Fibre Art Workshops at Argyle Fine Art

Halifax Crafters Squirrely Season

Dartmouth Makers Holiday Market

Long Winter Nights

Hodge Podge; ending soon!

There are only 10 days left to catch Hodge Podge, the Bread Gallery's 2nd Annual Summer Group Show.

The Bread Gallery is dedicated to fostering local emerging and
established artists, who live and create in Hants County.  Rich in
history and culture, the landscape and residents of Nova Scotia have
proven themselves as a never ending source of inspiration for local
artists. Their second annual group showcase features a collection
depicting many treasured moments spent in the Maritimes.

Featuring work by:

Peter Gordon
Virgina Houston
Lynn Johnson
Nicole Kading
Shauna Macleod
Alex Pfaff
Tacha Reed
Lynn Rodgers
Susan Sweet
Jim Tracey
Corrine Webber

It's been a while...

Every summer my fibre art gets put on the back burner so that I can manage the Avon River Heritage Museum in Newport Landing, near Avondale. I love my job at the museum, where I get to organize art events, curate a handmade in Nova Scotia gift shop AND operate the 1760's inspired Lydia and Sally café. The only downside to my summer along the Avon River is that I tend to forget to tell all you lovelies about what I'm working on and where you can find my critters and artwork!

 

Currently my critters are available at Inkwell Modern Boutique in Halifax, Made in the Maritimes in Bedford, Fancy Lucky Art and Craft in Lawrencetown, and Planters Sea Chest Gift Shop in Newport Landing (ARHS museum) and my feltscapes are available at Shackwacky Art and Photography in Yarmouth, and the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn, Gallery 215 in Selma, Argyle Fine Art in Halifax and for the month of July you can see some of my favourite pieces at the Annapolis Valley Regional Library in Wolfville.

 

"Douglas the Cautious Bachelor" on display at the Bread Gallery as a part of Hodge Podge

 

 

Lastly, I don't stop creating completely in the summer, I'm just not built that way... so most Thursday and Friday afternoons you will find me hooking, felting or sewing at the museum along with a few friends as a part of our summer Open Studio series. Feel free to stop by with a project of your own and join our little gang!

The Dartmouth Makers Spring Handmade Market

38 Awesome Vendors selling Handcrafted goodness
SHOP LOCAL - SHOP DARTMOUTH
Free Admission
Saturday May 2 & Sunday May 3
10am-4pm

Kings Wharf Pl, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

 

 

Woodland Wool will be on site with a number of critters, feltscapes and some rug hookings.

 

See you there!

 

Halifax Crafters Spring Market April 18th & 19th, 2015

 

Celebrate Spring with Halifax Crafters Society!

Our Spring Fair will take place on April 18th from 10am-5pm and April 19th from 10am-5pm at the Olympic Centre. Admission is free!

Thanks to all our sponsors:

Halifax Crafters Spring Fair is presented by KEW
The Fresh Catch Category is sponsored by Made in the Maritimes Artisan Boutique Inc.

with support from
CKDU 88.1 FM
The Coast, Halifax's Weekly...
Dots & Loops
Inkwell Modern Handmade Boutique & Letterpress Studio
J&R Grimsmo
Patch Halifax
The Lunenburg Makery
Kept

The Spring Fair Poster was designed by Emma Fitzgerald Art & Design

Please remember, a lot of the crafters take cash only. There is an ATM on site, though sometimes it runs out of money!

We will be selling Halifax Crafters tote bags ($15) as a fundraiser to build a new website.

First Day of Spring in S'Nova Scotia

Today is the first day of spring, although you wouldn't know it in S'Nova Scotia!

I'm actually rather enjoying this extended winter, it's nice to finally have a full few months of snow. Trouble is the snow came late here in the Maritimes and the last few storms have been doozies.

The extended winter has also served as a blessing, in that I've delayed entering my annual period of denial that the spring craft season is right ahead. With it actually now being spring I can't delay any longer - I need to get to work ASAP producing! I'm afraid I've been having a hard time motivating myself to work on critters, it's not that I haven't been busy, I work on a felting almost every day... but I've mostly been working on feltscapes... I've only made one animal so far this year, a bright pink angora rabbit, which will be finding it's was to Made in the Maritimes Artisan Boutique later next month along with a few other fibre friends.

