Our summer days in Manitoba are treasured. We look forward to that hint of lime in frozen slews in the spring that herald warmer weather and our getting out into the great outdoors. Eventually, the snowbanks recede and the hardiest of perennials make their way to the light. The robins follow and then every natural process miraculously accelerates. It truly seems like we wait forever and before we know it summer is here, then almost gone.
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Manitoba's Inland Ocean in the Interlake, Lake Winnipeg at Ponemah.
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Already at the lake, the days are getting shorter and the shadows a little longer. Soon we might even be able to get up for the sunrise without an alarm. Temperatures are increasing their span and mornings are notably cooler. Nothing any Canadian can't handle but definitely, that hint of a changing season is in the air.
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| These lovelies have already turned their faces from the sun, could they be articulating a new definition for sunscreen? |
My travels in the Interlake this summer have included many visits to Gimli and though, not exclusively on a Friday for Sugar me Cookie Bakery's lemon meringue pie, it is a definite temptation.
Stopping in on a regular basis to The New Iceland Heritage Museum to check in on our show, I have been stopped with compliments from patrons who have seen the show and described not only their personal reactions but also awe for the diverse textile processes represented and the skillful application of ideas to textiles. Visitors have come from as far away as Mendicino California and often visitors are arriving in groups exclusively to see Articulation's newest work.
The show comes down after the long weekend so if you are in the area we hope you make it out to the museum, just down from Tergusson's in Gimli.
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| Articulation Textile Group is very grateful for the opportunity to feature their work in Connected Heritage this summer. |
Gimli is a thriving centre particularly through the summer and host to several annual festivals. The Icelandic festival, "Islendingadagurinn", shared its Viking Village just down from the museum and I found myself fascinated by the historical connection the community had to textiles, particularly linen and the use of natural dyes. It somehow feels appropriate that we have Articulation members engaged in similar activities while our group work hangs in Manitoba's Icelandic community.
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| Textile addictions: colour, textiles, dye |
Lesley Turner on Vancouver Island has been busy spending hot island days in her garden dyeing wool with acid dyes. Beginning with cool colours and moving through a warm series and if that was not enough she added more days at work adding high and low values to her range as well as lower intensity colours. I think we can all attest to the receptivity of natural fibres to colour and Lesley's passion for dyeing.
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| Colour as therapy |
Lesley is not alone in this passion. Donna Clement has been joined in Calgary by Saskatchewan's Leann Clifford and together they have been industriously dyeing up a storm in Donna's outdoor kitchen.
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| Hard at work, hard at play |
The pots were enlisted for some natural dyeing in Donna's backyard, cooking inside and out. Day 1 she explains on her Instagram post, was spent mordanting the fabric in alum and tannin. Day 2 began the dyeing process with Osage, Cutch, Fustic, and Marigold (the yellows) later moving to Madder, for the reds, then Logwood, purple. Leann (Regina) and Donna (Calgary) between them dyed over 100 pieces each and excitedly used up long stored supplies in a one time burst of energy.
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| Makeshift dryers, Calgary |
Our Western members are definitely winning the production race this summer. Wendy Klotz and Donna were both involved in a residency at The Alberta University of the Arts (ACAD) and will soon be sharing some of their work in
Placemaking, in celebration of the end of Contextual's summer program.
Lesley too has been multitasking and besides family visits, travel and Nana Knitting participated in a Jane Dunnewold workshop. I am sure Lesley's future blogs will include a reference to time spent in the company of an artist voted San Antonio's Artist of the Year in 2019.
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| Lesley's experiments, with Jane Dunnewold. |
Our summers as stated above are a fleeting couple of pages on our annual calendars but we all certainly make the most of them and look forward to their return. I am always reluctant to let go of cottage time to return to the rhythms of routine but that hint of a chill in the morning air does seem to inspire my creative juices to flow in anticipation of the studio time I am craving and the discipline my art practice in Winnipeg's Historic Exchange District will soon provide.
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| The wisdom of the crone workshop facilitated by art therapist, Joan Stanford, Gimli Manitoba. |
In these last couple of weeks, I will savour time spent with creative souls in mini workshops and gatherings right here in the Interlake prior to September long weekend's WAVE Artists Studio Tour. I am open as studio #6 on the WAVE. Feel free to stop in to see me on your way to Gimli to take in the last days of Articulation's show,
Connected Heritage, on at the New Iceland Heritage Museum in Gimli till September 2nd.
Happy last days of summer!
May you make the most of it.
Amanda Onchulenko, on behalf of Articulation Textile Group.
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