read and dive into the memories of the letters, into the love. Everyone wants a piece of the action.

A big thank you to Greg for being in the right place at the right time with a camera, and knowing when that time was.

It's really all about Love.

2011-04-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Come see the Love Tutu!

For more information, contact:

Reisa Smiley Schneider
Art Gallery Director
Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery
Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
950 West 41st Avenue
604 638 7277; 604 257 5111
reisa@jccgv.bc.ca

www.jccgv.com

Dharma Threads and Dancing Light

2011-04-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours in a magical garden with old friends and new. We photographed the lovely Tangachee, of Dancing Light Cottage adorned in Dharma Threads.

Craft Bazaar round two!

2011-03-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Excitement builds as I gear up for my second time participating in Salt Spring's Craft Bazaar at Mahon Hall. I'll have more nuno felted scarves there and will also be featuring unscented kama soap felted with natural merino fibres, un-dyed for sensitive skin.

Here's a photo of my dear friend Sandra wearing a scarf I made recently, looking very scholarly indeed:

Mail call!

2011-03-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I went on a clothes tag cutting frenzy and sent a pile of them to Lea at Leafcutter designs. She's been working on this really smart project called changing clothes where she investigates the politics and ecology of clothes - and for her work on "care instructions", she invites the public to change the tags in their clothes to this tag she designed. I recently received a glittering pile of these tags in the mail the other day from Lea. I'm excited to sew them into my wearables and share them with friends so that they may do the same.

Wrapped in rainbows

2011-01-09T00:11:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who liked the colour fuschia. She enjoyed wearing fuschia lip stain and donning a fuschia attitude. She was especially happy when wrapped in her fuschia rainbow stole. She felt like she caught the sky.

Fulford Fair in December

2011-01-04T23:55:00.000-08:00

Here I am, wearing one of my scarves and peddlin' the woolywash at the Fulford Market. Woolywash is made by hand using natural soap by Kama felted with natural wool fleece fibres, all on Salt Spring Island. It makes a nice soapy scrub. Mechanics and jewelers alike attest to its excellent hand cleansing and softening qualities.

Cheers to all the sudsy love this holiday season! Bring on the squeaky clean of 2011.

A dance with needle and thread

2010-12-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Butterfly Dream

length: 237cm

materials: silk-rayon woven gauze fabric, felted with merino wool fleece and raw silk roving; embellished with silk and cotton embroidery floss

dye: material dyed with fuscia procion mx cellulose fibre reactive dye; fleece and silk roving dyed with cochineal* from Maiwa Supply on Granville Island (imported from Mexico, Central and South America and the Canary Islands).

Inspiration: femininity, universal love and diffusing disorder

CrackerJack 2010

2010-11-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

My first sale: CrackerJack 2010. What an honour and a pleasure to have participated amongst some seriously great artisans, artists and craftspeople.

All that preparation was well worth my while. I appreciated the feedback, the chance to meet with old and dear friends and to share my nuno felting art process. What a great learning experience on this artisan journey I find myself continuing on.

Now, back to the studio.

Out in the world

2010-11-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

I cropped some imagery to give myself an idea of what colour relationships people enjoy adorning their bodies with. Since the summer, I have released 9 scarves into the wild.

Inspired by this lovely lady, the naming of the scarves happened at a craft night in a yurt on Salt Spring. They are:

Snow Walker

Radiant Comet
Fire Tree
Whispy Fanfare
Undersea Rosegarden
Birdpath
Indigo Lagoon
Summer Storm
Coral Dragon

Ecsquisite jacquard.

2010-11-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

A beautiful memory from the summer. This couch lived upstairs in all its art nouveau revival gorgeousness. Thank you, William Morris.

Craft Bazaar: check!

2010-11-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Piled on a clothes dryer, the scarves for the Craft Bazaar and for the upcoming show in West Vancouver, CrackerJack. The lighting that evening was picturesque, so I stepped outside for some photos.

Also rustled up some felted soap that I made in summer and painted the tosies on the paper mache bathtub I made for display purposes.

The sale at Mahon hall was a success! lots of good feedback and a great opportunity to meet more of the kind folk that dwell on this beautiful little island.

Craft Bazaar!

2010-11-06T03:27:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to participate in a 'not so average' craft bazaar at Mahon Hall on Salt Spring this weekend. See you there!