 

This past Christmas I decided to meet 2015 face on and work at what I love the most. Thankfully Argyle Fine Art gave me some extra motivation to help get me started and I created 5 miniature felted scenes for their annual Pre-Shrunk show.

 

 

Pre-Shrunk was immediately followed by another favourite show of mine, Cat Person/Dog Person. Initially I planned to finally finish off my "Rocking River Rocker" (AKA Cat Chair).... but the first of the heavy duty snow storms made it impossible to even bring the in-progress piece back in from the annex.

 

So with that pieces on hold until further notice I went ahead and nearly made myself go blind felting a teensy tiny love story between a collie and an orange tabby. You can check out the making of that piece here.

In between all of my miniatures I decided to really just let myself experiment and go with the flow to see what I might learn. This was the start of what I've since made regular practice and I begin every other piece with just a vague idea in my head of where I want it to go. By adopting this practice I've discovered many new ways of working with the wool. My control over the medium improves every day and I feel like I'm working faster with much more control. In fact I find it addictive and I need to force myself to take breaks so that I don't strain my eyes/neck/back. (In fact this blog post is me taking a break because I was on a roll and my lower back was starting to burn. Felting is not easy on the body, you need to remember to stretch!)

 

My second goal of 2015 is to make more art for myself. Because I do so many markets I tend to make certain items over and over again because they are popular with customers. For the last six years I've been producing a line of owls, foxes and dragons, that although each one is different, I sometimes find myself bored with the repetitive process. It always feels great when I let myself break things up a bit and make something to truly satisfy myself. When I was young I did this all the time and that is why I loved to constantly create. Now and then I need to stop and remind myself to create pieces that make me happy, not just everyone else. 

In February I decided to revisit one of my favourite creations, a feltscape that I made in 2010 for my dear friend, sculptor Kristie Sheehy of Avondale. The original Serious/Sirius was a response to the BP oil spill, I imagined that it's occurrences had sent out a beacon to the whales of Sirius; a warning that the earth had been poisoned and that steps needed to be taken before the earth as we knew it was beyond repair. According to legend our whales originally came to Earth from the constellation Sirius with the intent to at some point in time sacrifice themselves as a means of saving all human kind from extinction.

 

My latest Serious/Sirius piece depict sthe response to the beacon;  a council being held among the whales of Sirius, our ancestors the Northern Lights and Mother Earth, herself.

I can't tell you how good this piece makes me feel. Swoon has a group show coming up entitled, No Place Like Home - and I think that my whales couldn't be a more suitable submission!

Now that we are two thirds of the way through March my upcoming schedule is becoming a bit daunting... I think I'll be skipping denial this year and jumping head on into panic mode. In addition to prepping for 4 shows in the next 2 months, I find I continually have a hard time saying no when it come to my beloved local volunteer organizations, the Hants County Arts Council and Avon River Heritage Society... so I have a few side projects in the works for them.

Last week I rebuilt the website for the museum in Avondale and this May I'm once again organizing the Great Little Art Show as well as producing the HCAC's 2015 Arts Digest. (Sometimes I really wish you could submit volunteer hours for a tax credit or something. Oh well, a girl can dream.)

In between these projects I've been working on a few agricultural themed pieces in honour of the 250th anniversary of the Hants County Exhibition. Just before this last storm I began a piece inspired by a photo that hung in my grandmothers house of the sheep at her grandparent's property in Bloomington. While working on the piece my brain faltered and I couldn't remember my great grandmother's maiden name, so I took to Google... within seconds I entered down a rabbit hole which eventually led me to the discovery that my great- great- great- great- great- grandmother arrived in Nova Scotia upon the Sally in 1752. Now, this summer when I return to operating my quaint little café along the shore of the Avon, I can proudly respond when asked "Are you Lydia or Sally?" - no, Sally was the name of the sloop that brought my great- great- great- great- great- grandmother to Nova Scotia! How wonderful is that? I knew the moment I first arrived in Avondale that I had a strong connection, now I have the proof!

God I love being an artist, it always leads me to the most wonderful discoveries. Speaking of, this July I have been asked to display my work at the Wolfville Memorial Library. This opportunity is especially dear to me as we used to live just down the street from the library and I have many strong memories of our brief time in Wolfville, which I have decided to revisit through feltscapes.

