Stewart Hall annual show

So pleased to have two pieces accepted to the annual Rental Collection exhibition at Stewart Hall. Both of these works are made from hand-dyed linen, stitched, and mounted on painted canvas, 24" x 24". They were made as part of a series of twelve or so, all exploring the relationships between shapes.

I have tried in my way to be free

The Sum of Its Parts

Because of the pandemic, the gallery at Stewart Hall is closed. Meanwhile, the show is available for viewing at:

https://www.pointe-claire.ca/en/art-rental/

Stewart Hall is a beautiful facility and gallery, operated by the City of Pointe Claire. 

176 Bord-du-Lac – Lakeshore Road

Pointe-Claire Quebec

514-630-1254

Colour with a U

The stunning cover for Colour with a "U" is credited  to my friend
Helena Scheffer, whose piece is a highlight of the show.

I was so pleased to have one of my cityscapes accepted into Colour with a "U". This show was open to Canadian members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association), and is intended to celebrate Canada's diversity.

The show is currently staged at the Homer Watson House and Gallery in Kitchener, Ontario, though the venue is closed due to the pandemic. Its sister show, Colour with a "U" Too, has been hung at Riverbrink Art Museum, Niagara-on-the-Lake, also currently closed.

A three-minute video of the shows has been created by juror Faith Heiblinger. It can be seen here.

Colour with a U: conference and exhibition

This promo card features a detail shot of a
gorgeous work by my friend Helena Scheffer

I had been looking forward to the annual conference of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates), to be held in Toronto mid-March. It was to be the first time that the conference for this international organization was booked for a city outside the U.S.

Sadly, with concerns about COVID-19, the conference has been cancelled. Organizers are working hard to ensure that the presentations will be available in a virtual format.

And the exhibition organized to complement the conference will be staged as scheduled. And I am excited to have had a piece accepted. 

I chose this particular piece as one of my three entries, because I felt that the colour palette was indeed unique, and that the Quebec City architecture was distinctive and truly Canadian. 

The show continues until the end of May, and I hope to schedule a few days in the Toronto area to visit with friends and take in the exhibition.

Update: The Homer Watson Gallery is closed indefinitely due to concerns of viral transmission. Please check the gallery website for further information.

Rue de Buade #2

from The Westmount Independent newspaper...

... a review of my recent three-person show at Victoria Hall.  Click on the image below to enlarge.

I would be happy to exhibit there again: the space is beautifully lit, open every day for extended hours, and all those involved were very professional. Thank you to journalist Heather Black for her favourable and insightful commentary.

So pleased...

Rue de Buade #2

Delighted to learn that one of my cityscapes in cloth, shown above, has been selected for an upcoming show at the Homer Watson Gallery in Kitchener, Ontario, March 13 - May 31, 2020.

The show, a SAQA Regional Juried Exhibition, will be titled Colour with a U, and will feature 36 works in fibre. All the artists are Canadian members of SAQA. The exhibition coincides with the annual conference of SAQA this March. The conference will be held in Toronto, the first time this international group has staged its conference outside the US.

Three-artist show at Victoria Hall

I am delighted to be part of a three-artist show at Westmount's Victoria Hall. Curated by Victoria Leblanc, the exhibition includes the whimsical ceramic sculptures of John Fretz and the digital photo prints of Mana Hamami, with their architectural themes.

John Fretz, Felicity, stoneware, glazes

Mana Hamami, The Mathematician, ink jet on acrylic

The contrast between Fretz's highly tactile sculptures, Hamami's glossy, slick photos, and my textural works in fibre makes for an interesting show. Many of my pieces are in a square format, as are all twelve of Hamami's photos, and this helps the show hang together nicely.

I was pleased to show a mix of fibre and paintings.

It is remarkable how seeing my work in a good venue, with great lighting, gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate a piece or a series in a positive way. My series in hand-dyed linen, for example, was not particularly well-received originally, but I was encouraged by the reception it was given at this show.

A piece in hand-dyed linen, seen on left, is hung on the wall furthest from the
entrance, and its stark brightness helps to draw in visitors.

It was busy at the vernissage.

