Articulation Textile Group

In 1930 Weyburn Mental Hospital, Saskatchewan was the largest building in Canada. Post WWII battle disorders caused a peak of the in-patient population in the hospital. The Soo Line Historical Museum in Weyburn has a large room of artifacts from the hospital, many of which are rather horrifying. They also have a collection of art painted by patients as a result of the art therapy program. A project Articulation members are working on is a personal response to war. Some of the members are looking at how war affects the whole family not just those who go to war.  The Soo Line Museum proved to be a rich primary resource for some members. Ingrid Lincoln, Donna Clement, Mandy Onchulenko. Equipped to carry out research: sketchbook/notebook, camera, a bag to hold pens, glue stick and gathered materials, sturdy walking shoes, dressed in layers and prepared for all weathers. But we do stop for meals. Leann, our host, had scouted out a number of different pla...

One never knows when a flash of inspiration for a work will strike. Often an article stimulates a childhood memory and links to later life experiences. Are you old enough to remember when general stores wrapped their customers' purchases in brown paper torn off a large roll..... ...and tied it with string. In the home, both brown paper and string were kept, along with the purchase because both had many further uses. Recycling is not a new concept, but maybe it could be expressed as an idea in a work using brown paper to reference another time of recycling? Hand-cranked sock making machine Textile related artifacts in museums often attract the eye of a fibre artist. Textile history is as long as human history so the fibre artist has a treasure trove of knowledge and techniques to pull from. Spinning Niddy Noddy for making yarn into skeins ready to dye. Every culture fashioned tools and equipment to work with fibre and cloth. Often these tools are '...

Sweater Blocker Research is a big part of Articulation members' work. Annual study sessions allow time for some intensive research of primary resources which often involves visiting museums and archives. Sock Blockers, Garment Blockers, Washboard Weyburn has a number of very interesting museums with unique collections, including the Soo Line Historical Museum click here for location and hours , housed in a large brick building that used to be a power facility.  Tie Blocker We usually start a study session with a broad theme in mind then over the week the theme evolves and develops in another direction, into many directions and has to be reigned in or becomes focused. It all depends on what we find as we explore. 'Laundry Stove. Used in Lee Sing's Laundry until his death in 1961.' Our name 'Articulation' describes the way we work very well. Together we do the initial research in a specific location, guided by a broad theme that serves ...

Articulation meeting under Weyburn's war memorial. This is a hint for an upcoming body of work. Another exhibition we visited during the Weyburn Fibre Art Walk was FAN's (Fibre Art Network) travelling show "Abstracted." Artists paired up to express an idea or phrase, one artist working in a representational style and the other artist in an abstracted style. Above, 'Colours To Live By' showing houses typically found on the rocky east coast of Canada. Marianne Parsons used raw edged machine applique in a representational style. While Karen Johnson worked in a more simplified style, also using the raw edge machine applique technique, 'Nature's Patterns' Left - Dale MacEwan, representational. Right - Deb Tyson, abstract. Both worked in the same colour palette, but different techniques produced quite different results. 'Portal' Left - Lily Thorne, representational Right - Patt Wilson, abstract...

Articulation members: Ingrid Lincoln, Donna clement, Amanda Onchulenko, off to see another exhibition in Weyburn's Art Walk. We all enjoyed looking at Jaynie Himsl's collection of work. It stimulated a conversation about one's own style being connected to a particular technique. How one takes something and makes it one's own after many hours of working a threaded needle, sitting in front of a machine, wringing dyed cloth or squeezing wool fibres to make felt. Jaynie takes her inspiration from her natural environment and her garden. Her simplified macro or micro views are expressed using threads and a sewing machine.  She has developed a particular technique that is now identified with her style of expression. More yarn bombing. That means there is another fibre exhibition nearby. Monika Kinner-Whalen is another Saskatchewan artist inspired by what she sees around her. She also uses thread and her sewing machine but to quite a differe...

Here is Articulation working hard on their 2015 Retreat - at Moose Jaw's Temple Gardens Hotel and Spa . From left: Lesley Turner, Ingrid Lincoln, Amanda Onchulenko, Donna Clement, Wendy Klotz and Leann Clifford taking the picture. Unfortunately, Shannon Wardroper couldn't make it to this retreat. Here we all are, off to our water yoga class in geothermal water with the same mineral composition as the waters in Bath, England. After going through the yoga possess outside on the rooftop patio, we transitioned into the hot pool and moved through the poses again. We sipped an ice cold glass of water then rested. One of the main activities of the week was to get an idea of the sort of fibre art currently being produced in Canada's western provinces. Weyburn was the perfect stop with its 'Fibre Art Destination 2015' event with 16 different exhibitions. We had to work hard to see them all over the 2 days we had in Weyburn. The first stop was at t...