2010-10-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

A bowl of madder matter. Some logwood-drenched cloth hanging to dry. A peek into my world in Long Harbour. I'm so lucky to have the space to create and dance in colour and fibre. I'll be working at it each day until Remembrance Day...preparing for a show. My first show.

designing for mini moo

2010-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

I just ordered some moo cards to go with the scarves I've been making. Here are some samples. When cropping the photos, I was immediately drawn back to my design class with mentor and design super hero, Eleanor Hannan. Under her instruction, choosing imagery, seeing colour relationships and finding the art all around us was fun and fabulous.

I'll have these cards with the scarves on display at the upcoming Capilano University Textile Arts Student Sale:

November 23, 2010
Arbutus Building 201, Capilano University
11:30 am-7:30 pm

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Osage Orange celulose meets Cedar chip protein

2010-10-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here, laid out on a stone patio is my first attempt at a long stole. The 'nuno' or ground material was dyed using Osage Orange to give it its golden yellow-orange hue. The yellowish collaged fleece on top was dyed using cedar chips found on the floor from a wood carver at last year's Circle Craft Market, while the grey, navy and burgundy were dyed with acid dyes.

The dyeing happened in a little house on the north end of Salt Spring. It was felted in a garden in the south of the island.

pink and green

2010-09-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

This planned conglomeration of pink and green fleece reminds me of a day when I hopped on a bus in Kyoto.

More flamingo photo s here.

Colour way, sourced.

2010-09-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here's the tail end of a scarf I put together recently. I've used both chemically and naturally dyed fibres (Procion MX, CIBA Acid dye, cedar bark and cochineal). It was a real step back in time to rainbow it up with all kinds of pink.

..and on a random note, I wonder if a my little pony brush could work as a hand carder in a jam.

what's for dinner?

2010-09-21T23:19:00.002-07:00

I've been residing in the Northern Shuswap area of BC for the past two weeks and have encountered the following: 1 cougar, 1 eagle, 4 mule deer with big fluffy, flappy tails, three bears and two nephews. I get to drive a big truck, sometimes an atv, and I live with a cat named Jonah. It's one of those wild adventures I've always dreamed of.

A little interlude

2010-09-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to interrupt the creative process to talk about a very useful read. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky is an excellent resource for those of us dreamers who keep coming up with brilliant ideas and want a way to anchor them. It really helps with the action! side of things. I managed to borrow a brand spankin' new copy from the Vancouver Public Library recently and was charged by each chapter. I had requested it a while ago, and it seemed to fall into my lap at just the right time.

I've had two specific ideas in my head for a while now. This book helped me get the ball rolling - gathering more of the materials, acquiring the space to create, setting limitations and keeping myself constantly engaged with the process.

Bundles of joy

2010-09-07T23:12:00.000-07:00

After dyeing the fabric, I chose coordinating fleece from my stash. I laid all the fibre out and made up colourful packages that I can open up and begin the felting process with. One package contains the ingredients for up to three scarves.

Excited!

immersed in colour

2010-09-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've begun dyeing and felting some more scarves. It's exciting how it's all coming together. For this batch I used Procion mx, a fibre-reactive immersion dye. I dyed a couple others using Osage Orange and Cutch - two lovely natural dyes I picked up from Maiwa. I'll be posting more process shots as I go.

undersea rosegarden

2010-09-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

A nuno-felted scarf I recently created using a cochineal-dyed canvas.

Lake Akan, Hokkaido

2010-09-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Little green felty balls in fishbowls pretending to be a species of filamentous green algae, also known as marimo in Hokkaido. Random.

Wee sprout

2010-09-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

That autumn
where it was said
"For seventy-five years nothing will grow"
New buds sprouted
In the green that came back to life
Among the charred ruins

A photo I took of an old photo a couple of Julys ago. The idea of renewal and re-growth (in the face of what can sometimes feel like charred ruins) sparks motivation.

Framing

2010-08-27T01:46:00.000-07:00

I've decided I'm going to start drawing attention to random photos I've taken (both for your pleasure and my inspiration) by sporadically plunking them here and writing a little about what they bring to mind.

This one I called "Rust to frame the sky" back in 2008 when I took it on a day out in Hachiman (north of Sapporo). When I glimpsed at this recently I started thinking about perception and how we often think we see it all, when really our views are encased and delineated, yet evolving. Sometimes some of the rusty bits fall away and we get a better view; other times obstructions get in the way.

At this angle, there's a little poky bit that sticks up and looks like a tiny human on the edge of the world.