Below is the text that the curator prepared for my profile:

Heather Dubreuil presents both semi-realistic and abstract textile art.  In Cityscapes the artist transforms her own photographs of  everyday urban scenes into elegant compositions of shape, line and expressive colour. Her most recent series features hand-dyed linen works pieced together and delicately detailed with corded threads, machine stitching and hand embroidery. Their square format and size – 24 x 24 inches - result in poised colour fields reminiscent of the pioneering masters of minimalist abstraction.  Dubreuil’s works, however, carry the feel of textile; their textural surface, warm colour palette and hand embroidery lending them a sensuous, haptic appeal.  Best known for her work in cloth and stitch, Heather also explores abstract imagery with acrylic paint and collage, some of which are included in the exhibition. Dubreuil received a BFA from Concordia University. She has shown in many solo and group exhibitions and her works appear in collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. She has also been profiled in several books and magazines.

The show continues until February 16, 2020. A drop-in event with the artists is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21, 2 - 3 p.m., at Victoria Hall, 4646 Sherbrooke St. West, Westmount.

Event at the Leonard Cohen gallery show

In my post of November 17, 2019, I shared some images, descriptions and inspirations of work included in our group show, Tribute to Leonard Cohen, at the Musée Régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

Two months later, at 2 pm on Sunday, January 19, the artist-participants of the exhibition will be at the gallery to talk about their work.

Presentations will be in French and English. The show closes on January 22.

My upcoming show

The curator of our exhibition, Victoria LeBlanc, will meet with the three artists on January 13 to hang the show. I will bring along paintings as well as works in cloth, and the curator will choose from them and place them to their best advantage. Her goal is to make each artist shine!

Tribute to Leonard Cohen: opening

Last week was the vernissage of my most recent show, a collaborative celebration of the life, music and poetry of Leonard Cohen. Most of the twelve participating artists were there, and the many visitors took advantage of this opportunity to talk to the artists about their work.

Portrait of Cohen, Eric Mannella

Visitors are greeted by this haunting portrait of Cohen. In the words of the artist,

"This painting explores the idea of light revealing form, using a baroque model of lighting where the light source is a single beam. Emphasis is placed on a veristic likeness of the poet while conveying an introspective portrait of a deep thinker."

When Paper Becomes Poetry, Joanne Keilo

At the entrance to the show, these three large works by Joanne Keilo make a strong impression on the viewer. Made of dried paper pulp, they reference script with their calligraphic shapes. The choice to forego glass in the mounting left the works vulnerable and fragile, in keeping with Cohen's aesthetic of celebrating human imperfection and frailty. Keilo wrote:

"Cohen laments. Rather than bypass the glory and the pain, he permits himself to sink into it. He emerges through his poetry, through his songs, through his prose. In 'Beautiful Losers' Cohen writes 'How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?'

"In my series 'When Paper Becomes Poetry' I beat the fibres for over eight hours in a Hollander beater. The overbeaten pulp is then placed in a squeeze bottle. Songs sung to me as an infant and as a child are formed from the pulp in the bottle and are written and re-written in spiral form. The lullabies and songs are finally transformed by the drying process when the pulp ultimately shrinks and undulates as it wishes, much like memories. This series confronts and transforms the subtle body of the baby's experience from paper into a kind of visual poetry." 

Also by Joanne Keilo were these five works
from her Close to the Bone series,
comprised of large "leaf skeletons" incorporated
into paper pulp. Detail shown below.

Imperfect Vessel, Mona Turner
36 x 24

Writes Mona Turner, about her painting, above,

"Cohen's words, 'There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in' remind me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi, repairing cracks in pottery with gold. This art form celebrates a beauty that is imperfect, and impermanent. The crack, the imperfection, becomes the source of new ideas, of growth and change."

Diaspora, Heather Dubreuil
acrylic collage and paint, 20 x 20

My contribution to the original Leonard Cohen exhibition at the Rigaud Library is shown above. The theme of this first exhibition was the fragment of Cohen's lyric, "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Diaspora relates Cohen's words to the issue of mass migration and the global crises of refugees.

