Art Show

Opening in Parrsboro 2020

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Yesterday I drove to Parrsboro (2 hours from home) to hang 7 quilts and 15 wall art pieces in the Art Lab Studios & Gallery.


This is the sixth summer I’ve been privileged to show my creations in the gallery. It’s a small gallery in a small town but it’s becoming known for it’s displays of high quality art. The five resident artists are themselves fine artists who paint, make pottery, fashion textile pieces, along with a roster of other well known local artists who both show and do workshops at the Studios during the summer.

The space is perfect for hanging my lap quilts and other smaller pieces.

When we’re finished hanging the show I look around and think about the amount of work I’ve done in a year – the range of style, the intensity of colour, and the technical improvement the show reveals.

A number of pieces were created as projects for classes I was intending to teach (except they were cancelled due to COVID-19).

Kaleidoscope Table Runners

Other pieces were inspired by fabric in my stash – they called out for me to do something with them.

Then there were the two quilts I started work on at the sewing retreat last fall that turned into quite striking throws.

Grey called out to me this year – last year it was turquoise.

I think I want to return before the show is taken down to photograph everything once more – it’s very difficult for me to hang the quilts, in particular, and photograph them at home – when they’re on the wall, like this, I am able to capture each piece without distortion.

The quilts and wall art will be on display until August 20, 2020.

If you get a chance, the Art Lab Studios & Gallery is a wonderful destination for a day trip from Halifax – leave around 10am, stop at the Masstown Market in Masstown (they make great sugar donuts if you get there early enough). In Parrsboro you can have lunch at either the BlackRock Cafe or what locals call “The Pier” (now called, I think, Harbourview Restaurant), then visit the gallery, schmooze Main Street, and have a leisurely drive back home either through Joggins/Amherst or back through Truro. If you stop for dinner in Truro you can expect to be back home around 8pm. Even fun on a cloudy day.

Exhibition at Art Lab, Parrsboro 2017

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Welcome Sign at Art Labs Parrsboro NS

Yesterday the exhibition of my eight quilts and eight textile wall art pieces opened at the Art Lab Studios and Gallery in Parrsboro NS. I have no wall space at home to hang these art quilts so it’s wonderful being able to see eight of them hanging in one location.

The opening yesterday afternoon was great fun – quite a few people were there and it was very interesting to observe visitors’ reactions, discovering the detail that goes into making one of these functional art works. You’ve seen each of these pieces while I was constructing it; I’ve written about each as I worked on it. Here is my production for the past year since I had a showing late August 2016.

Now to start on a new body of projects for a showing next year!

Wall #1

Asian Fabric Quilts

Grey/Yellow Quilt and Silk Quilt

Sunflower

Three Wall Art Pieces

Framed Wall Art Pieces

Waiting For Wind

Two Blue Quilts

Preparing for Parrsboro 2017

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Quilts and Wall Art for Parrsboro

I’ve been spending today getting ready for the showing of eight new quilts and eight new wall hangings in the Parrsboro Art Labs during the first two weeks of September. First I had to write some kind of biographical blurb for the blast email they send out, then I had to write descriptions of each piece with photos of the front and back of each quilt. Yesterday I was at the lumber yard picking up nine 6′ lengths of 3/8″ dowels to hang the quilts (I still have to baste a temporary hanging sleeve on each), I bought some bulldog clips to hold the dowels at the Dollarstore. I still need a package of push pins to mount the clips to the walls. The showing isn’t until September 3 so I still have three weeks to get everything done in time.

I love seeing my art hanging in one spot. I don’t have room to display quilts in my apartment—they live folded over hangers in a closet. To have eight of them fully displayed at once is such a delight. I’m not expecting any of the quilts or wall art pieces will sell (the prices reflect the actual cost of the materials, as well as my labour and creativity, which sets the price well above what people locally expect to pay for a quilt; however, I consider my work to be art and so I’ve priced it accordingly). Nevertheless, these pieces of functional and decorative art will be seen by a reasonable number of people and that makes this extra work worth while.

I’ll post photos of the showing after it’s been hung in the gallery space. And if you’re interested, here’s last year’s show and the show the year before.

First Art Show – 2015

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I’m having my first art show — Functional Art: Quilts & Garments.
At the Art Lab Studios & Gallery in Parrsboro NS (2 hours from Halifax).

I had a difficult time deciding which quilts to put into the exhibition – in the end I chose 10 showing a range of work over three years. I also included three jackets and two shirts illustrating wearable art.
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Although the gallery is small there was plenty of space to showcase the quilts and garments and the room was popping with colour when we finished hanging the works, yesterday.
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There’s a story behind each of the pieces. I will get to talk about that tonight when I go back for the opening. I’m looking forward to seeing reactions and hearing comments.IMG_0624