Nuno Felting happening.

2010-08-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the scarves I've been working on. More to come.

The Weaver

2010-07-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

On a loom outside of time, a woman weaves, unknown, sublime
Not young or old, her face unseamed, her silken hair flows like a dream
Her strong hands match the heddle's beat as toes dance lightly underneath
The shuttle flies from left, then right; for each the weft is beaten tight
She weaves a pattern rich and fine, her every move a subtle rhyme
In solemn silence, face serene, she listens there before the beam
As myriad tales surround her seat; she weaves a line of yarn for each
In the moon-soft, sun-rayed light, her weaving grows, cascades from sight

Her hands fly over shuttled wools, she sits there straight-backed on her stool
Choosing among earthly stock; reflected pools to hues of rock,
Moonlit nights ablaze with stars, searing whites of icy spars
Captures gold of eagle's eye, a speckled fawn that shadowed hide
Marking life's relentless rules, she weaves in heroes, mothers, fools
She adds a bright thread, sliver-shot, for baby's cry and cool raindrop
And melds sea sands with dabs of tar, adds rainbow's promise from afar
She cuts a thread and lets it lie; a breath away, a life has died

The loom clacks on, the Weaver hears, a world of beauty, joy and tears
For nothing's lost and all retained; the Weaver knows each colour's name
Her woven yards in folded grace, are Earth's tales woven into place
Each line's an ode, the whole a song; where nothing ends and all belongs

~ Angela Burns
(found in a local Comox Valley Newspaper by my mamma)

My first woven project - a hand-dyed, warp-faced Ikat woven with wool on a floor loom. The material that emerged was intended for window coverings and graduated to wall hangings.

2010-05-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

I went here as a farewell excursion in Vancouver before heading onto a new chapter.

Made Elsewhere for Cheap

2010-05-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the photographic and documentary works of Edward Burtynsky and his “manufactured” and “manufacturing landscapes”, I wanted to explore my understanding and relationship to the culture of consumption of cheap foreign goods. Burtynsky’s works reveal our overwhelming pressure on the planet and its people and allow us to take a moment to experience ‘concern’. This ‘uneasy contradiction’ may arise each time one glances at a label reading “made in China (Bangladesh, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico…).”

As a student of textile art, I brought my focus to the textiles we wear closest to our bodies: a t-shirt, a pair of socks, some underwear. These second skins touch our vulnerability; we are ‘drawn by desire’, addicted to the ready-made and cheap to quickly fulfill our unending want. These garments represent economics, politics and power (corporation-controlled governments) and pollution (over ½ lb of petrochemicals were used at one time in these cotton items that were purchased 2nd hand for this work). For all of these costs I wonder what has been achieved, especially when, at the end of a few wears, these cheap items are often disposed of (or sent to a corporation-owned 2nd hand store like Value Village®).

The use of the word “Addict” as a chaotic all-over pattern emphasizes our chaotic pattern of consumption addiction. “Made in China” is an after thought if the look and price are right. Do we know the trail of the cheap t-shirt? We know that it was made elsewhere, by someone else, for cheap. The gold ring symbolizes our western industrial idea of happiness, greed, riches, “bling” and status; in economics, money is the bottom line. What effect does this mass consumption have on the makers?

“China’s youthful peasant population is quickly abandoning traditional extended-family village life, leaving the monotony of agricultural work and subsistence income behind for a chance at independence.”
- Edward Burtynsky

Whereas those in developing nations are becoming privy to ‘a chance at independence’ by spending 10 hours a day making things like t-shirts for the Western market, we in the west (Japan, Canada, US, AUS and NZ) are very attracted to the availability of cheap clothing as a way to fulfill our desire to appear independent, quickly and easily. This is a complex relationship of enablement, fueled by addiction, disguised by ‘empowerment’.
What does our western ‘concern’ look like?

Crash-landed feelings of youth

2010-05-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

I was crazy enough to save a bunch of love letters I had for a looong time; some, like the one you can see that says "She's like a mega babe", that was written 15 years ago. I thought about throwing them all in a bonfire one summer, but then stopped myself in a moment of dreamy-egoic past-romantical recollection.

Earlier this year, I made this skirt. I consulted my textile art toolbelt and naturally dyed silk hankies, roving and paper; fusing them all together and attaching them to a tutu, to which I also attached extra hand-dyed tulle. Throughout the whole process, and now too, I explore(d) my relationship to love and romance.