From the series First, we take Manhattan, Heather Dubreuil

For this current show, I contributed six "radical collages" from my recent series, originally titled City in Ruins. These dystopian cityscapes were made on 10 x 10 wood panels with layer upon layer of collage and paint, each layer altered by sanding to "deconstruct" the image.

I have tried in my way to be free, Heather Dubreuil
hand-dyed linen, cording and stitch, 24 x 24

This final photo, above, shows another of my contributions to the exhibition. It was meant to represent the tension between our needs for autonomy and for belonging. Its title is borrowed from the lyrics of Cohen's song Like a Bird on the Wire.

On a recent weekday visit to the show, I was delighted to see a class of schoolchildren, seated at tables in the gallery, engaged in their own visual interpretations of Cohen's words. The show Inspiré par Leonard Cohen at the Musée régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges will continue until January 22, 2020. 

Hommage à Leonard

Delighted to be part of this group show at the Musée régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges. 

The twelve artists have come together to celebrate the life, poetry and music of Leonard Cohen, and will engage you with their works in painting, collage, sculpture and textile.

Please join us at the official opening on Sunday, November 10, from 2 - 4 p.m., 431 avenue St-Charles, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec.

The show ends on January 22, 2020.

Spring show for Hudson Artists

Very excited to show some of my newer work in acrylic collage at the upcoming spring show of the Hudson Artists.

Here's the official promotion for the show:

"The Hudson Artists Association (AHA) invites you to its Spring Exhibition on May 3-4-5. 

"For close to 70 years, the Hudson Artists Association has been a major cultural influence in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region. With almost 80 members, including several artists who have participated in international exhibitions, the AHA stands out for the quality of art works presented. 

"A painting by artist Carole Lessard will be offered to the lucky raffle winner and all ticket proceeds will be donated to the Palliative Care Home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges."

NEWS FLASH! I was delighted to win an Honourable Mention at the AHA Spring Show. The prize was awarded to Black and White series #2, shown in the photo, lower row, first from left.  This series showed nicely, with a white matte and a frame in black metal.

Black-and-white series #2

Cityscapes @ Galerie Plus, Hudson

Old Town Square, Riga, 18 x 24

I am delighted to invite you to a solo show of Cityscapes, opening April 3 at Galerie Plus, 448 Main Road in Hudson.

My cityscapes are made with hand-dyed cloth and stitch. They begin with everyday urban scenes, distilled into their essence of shape and line and then transformed by the expressive potential of colour.

Heather and Bert Markgraf opened their gallery/café a couple of years ago.  Bert's parents, Peter and Traudl Markgraf, were famous for their signature silkscreen prints of the Canadian landscape. Many of these prints are available for purchase. Also featured are paintings, sculpture, jewellery, and fine craft by local artists.

View from Riga Cathedral, 24 x 18

The vernissage is April 3, 5 - 8 pm. Consider coming! I would be happy to show you around.

Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm

For more information, please call 450-458-1319.

My Cityscapes @ the MVTM

Here are some photos from the opening of "Stitched: a Homecoming", the two-person textile art show currently staged at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte, Ontario. I was excited to have my cityscapes included in this show along with the intricate, detailed work of British artist Anne Kelly, who grew up in Ontario and Quebec.

Much of my work was very effectively grouped by colour. 

The distressed stone walls of the old mill complemented
 the clean shapes of the cityscapes.

I was pleased with the way the work was hung.

Even though these smaller pieces were not originally part of the plan,
I was glad to have them included in the show.

Anne Kelly's work, on the left, and mine on the right,
contrasted nicely within similar colour ranges.

Here's another piece by Anne Kelly, "China Garden".
Her work often includes repurposed, vintage textiles.

Given the wintry weather forecast, I was pleased to see so many
visitors to the show.

Thank you to all those who came out for the official opening. Your support means a lot to me!

The show continues until March 23, 2019. Visitors might consider spending a few hours in picturesque Almonte, with its thriving commercial area, filled with independent shops and wonderful restaurants. And the MVTM itself has a well-organized display of artefacts that illustrate the history of the textile industry in eastern Ontario.

Museum hours are Tuesday - Friday, 10 am - 4 pm, and Saturday noon - 4 pm.

