Collected Heritage

I have been working on some pieces that follow a theme which has been rattling around my head for a while. There is a show coming up that will highlight some members work who belong to GAAC (glass art association of Canada) and the curated theme fits in with the work that I have been exploring recently. I am not sure if these pieces will be in the show but regardless I had so much fun making them :) 

Collected Heritage Series #1

Collected Heritage Series #1 (detail)

Collected Heritage Series #2

Collected Heritage Series #2

These pieces are comprised of layers of screen printed glass that is layered in a shadow box. The shadows become imagery themselves when the light passes through the glass and the ink.

Here is my artist statement regarding these pieces.

In this unsure and often concerning present, there are some things that transcend time giving us comfort and reminding us of that special person or occasion from the past. An old postcard that was sent to your great grandmother during the war telling her everything would be okay, even if it really wasn’t. A crocheted doily made lovingly, each thread meticulously manipulated into an item that is often overlooked or kept in a drawer. Pictures of ancestors highlighting that distinctive nose on your mothers side or the kind eyes that your grandfather had. All of these images transcend the turmoil that is happening in the world reminding us of the importance of familial history and to cherish it. In archeological terms, textiles and paper have a limited life span degrading over time and often disappearing altogether. Rendering these works in glass gives them an archival quality while also using the inherent properties of glass to highlight characteristics such as fragility and transparency. Putting these images and items in a new context gives them a layered meaning that surpasses the actual memories themselves. 

Household Notions

There is an article in the National Post today about the show I am participating in at the Telephone Booth Gallery. You can read the online version HERE.The article depicts through words the lovely work of Noelle Hamlyn, Pam Lobb, Dorie Millerson and Lizz Aston and there is even a little description of my work. What I really liked about the article though is that it highlights our convictions in the work and why they are important. Noelle had a really good quote where she said "Textiles are something that follows us through life," she says, pointing to the blankets that swaddle us as infants and shroud us in the grave. "They can be both comforting and almost repulsive or repelling at the same time." She also talked about why our art is so accessible because textile pieces have life stories inherently embedded in them and that in turn makes them have an identifiable meaning.

Design Lines

Thanks to the awesome Sharlene Rankin of the Telephone Booth Gallery my little red Artifact Crochet piece is on page 111 of Design Lines! She works so hard to provide exposure for the artists that she represents and it is greatly appreciated!

Thinking about spring

It's been a little chilly here (not cold because I am from Ontario) just chilly and pretty grey and I guess my thoughts have been going to Spring. I have had little inspiration for glass right now so I am making a new jewellery collection. Here are some inspiration shots for a brand new (gasp!) colour (double gasp!) palette.

 Photo from Pennyweight blog

Dresses from Louis Vuitton collection 

Beautiful pastels that hopefully when assembled into jewellery will not look like Easter.

Inspiration

"We must be willing to let go of the life that we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us" E.M. Forster

Inspiration has not been coming easily lately..... I find this quote somehow comforting and try to remember that forcing things never works.

Lately I can't stop thinking about the written word embellishing objects. I see so many stunning examples of it being successfully done by other artists but somehow can't bring myself to use it in my own work. I have been free writing so much lately that I think that must be the seed of the obsession. This enamelled dish is from a company called Blowden

White, bronze enamelled dish with hand inscribed poem by one of Wales's greatest poets - T.Rowland Hughes - 'Rhyfeddod' - 'Wonderment'.