 

My first piece for this show is entitled "Conversation with Snow White" and depicts the moments before I made the brutal discovery that some people are in fact make believe and my questions for Snow would never be answered. This piece taught me a great deal about myself and how from then I began restricting myself from truly feeling excitement when it came to anticipating a big event. I realize I formed this habit  as a way of avoiding the pain of disappointment. I think the process of rediscovering these seemingly momentous experiences during the fourth year of my life will prove itself very cathartic. I think it is time to move past limitations that I set so many moons ago and devote myself to making the absolute most of this lifetime. and if that means letting myself get excited about big events, well then I'm going to get excited!

 

Apparently making the most of things means keeping myself incredibly busy... well, I think my muscles are rest, time to get back at it!

 

 

For those of you trying to keep up, here is a list of events I'm participating in over the next few months:

April 18th & 19th - Halifax Crafters Spring Market, Olympic Centre, Halifax

May 2nd & 3rd - Dartmouth Makers, King's Wharf, Dartmouth

May 8th - 31st - The 17th Annual Great Little Art Show, Avon River Heritage Society Museum, Newport Landing

May 23rd & 24th - 250th Anniversary Hants County Ex; Art in Agriculture Festival, Exhibition Grounds, Windsor

July - Solo Show, Wolfville Memorial Library

Forbidden Love, the making of...

You have to be patient when you are working with fibre. Things need to happen in a  certain order, one layer at a time, and although many may think that needle felting is quick and easy, it certainly is not if you want a piece that will hold up over the test of time.

 

 

When I started this piece I only had one thing in mind.... Cat Person/Dog Person - it needed to have at least one cat and one dog depicted in it, otherwise, I didn't have a sweet clue as to what the scene was going to be.

 

I approach all my feltscapes as if I'm building the earth from scratch.... first there's the sky, then some land... don't forget to include the atmosphere... you need that before the plants can grow! Even though I try to go with the flow and let the scene reveal itself, I need to think ahead a wee bit and decide a few things, like what kind of day is it going to be, sunny or overcast...

 

 

 

I'm all about the detail when I'm felting little homesteads. I imagine myself walking around the property deciding where to plant my favourite flowers. Each and every single house gets wild roses. That's just the way it goes!

 

 

The neighbours new house just wasn't working for me...

 

...so I added an addition!

 

 

Still needs more roses!

 

 

With the houses nearly complete it was time to add a wee collie, I took my inspiration from one of my favourite Avon perfume bottles. Not the first time an Avon bottle served as inspiration for a feltscape.

 

 

 

This guy has some attitude!

 

 

I always make sure to test the feltscape out by low light to make sure it still reads ok.

 

 

Now that I'm pretty much sure it's complete the entire piece gets a misting and is ready to be pressed.

 
 

 

After some last minute shadows my tabby is complete...

 

 

...and pup looks a little less cranky :)

 

Forbidden Love is now finished and ready to make it's way into Halifax for the opening of Cat Person/Dog Person at Argyle Fine Art next Saturday, February 28th, at 1:30pm.

If you are in the area be sure to come on by and check out all the wonderful pieces inspired by our common love for our furry friends!

 

Argyle Fine Art

 

1559 Barrington Street
Halifax, NS
B3J 1Z7
902-425-9456

 

 

Hours:
Tues - Sat, 10am - 5:30
Sunday and Monday by appointment only

4th Annual End of Winter Group Show

I'm happy to once again to be displaying work in the Hants County Arts Council's 4th Annual End of Winter Group Show at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn, Hants County, NS.

The show opened on  Saturday February 7th and continues until March 29th. This showcase features a variety of paintings, sculpture, fibre art, carvings and folk art. Here is a peek at some of the work in the show:

Folk art by Jim Tracey, fibre art by me - Tacha Reed :)

Paintings by Terrie Greencorn, Liz Robinson, Lynn Johnson and Carlos
DaRosa, fibre art by Rose Marie MacDonald and me - Tacha Reed!