A day in the studio

Some days in the studio are not about creativity, but about taking care of business.

In a few days I will deliver twenty-seven cityscapes to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum for an exhibition. So today was set aside to...

• go over the work with a lint roller, 
• snip loose threads, 
• glue down corners that had lifted,
• touch up the black paint on the canvases, 
• assemble cardboard boxes, and
• pack and label boxes.

...and more to come

I was glad to have the company of an excellent audiobook for the day. Have been sampling the writing of Ian McEwan recently, and this crime novel fit the bill nicely. The narrator of the story is a 9-month-old fetus, who witnesses (in utero) his mother and uncle plotting the death of his father. Now, is there something about this storyline that evokes memories of high school English class? What if I told you the mother's name was Trudy and the uncle's name Claude?

Exactly. Nutshell is a modern take on Hamlet. (Mother Gertrude, Uncle Claudius.) I was quite pleased with myself for picking that off.  And no, I am not going to reveal how the story ends. 

Sometimes a good audiobook is just the kind of support you need to get through a day of routine tasks in the studio.

Upcoming exhibition @ the MVTM

Brooklyn #6, hand-dyed cotton, 24 x 24

I am delighted to have been invited to participate in a two-woman show at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, in Almonte, ON. Some twenty of my cityscapes will be on display, along with the work of British textile artist Anne Kelly.

The show will open on Saturday, January 19, with a reception from 2 - 4 pm. Anne and I both plan to be on hand so please consider attending.

The museum is a national historic site, and its permanent exhibit showcases the history of the textile industry in Eastern Ontario.

The museum's second floor is filled with artefacts from
the area's history as a centre for textile manufacture.

Almonte itself is a charming example of small-town Ontario, so plan to spend a little time there, checking out its cafés and shops.

The museum's winter hours are Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 4 pm and Saturday noon - 4 pm, closed on Sunday and Monday.

The show continues until March 23, 2019.

Old Town Square, Riga

Old Town Square, Riga, 18 x 24

Completed just a few days ago, this is #20 in the collection of larger cityscapes to be included in my upcoming museum show. In addition, I will deliver seven smaller urban landscapes, which may also be displayed as space allows. 

Fabrics used include a mottled hand-dye for the sky, a range of hand-dyes in neutral colours and, for the terra-cotta-coloured roofs, commercially printed cotton.

The work is inspired by a photo I took while visiting Riga this past summer.

A New Cityscape

It's true. I declared to my art friends a year or two ago that I would never make another cityscape.

But now I find myself preparing for a show that requires twenty cityscapes, and I am currently in possession of only 18. (I've been very fortunate to have sold most of the hundred-or-so that I have made over the years.)

A visit to Latvia this past summer allowed me to take this photo from the top of the Riga cathedral, using a good zoom lens. Thank you, Lauma, for convincing me that I needed a new camera, and then for showing me the sights in this intriguing city.

I am pleased to introduce my most recent cityscape, made of hand-dyed and commercially-printed cotton.

View from Riga cathedral, 24 x 18

Love those rooflines, the variety of scale, the punch of the reds against the neutrals, the range of value. I think that what I have been learning in painting workshops is reflected in this most recent work in fibre, and I am happy to include it in my upcoming show.

So pleased!

Delighted to receive an Honourable Mention at the recent Fall Show of the Hudson Artists. It was awarded by the two judges for "strong composition".

My artist statement reads,

"[The series] Time and Again is inspired by “deconstructed” buildings. The structure remains, but new layers and textures are revealed as time and usage wear down surfaces."

These are mixed media pieces: acrylic paint, watercolour crayon and charcoal, with bits of cloth, print and wallpaper collaged in; paper mounted on cradleboard.

Time and Again #4, 24" x 24"

Time and Again #5, 24" x 24"

Time and Again #6, 24" x 24"

Word of the day: palimpsest. From the Oxford Living Dictionary:

- A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing.
- Something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
- example: "Sutton Place is a palimpsest of the taste of successive owners."
- Origin: mid-17th century, via Latin from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin 'again' + psēstos 'rubbed smooth'.
- also: palimpsestic (adjective)