This garment of silk-fused prettiness features and relies on the delicate nature of a love letter, and like the delicate hearts of the boys who wrote them, each fragment is stained a different shade of pink (cochineal). Pink, magenta, dusty rose… pretty, flowery, feminine and passionate; infatuated, but not really Love in all its true redness.

This pretty pink skirt contains crash-landed feelings of youth. And down the road...a crimson counterpart?

If you'd like to see this project up close, check it out on display at CityScape Community Art Space until June 5th.

<< To see the article that goes with this photo, go here.

Back to the source.

2010-05-16T20:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, at the end of a big moving-boxes-into-storage day, I stopped by FREEGEEK - a sweet spot in Vancouver where some serious technological recycling and refurbishing goes on - to show them the end result of a project I did in January (for my 3D textiles course) using stock from their piles. I decided to lend them the finished product to show in their space. They were stoked! Here are some photos of the wig I made from 100 pieces of ram.

Freshly felted

2010-05-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Successful felting! The scarf shrunk 15% and went from 86 inches in length to 72. That's 6 feet of cozy felted wool and puckered tencel with a hint of cochineal (some of the dye came out in the felting process). The solid blocks of pink wool really stand out on the background of silky tencel, and it has a nice feel to it.

Freshly woven scarf

2010-05-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a scarf I wove just recently - it's made from tencel and blue mountain wool. The tencel is dyed naturally, with cochineal and is woven with the wool in a plain weave, supplementary warp structure. I plan on felting it today, to give it a completely different life. I'll post the after pictures soon.

On the mend

2010-03-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

The retro patches are coming in handy. Got hit by an SUV on Wednesday (March 10/10) and am allowing my ankle fracture to heal.

2010-02-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Here I am on a sunny Saturday in Stanley Park. I had the opportunity to fashion some gorgeous hand-woven and knitted wearables, created by my friend and classmate Janna. What a delight.

Mobile Mending

2010-01-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

Lately, 4 of my most awesome classmates and I have been mending clothes for the public for free as a project for school. Good times.

Glowing red.

2010-01-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

One of my classmates, Cathy, was sewing some fruit and veggie bag embellishments to a very regal velvety cloak the other day.

2010-01-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, Tofino.
Here's a snippet from my summer.

Capitalism + Prayer Flag = ?

2010-01-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

Traditional Tibetan Prayer Flags typically look like this:

___________________________________________________________

Here's a Western make-over, a translation that summarizes our capitalist mindset with words and imagery. I wanted to learn more about this subtle form of religious celebration in the East and apply it to a world driven by money and power, vanity and escape.

2010-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

I wove and felted a scarf for my G-ma this winter. Also made her this spiffy bag for the back of her wheel chair.

I also made this scarflet for my mum.

2009-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

When I was three, my Dad used to let me draw on the furniture.
Here is an example from Union Bay, 1984.

2009-12-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

My first exploration in tapestry.
I wove it around this time last year -
inspired by an early Byzantine mosaic.

2009-12-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a highlight from my Halloween adventures this year.

A Sultry World

"The super-duper scarlet skirt has extended in front of you.

You are invited to come under the skirt."

It was fun being under there. We wrote our thoughts in a journal.

Textile Arts Sale at school

2009-11-18T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hey! we're having a sale at school for some seriously sweet textile creations made by my class mates and I. It's going to be exciting to see how the outside world reacts to our products and textile art.

I've decided to make and sell some sweet retro patches.

Made from fabric I had in my collection with a dash of double-sided fusible webbing, these babies can be slapped onto a back pocket, messenger bag, back pack, t-shirt etc. with an iron and a bit of stitching for strength.

Directions:
1. choose a spot to fashion your sweet retro patch.
2. take bag/item of clothing etc. over to the ironing board with your patch.
3. iron patch to cloth on medium high.
4. stitch patch on for extra hold (optional - good for patches made from heavy fabric).
5. do a little dance wearing patch.

ya ya ya yardage

2009-11-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

I just finished my first yardage project. It's a tribute to my great great granddaddy; a flamboyant family member from the 1800's.

Lining everything up was tiring, but worth it..all 108 x 56 inches.

2009-11-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

Making art with fibre (thread, yarn & cloth) and colour: (paint and dye) is the best.

Here's a sample of some weaving. It's a twill with some Ikat flare. Inspiration? The Darjeeling Limited.