Paintings by Jean Lohnes, Gail Davis, Terrie Greencorn, Liz Robinson, Lynn Johnson
and Carlos DaRosa, fibre art by Rose Marie MacDonald embroidery by Yoko White
 

Fibre art by Tacha Reed, paintings by Jean Lohnes and Lynn Johnson

Folk art by Jim Tracey, painting by Gail Davis and fibre art by Tacha Reed

 

Paintings by Dora Davis, Lynn Johnson, Gail Davis, sue Robinson
and Terrie Greencorn, Wooden landscape by Will Cooper.

Folk art by Jim Tracey

 

Folk art by Jim Tracey, paintings by Carlos DaRosa and Nick Haentjens,
rug hooking by Tacha Reed and wooden crow portrait by Will Cooper.

 

2015 Participating Artists:

 

Will Cooper

Carlos DaRosa

Gail Davis

Brian Fraser

Terrie Greencorn

Nick Haentjens

Lynn Johnson

Jean Lohnes

Rose Marie MacDonald

Tacha Reed

Elizabeth Robinson

Sue Robinson

Al Simm

Jim Tracey

Dora Warren Davis

Yoko White

 

The Bread Gallery,

7778 Highway 14, Brooklyn, Hants County

 

(902) 757-3377

http://www.breadgallery.blogspot.ca/

Pre-Shrunk 2015!

 

Pre-Shrunk is a much loved annual group show hosted by Argyle Fine Art, which asks artists, both established and emerging, to create works on a surface measuring 4” x 5” in the medium of their choosing.  

This is my second year participating in the show. I just love this show, personally it is such a great way for me to kick off a new year. The second Christmas had passed I was hard at work trying to out-do my previous miniature creations. I attempted to have a 3-D element in each of these pieces... I especially went all out with my mountain lion.



The kids trying to help mom decided where to go next with my pieces

It's funny, I usually start my feltscapes with very little idea as to what I'm creating. Since you have no choice but to work in layers and slowly build up colours and texture, the sky is usually my first step.


Next comes land and sea.... it's very rare that water doesn't make it into my work. Then I sit and stare at the pieces for a few days. All year long I've wanted to do a Tom Thompson inspired tree. In fact I started a few other pieces intending to add an old twisted pine, but the pieces all evolved into something else, so I said "no, not this time, I'm getting this tree out of my system." 

However, once the tree was done I wasn't satisfied, the piece still wasn't about the tree, the tree was just background to something more important. What could be more important? Well how about the mysterious Nova Scotian mountain lion? Both my grandfather and partner Bryan have recollections of seeing this much denied creature deep in the woods of inland Nova Scotia and I myself have been intrigued by the beast since devoting a fourth grade project to the subject.

 

So now I knew what direction the piece was to take... I was going to add a noble feline front and center that would loom over her environment. Well, that was my intention. In the end she ended up as more of a cutesy cougar kit. I find it so funny how my feltscapes really take on a life of their own.

 

This piece is just a little three dimensional :)

 



I fought the urge to add a sumac to this piece, sometimes you just need to let the work sit while you get to know it.

 

I had started this piece back in the fall and had intended it to be in my show at the Bread Gallery,
 but I always felt something was missing. Turns out it was the stars!



Everyone mistook my previous hayfield for cattails, so I thought I'd give it another go!



I had many ideas for how this piece would turn out, eventually my jolly refugee polar boar emerged!

The opening reception for Pre- Shrunk is Friday, January 23rd,  at 7pm and the show continues until February 10th. All the works are priced at $175 and there will be at least 200 small works to choose from - including 5 by yours truly!

 

Argyle Fine Art

1559 Barrington Street, Unit 102

Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3J 1Z7

902.425.9456

gallery@argylefa.com

www.argylefineart.com

A look back at 2014...

2014 was a whirlwind for me, so many wonderful, exciting and heartbreaking things took place. Even though I was busy working at the museum all summer I still managed to create new art work consistently almost all year long. I even managed to teach myself a few new things when it comes to felting and I really feel like I'm starting to establish my own distinct style.

 

Who would have thought so many years ago that this city slicker would become a fibre artist living along the Avon River Valley. You never can tell, you just have to make the most of it as you go and as my little necklace from my dad says, follow your heart!

 

So as I prepare my goals for 2015, here's a little look back at some of the highlights of the past year...

