Artists' Date (Part II)

When I left you at the end of Part 1, M and I had finished our tour through two exhibits at the Art Gallery of Alberta.  From there, we walked back to the Alberta Craft Council and our car, parked across the street from it.  We bought a bit more time on the meter, and went in.

The exhibit we really wanted to see was in the Feature Gallery -- X3, a collaboration of artists from three "organizations on the cutting edge of fine craft": the Alberta Potters' Association, the Nina Haggerty Centre and Contextural I Fibre Arts Cooperative.  My friend, arlee barr of Calgary, is a member of the latter, and it was her work I particularly wanted to see.

First, though, we popped into the Discovery Gallery, which is a small space in a front corner of the main level, just on the edge of the Gallery Shop.  What we found there was "What Grows in the Ditch", an exhibit of Donna Brunner's rug hooking and pottery based on her "observations of the changing vegetation along the roadside near Battle Lake, AB."  The contrast between the lush, textured hooked surfaces of the hangings and the curved, solid lines of the pottery was enthralling.  As I cannot find contact information for her...I will share only one photo (without permission)...but you can see what I mean...

Lily Still Standing
Donna Brunner

Donna's exhibit is in the Discovery Gallery at the ACC through March 19th.

From there we went downstairs to the "main event".  arlee has given me permission to share what we found -- Contextural's share of the exhibit being our main interest -- so I'll begin with her piece:

The Birth of Silence
arlee barr

Moving around the space...examples of a wide variety of textile/fibre expression:

Saori-style Coat
one of two pieces by Karen King

Dahlia Log Cabin Series: Quilt #2
Terri Illingworth

Cariboo and Cutlines (front view)
Dana Bush

X3 will be in the ACC's Feature Gallery through March 26, so you still have a couple of weeks to enjoy the entire exhibit...  :-)

Moving back upstairs, in the Gallery Shop the felted landscapes of Corinne Cowell held me in thrall...

Along with that of SAQA Colleague, Margie Davidson, and the fine line art quilts of Leah Gravells...just to name a couple...

But we were out of change, and it was time to leave the downtown core before we got completely tied up in rush hour.   Our heads spinning with colour and our creative juices completely replenished -- and then some! -- M and I climbed into the car for the 'drive home de-brief'.   It had been an entirely satisfying day...

And it was time to get back into the sewdio!

What about you, Gentle Readers?  What do you do to fill your creative well?

Gob-smacked -- and Grinning! :-)

I just had a wonderful two-day visit in Calgary.  I go down every six months or so to see my lovely dental hygienist and her boss, my handsome dentist, and I'm happy to report all's well on the dental front.  :-)

While there, I visited with several friends.  D and I went to Out of Hand, where I always have fun browsing the fabrics, magazines, paints, pens, threads... you name it!  I came away with some fabric for my Annual Christmas Project (wink, wink) and some Valdani hand-dyed perle cotton for yummy grass embroidery.  D spoiled me with the latest issue of Stitch magazine and the summer issue of Where Women Create.  Both are a real treat for this gal from the boonies!

I stayed over with Sha-and-Mary, and the former and I went out for a scrumptious dinner at Joey's (Calgary)...Shrimp with pesto on flat bread, quinoa and barley salad, sinfully rich chocolate mousse cake (aka "Happy Endings") and red wine...mmmmm...

S is taking her C&G from Linda Kemshall, so we spent a happy time looking at her samples, sketchbooks and work thus far in the program.  She's a very creative soul with a very different vision and view of the world than mine, so our artistic 'boxes' are stretched even as our friendship deepens over these times together.

This morning, arlee and I met at a gallery inside Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD, for short), to view "Indigo", a new exhibit that arose out of the latest residency of her friends in "Contextural".  It's small as exhibits go, but the pieces are an eclectic and interesting mix that, for the most part, works well.  If your in and around Calgary between now and Saturday afternoon, you might have a quick look.

After thoroughly digesting the show, arlee and I made tracks for a cafe on the SAIT campus where we lunched over more conversation about art, our respective activities and aspirations, and our beloved furry friends -- feline and canine -- and generally got to know each other even better (we've only met 3 times and only twice had time to really talk).  It's a bit of "Mutual Admiration Society" but it's wonderful to have face-to-face friends with whom to share.  :-)

After our lunch I headed up to Olds to meet with Deb, the owner/manager of Different Strokes Art Gallery.  I walked in with 3 large pieces:

Tree Line (c) 2013

Trio (c) 2012

 and

Abandoned: House I (c) 2012

Plus a mid-sized piece that I'd matted to 11" x 14"  (no photo, but it's a still life hand-stitched on hand-dyed fabric), and eight miniatures (the new ones and 2 from April of this year).

With the exception of the "Abandoned" piece -- which she really liked but would prefer mounted differently because she said her customers wouldn't like the fraying linen background -- Deb took them all.  We signed a contract for six months, and she said she'd have them up in a show of new work in late October or early November.

I'm going to explore her ideas for the "rejected" piece...and believe it will find a home someday, one way or the other.  She said if I re-framed it, she'd be interested in seeing it again.  :-)   

So...

Now it's back to work to finish my current 15 x 15 piece...and make a passel of new miniatures, as I have nary a one left in my sewdio!!

Do I mind?  Not in the least!  :-)

My Cyber-friend

arlee barr is part of the textile artist group, Contextural -- and their exhibit, "Have Work, Will Travel" is currently showing as part of the "Living in a Material World" exhibit at the EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts in Calgary.  The show is in the Window Galleries across from the Max Bell Theatre, so can be viewed any time the building is open -- you don't need to be going to a performance to get into it.  It runs through December 30th -- so I might even manage to get down there to see it!

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