Articulation Textile Group

Next stop in downtown Winnipeg was Mandy's fabulous studio. After a tour we settled down to eat lunches we had picked up at some unique eateries around the corner. Donna and Wendy walk on the rooftop to get a bird's eye view of central Winnipeg. One could do a historical study of just Winnipeg's walls. Just needs a 'bird on the wire' Wendy, Mandy, Donna descending.

Of all the churches we visited this was my favourite. The ceilings are covered in mosaics with lots of shiny gold tiles. The floor mosaics are in cooler colours. A woman doing science experiments. There are lots of geometric mosaic patterns on the floors... ...and on the walls. All most inspiring. In one of the chapels there is a coarser mosaic on each roof arch. Not fine work but somehow very appealing by providing a human scale in this massive building.

What's more cultural than taking an English High Tea in a French Chateau? Leann walking on the Dufferin Terrace towards Chateau Frontenac... The High Tea menu... Tea selection... and lunch... l to r: Lesley, Wendy, Ingrid, Donna, Leann... top layer of sweets... middle layer of baking... bottom layer of sandwiches (shrimp mousse, duck pate, smoked salmon, asparagus, cucumber)... Delicious day!

The week we were together flew by, mainly because we were taking so much in! There are 29 churches in the old town, so they were an important part of our trip exploring history. Especially the stitching that the Ursuline Nuns were famous for. The Holy Trinity church, one of the few Anglican... The Ursuline Chapel... The altar inside the Ursuline Chapel, the nuns are famous for their gilding of gold over wooden sculptures... Marie de l'Incarnation - moved to Canada from France in 1639 to set up a girl's school - the first in North America... A typical street in the lower Old Town... The lovely roof lines of the Chateau Frontenac, a Canadian Pacific Railway hotel built around the turn of the century. (Open the link to read about the many across Canada.) Articulation on the steps of the Frontenac(l to r: Leann, Lesley, Ingrid, Wendy).

ARTICULATION is one of the guest artists invited to show at the Canadian Quilters' Association (CQA) conference being held at the Telus Convention Centre in downtown Calgary from April 28th through May 1st. We have over 200 feet of exhibition space that we are filling with the theme of Canadian landscapes. Our artist statement reads: “Ess-scape” – A Flight From Confinement Shedding the threaded bonds of traditional textile art, Articulation presents a collection of work by female artists who have studied issues and landscapes of Western Canadian mountain, rain forest, and urban regions. They break new ground while portraying the essence of the history, culture, and surroundings that the Rockies inspire. The BC rain forest communicates its own unique story while the architecture from man-made structures provides a different frame of reference for study and outlook. The suffix for ‘female’ is ‘-ess’ and by using it as a prefix, Articulation sets the tone for an exhibit that cel...

All Articulation members have shut themselves in their studios and no one is hearing much from them these days as the date for their next exhibition gets closer. Using images from a week long study of the historical buildings of Winnipeg and after doing lots of research, they are each producing a series to be exhibited in the Mennonite Cultural Heritage Building Gallery, along with the work that has recently been hanging in the McMullen Gallery in Edmonton. The Mennonite Gallery is twice as big so they have all continued producing Winnipeg inspired works. And there was no shortage of inspiration in Winnipeg with its rich history and early wealth reflected in magnificent buildings. Each member is interpreting the 'Urban Textures' theme in their own way and using their own chosen stitch techniques. The architecture will be interpreted in a wide variety of textiles & fibres. The exhibition scope also includes the architecture of flowers as a response to floral displays they...