 

 

Take Me to the River for Pre-Shrunk at Argyle Fine Art

Waiting for You for Pre-Shrunk at Argyle Fine Art

 

How Does you Garden Grow? for Pre-Shrunk at Argyle Fine Art

Turn the Page for Pre-Shrunk at Argyle Fine Art

Day is Done for Pre-Shrunk at Argyle Fine Art

 

What started as a stormy sky became a wild ocean

Bigger than Me, created for the 16th annual Great Little Art Show

 

Mister Fluff putting his mark on the new bag of sweaters

Andy taking a nap where he isn't supposed to!

 

Big Tuna for Shackwacky in Yarmouth

The beginning of a piece inspired by a Carol Morrison painting.

I dreamnt I found this Barbie so I promptly woke
up and found her for a steal of a deal on Ebay!

My special place - Sylvia!

Sylvia is where I keep all of my favourite things,
including old cameras and Barbie cases.

My collection of characters!

Dear old Wookie, keeping an eye on my tins

Josie finally found the love of her life in Tonto :)

A wee peek into my aboriginal themed collection

Zombie Skipper's guarding the perimeter of my fort!

My outdoor shadow keeping track of all my moves :)

A mini piece I did for Shackwacky in Yarmouth

A mini piece I did for Shackwacky in Yarmouth

A mini piece I did for Shackwacky in Yarmouth

A mini piece I did for Shackwacky in Yarmouth

Everyone needs a yeti tea cozy

This fella sold in no time!

Excellent Value Village find!

Sloths!!!

 

Two little coyotes

Jakalope

My indoor shadow trying to be incognito

Iris petals for my piece inspired by Carol Morrison

Mister famously crashing another photo shoot!

Twice this year I upgraded my bins of wool - I am now up to 30!

Sadly, during the super moon in August, Prince Andrew went
for a walkabout and took his forever nap in the forest.

Even more heart breaking Mister Fluff
passed unexpectedly 6 weeks later.

This summer the museum in Avondale kept me busy;
here I ran the gift shop... 

I organized weekly arts programming and started
the Artist's Landing Studio and Gallery...

 

AND to top it off I ran the café with help from the lovely Emma!

Bryan showing off his giant yummy trout!



Julia from Fibre Circle checking out the article about "Hooked on Swoon"

 

My hooking in Rug Hooking Magazine, once again
a piece inspired by a Carol Morrison painting.

 

I decided to start a rather large feltscape that I could pick away
at during the Painting and Fibre Circles at the ARHS museum

 

Building up the layers



Evergreens

I ended up changing my mind and lifted up
the water to add three-dimensional waves

Suddenly I had an idea...

Let's turn that chair into a "Rocking River" chair!

 

I finally had my first boat ride along the Avon River - Amazing!

I just love looking at the Avon River Valley from the POV of the sea.

Shining Sturgeon a piece inspired by my boat ride along the Avon

Whale of a Tale, inspired by Liz's whale spotting in the river

Thought I'd try something new with this Iquana

Mister's very last photo bomb

Spider Monkey

Shortly after Mister passed the universe led us to these two
little fellas who were living in the woods along the Dawson.

Leonard has established himself as my new assisntant.

Evie might just be the sweetest little girl ever :)

I didn't realize it at first, but my "Rocking River"
chair was absolutely meant for kittens!

Isn't that just the cutest thing ever?

Another felted piece inspired by my rug hooking that was
inspired by a painting by you know who - Carol Morrison!

 

Leonard is determined to lend a hand!

 

One of my pieces from my show at
the Bread Gallery in October

Kelly Mitchelmore, myself and Ann Whalen at the opening
of our show at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn.

Bryan and the babies taking a nap

Wooly bear caterpillar!

My step-mother challenged me to make slittens - challenge accepted!

Oh Lenny :)

Such a sensitive wolf!

The kids absolutely love their chair!

Just look at the face - come on! Adorable!

A red tailed hawk inspired by my friend Kim

I decided to try another insect - this time a grasshopper

Getting ready for 2015, first thing on the list - Preshrunk for Argyle Art...
Lenny goes where the art goes!

Evie doing her best Andy impression :)

Since the kitties like to destroy nature we opted for no tree
this year and this was our little xmas shrine - complete with
 my latest Value Village Barbie find - Merry Christmas to me!