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Quilts
and quilting – what can I say? They have been the
focus of my creative energies for most of my adult life.
It all started more than 30 years ago when my twin
daughters were born. Dreams of becoming a potter were
not practical with two small babies to care for, so I
began quilting. I’ve never looked back. |
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Those
first years were spent learning the craft of quilting,
and concentrating on the making of traditional quilt
designs. I have never taken any formal art
training (my professional training was in nursing), but
have been fortunate to study with a number of quilt
artists who were formative in the direction I’ve taken.
Of particular note are Ann Severson, Pat Crucil, Valerie
Hearder, Ruth McDowell and Sue Benner.
Then in the early nineties, our family moved to
Lesotho in Southern Africa, where we lived for the next
three years. Like so many others, I fell in love with
the enormity and colour and texture of the landscapes of
sub-Saharan Africa, and gained an enormous respect for
Africans, particularly African women, and their ability to be joyous, to celebrate,
in the midst of difficult circumstances. This had a huge
impact on my own sense of colour, and on my return to
Canada, these experiences were reflected in my work.
Now I love
working with rich, bright, saturated colour - from the
warm and vibrant colours of Africa, to the
blues and greens of my home on Vancouver Island. As for
my design process, I usually work intuitively,
auditioning choices on my design wall, often ending up
with a quilt quite different from the one I originally
had in mind. |
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I still periodically return to the
making of a traditional quilt, though my colour choices
might be somewhat unconventional.
In my most recent quilts, I have been exploring designs
that respond to that wonderful question, “What if….?”.
I’ve also become interested in design history, and in
adapting historical designs to the quilt format. My
ideas far out-run my ability to create them, but that’s
the joy of it – never to run out of new possibilities,
new designs, new colour combinations.
In 2006, I launched Kitambaa Designs (kitambaa is the
Swahili work for cloth). I specialize in carrying textiles from a
number of African countries, as well as batiks, beads
and buttons from Africa, and North American and batik
fabrics than complement African fabrics.
My husband continues to have a career in community
development work in East Africa, and with the support of
the NGO he directs, and many quilters across Canada, I
have spent a part of each year since 2007 involved in the Kitambaa
Sewing Project. I have conducted workshops for disadvantaged women in
rural Uganda – mainly widows and grandmothers – teaching
them sewing and quilting through which they can provide
for their families. A sewing school for Alice is nearing
completion, so that the learning that has started can
carry on, and more women can become self-sufficient.
When I am not in Uganda, I am at home in the Comox
Valley on Vancouver Island, where I live with my husband
and yellow lab, Charlie. I have four wonderful grown-up
children.
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Exhibits and
Awards (Selected):
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“Women’s
Work/Women’s Art”, Comox Valley Art Gallery,
Sept. 1997
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“Pieceful
Expressions”, C.V. Quilt Show Fall 1996, 1998,
2000, 2006
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Canadian Quilt Association
National Juried Show – 2000, 2003, 2004
– Award for Large
Innovative Wall Quilt in 2003, Judge’s Choice
Award in 2004.
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“A Colour-Full
Journey”, Muir Gallery, Courtenay B.C., August
2000
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“Visions”,
Campbell River and District Art Gallery,
Campbell River B.C., January-February 2002
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The Grand National,
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo,
Ontario, Finalist is
Juried Show June 2003,2004,2005
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“Nature and
Thread”, Muir Gallery, September 2002
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World Quilt
Festival, Nagoya, Japan, March 2004
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Pan Pacific Quilt
Show, Hawaii, April 2004
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World Piece Quilt
Festival, Waterloo, Ontario, May 2004
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Jack Shadbolt
Gallery, Comox, May 2004
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Association of Pacific Northwest
Quilters, Seattle, Washington,
Finalist in 2004, 2006
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World Quilt
Competition – Michigan, New Hampshire,
Pennsylvania, California, August-October 2004
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La Manzanilla Art
Gallery, Mexico, February 2005
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“Canada
Uncovered”, Curated Show – one of 20 quilters
chosen from Canada, Paducah, Kentucky,
March-July 2006
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“Island
FAN-fare”, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville, B.C.,
June 2006
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“Illumination”,
Fibre Essence Gallery, Granville Island, October
2006
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- Canadian
quilters:
- Judy
Robertson's amazing hand-dyed fabrics:
- Association of Pacific-Northwest Quilters:
- Canadian
Quilt Association:
- Fibre Art
Network of Western Canada
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African Threads
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Another super site raising support
for grandmothers in Africa
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