Articulation Textile Group

West Coast Vancouver Island sunset Articulation Textile group is on the exhibition trail once again. This time we are headed to Portals Gallery, one of the Cowichan Valley Arts Council's galleries.  Find the Portals Gallery in the Island Savings Centre, 2687 James Street, Duncan BC (250) 746 1633 The gallery is open Monday to Friday 11am- 5pm, Saturday noon- 3pm. It is closed on Sundays and holidays. Articulation’s exhibition 'Forest and Sea and the Place Between' opens on Tuesday, March 27th at 11am  and closes April 18th at 5pm, 2019. An artist reception will be held Saturday, April 13th from 3-5pm with three of the artists in attendance giving talks. We hope you will join us.   Donna Clement leads an artist tour during the 'WAR: A Personal Response' exhibition in Sidney Museum. Our days spent searching shorelines for inspiration are long behind us and the revelations we have come to personally have evolved into art expressed in textile...

'In 1875 a group of Icelandic immigrants who had arrived in [Canada] moved to the west shore of Lake Manitoba where they had been granted a reserve of land by the Canadian Government...The immigrants formed their own administration based on a centuries-long tradition of democratic government...The Republic of New Iceland was created.' The Rural Municipality of Gimli was established in 1887. 'The early immigrants came full of hope for a new life of opportunities and settled the land made available through homestead rights. The free offer of a 1/4 section (64 acres) to common people, most of whom had never owned land was a major attraction. But there were many difficulties - dense bush, flies, field stones and harsh winters which had to be endured.' Quotes from various historic markers. The Icelanders brought their pagan religion with them and found many parallels and an affinity with the First Nations peoples' beliefs. This Unitarian church, bui...

Our first stop out of Winnipeg was to see Icelandic horses. About 17 years ago two Arnason brothers decided to fulfill their father's dream to bring Icelandic horses to Canada. The catch was once a horse leaves Iceland it is never allowed to return so as to maintain the pure bloodline.The brothers filled a plane with 87 horses and settled them on a specially built farm where they have flourished in the Canadian prairie climate.To read in more detail about the Arnason's Icelandic horse story  click here. The farm manager, Sharon, our guide, has just released these horses from a coral out to a clover pasture. She can't leave them out there for too long or for too often because the clover is like candy for them. Icelandic horses are known to thrive in harsh conditions, forage well for their own food, and grow a very thick coat in winter while living outside. Sharon said they puff up like teddy bears as soon as the weather turns cold. They are the horse breed w...

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.

Articulation's annual study session was in Manitoba this year. It began in Winnipeg where we all gathered, flying and driving in from across Western Canada. Our first stop was in downtown Winnipeg at the North Forge Fabrication Lab. Multi-media artist Erika Lincoln was our tour guide. If you go to her website  Erika Lincoln - Lincoln Lab  you will see some of the work she has produced with the type of equipment in North Forge. North forge is part of "innovation alley" a two block section of Adelaide Street in the Exchange District that was instrumental in earning a large grant from the federal government recently. Erika showing us the raw materials used for laser printing. L.- R: Erika Lincoln, Lesley turner, Ingrid Lincoln, Leann Clifford Plastics for laser printing.

Elephant Rock at Hopewell collapses  .Read the news article here. It is a bit sad the Elephant Rock has collapsed to half its previous size. This is what the Hopewell Rocks looked like when Articulation visited in 2010 during their annual study session. Luckily several Articulation members preserved in their artwork the popular rock as so many thousands of tourists remember it. Wendy Klotz, Home and Away, wool, felting, hand stitching Here is Wendy Klotz's depiction of the rock as it was. Donna Clement, Erosion at Hopewell Rocks,  dyeing, painting, machine sewing And Donna's, worked in a different textile technique. Donna Clement, Erosion at Hopewell Rocks, detail

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...

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.

Articulated Materials: Bridging Waters is opening in New Brunswick at the Saint John Arts Centre. Articulation, a Canadian exhibiting art group working with textiles and fibre as a fine art medium, takes traditional fiber art techniques in new and contemporary directions. Since 2004 they have organised annual study sessions to unique places in Canada, which serve to unify the resulting individual bodies of work when shown in their group exhibitions across Canada. A recent study of the Bay of Fundy coastline has generated a new path for Articulation leading to exhibiting internationally with another contemporary fiber arts group, Material Girls, based in London, England, who were inspired by their iconic River Thames. The resulting combined body of work, ARTICULATED MATERIALS: BRIDGING WATERS, consists of one 2D artwork each from ten Material Girls members and ten Articulation members. In addition, each group will have available more works to include in the exhibit...