Curing Covid's Challenges With Creativity And The Great Outdoors

Articulation Textile Group members are managing the curve balls our current situation continues to throw at us in creative ways. Like everyone else, separated by geography, we are relying on social media and the occasional zoom call to keep in touch. Under normal circumstances, we would have met as a group in person somewhere in Canada to discuss, inspire, share, and create...together.

Instead, we are learning patience and flexibility as we reschedule exhibit plans and adapt to the constant that is change.

Manitoba is experiencing one of those early snowstorms that turns fall into winter overnight, city streets into skating rinks, and cars into fishtailing projectiles. It's the kind of day that inspires creatives to stay indoors and turn to their preferred media until the craziness subsides. I have spent part of this slippery day putting the final stitches into the last two panels of my perennial re patterning/ reblooming series, "COMPOSITION", soon to exhibit in St Boniface at la Maison des artistes, Studio Gallery.

Our lake views are definitely behind us for the moment but the great Canadian outdoors continues to be a source of inspiration and comfort for members of our group. Wendy Klotz of Calgary in particular has inspired us all with her mountain hikes and ephemeral art pieces. After initially finding it a challenge to settle down to work on anything during lockdown Wendy found the discipline of completing quilt projects satisfying. It is always a great feeling of accomplishment to add the final stitch to a project that has been waiting to be completed, sometimes for a very long time.

Getting out and about, keeping active, and keeping inspired are key antidotes to these challenging times. The second wave is definitely upon us and we are all finding ways to manage ourselves and our families through it. Being flexible is key. Like many scheduled events my pending show is likely to be delayed in opening due to COVID-19 complications. I find we can only hope for healthy friends and family and do our best to adjust as the situation changes around us. Wendy's beautiful views and inspiring hikes are definitely teasing out the armchair traveller within me. Check out these Larches in beautiful Kananaskis blooming with fall colour.

Find Wendy's ephemeral art pieces and inspirational nature photography on her Instagram feed @artiexpat. I love the simplicity of the collections she gathers that capture her travels in and around local landscapes. 

Even our creative plans are adapting at the moment. Wendy says of the piece below, "Water", "I found it interesting that however much I tried for a symmetrical arrangement, the wind and water had other plans."

Ingrid Lincoln of Winnipeg coined the term, the "studio rumble", earlier in the year to describe her efforts to use up the bits and pieces she has collected and stored in her space for those possible, just in case, projects of the future. I think if we have learned anything in 2020 it is that there is no time like the present. Ingrid has continued working with her small collage series which has blossomed into 24 pieces. I can't wait to see it in person.

It is clear that a small manageable project is an inspiration in itself. That feeling of accomplishment is paying big dividends for many of us and inspiring further exploration. I have always said, "from the leftovers of the last is where the next begins", and I don't think I am alone in enjoying the comfort and intimacy of handwork in small yet regular doses. 

Larger works are still within sight, like this red piece of Ingrid's that was discovered during her studio rumble and like Wendy's quilt is the beneficiary of instituted downtime. My studio rumble has been more like an implosion as I have been clearing out my studio of 20 years. The fact I have spent 20 years anywhere astounds me. You can probably imagine all the stored pleasures I unearthed that were patiently awaiting placement in a pending project. Where was Marie Kondo when I needed her? I asked myself many times over the last six weeks. I am definitely grateful to have cleared the decks despite some difficult decisions, but the future is filled with possibility and potential and I am very excited to begin a new chapter. Hindsight is a perfect way to revision.

The picture above was taken today on my second last day in the Exchange District Studio as the snowstorm altered my plans to move the large painting in the background. Say goodbye to my painting dresser too. ( I am leaning on it... no pun intended) It has been a loyal companion for all these years and will be retiring in place. My new space is so small I am calling it the nest and ironically I have four new commissions for large paintings after my final studio show and moving sale. Another COVID-19 complication that will definitely require some creative adaptations.

While I have been working indoors Donna Clement of Calgary has been spending quality time out and about in the great outdoors, cycling through postcard landscapes, supporting local makers, keeping Alberta's restaurants afloat, and encouraging many of us to hop a plane west to do the same once it is safe to do so.  She has also spent some time participating in the banding of migrating Northern Saw-Whet Owls. How cute is that little guy?!


Spending socially distanced quality time with family and friends has been and remains an important tool in our navigation of 2020. Bike sales have been up through the warmer months and rumour has it snowshoe and ski sales are spiking higher than some Canadian cities' COVID-19 counts. Donna has made great use of her wheels in her hometown this year.

 
Donna has also been taking a page from one of her War pieces, canning up a storm making hay while the sun shines, not to mention amazing preserves and soups. 

Leann Clifford in Saskatchewan tells us she has continued to develop her War pieces with plans to introduce her personal response to the Articulation War project to her local supporters. We look forward to learning the details as they arise, as with all events and exhibitions in 2020, the specifics are often "flexible".

Leann's connection to her family's origins has strengthened during the duration of this project. I find it particularly fascinating to see where the threads of connection lead us along our individual creative journeys and how each one of us processes through process. Leann's quilt below sends a clear message to our family members past and present and reminds us all how precious time spent together is, especially during challenging times.

Lesley Turner of Vancouver Island has been managing the harvest of her vast temperate garden and connecting with family near and far and soon to be. Nana knitting is a gift of time and comfort she offers her tribe in all seasons. Check out her father son twin set below.

Creatively Lesley is busy adding her considerable talents to The Laundry Room project. Plans for this exhibit have recently been complicated by COVID-19. Stay tuned for information on dates and duration in September 2021.

Articulation now has an opportunity to show our Icelandic project, "CONNECTED HERITAGE", to a new audience at the Sidney Museum. We look forward to working with newly promoted Alyssa in the reconfigured space next spring. Please pencil in April 5th - June 30th as preliminary dates to visit the museum if you find yourself in the area. Concurrently Articulation will be showing a reflective body of work encompassing 20 years of creativity in Regina. Stay tuned for further details.

Other dates to remember include the Calgary Contextural exhibit, where Wendy Klotz will be showing her piece, "Oral History", and Donna Clement has a piece "Stones". They hope you will come down to see all the fine work being produced in the region. Should you be in Winnipeg, my show of textiles, a body of work I began at our last Articulation gathering in Calgary, 2019 opens November 5th (or 12th) and runs till the 21st of November. Contact me if you are planning to go as I intend to stop in for socially distanced visits regularly and would love to answer your questions regarding my process, processing. 

Wear your masks, like these dye-sublimated printed details of my paintings to all indoor spaces. At left is "New kids" named after the last triptych I painted in my former studio space and the "Poppy pucker". We hope you find creative new ways to navigate these strange and evolving times. 

Stay well, stay socially connected, and also physically distanced. Till next time...

Amanda Onchulenko 

On behalf of Articulation Textile Group.

Amanda's Website
Lesley's Website and Blog
Wendy's Blog
Ingrid's Website
Donna's Blog
Donna's Website

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