Hudson Artists show

The AHA show has been lots of fun, with more than thirty artists working in paint, collage and photography showing their work. Visitors are intrigued by work in fibre, and I like to think I am broadening the local market for fibre art. Above is a photo of me with some of my Cityscapes pieces. You'll also notice a little card with a red dot, indicating that "Steps: The Plateau" was sold. Later, "Street Life: Quebec City" also sold.

Here is Michele Meredith, a fellow member of Out of the Box, 12 by the dozen, and text'art, in front of a panel with seven of her recent collages. She sold the framed piece, top centre, a beautiful depiction of skaters in the moonlight.

We were both happy to meet Marthe Villeneuve, who also works in fibre. Her work is shown above. She uses Paverpol to sculpt fabric into three dimensions, then stitches it to canvas and applies paint to complete the image. Marthe has training in fashion design and also works in pastel. She can be reached by e-mail at marthevilleneuveATsympatico.ca.

"Monetizing"

Well, we used to called it "selling out", or worse. But that was in the sixties.

I had these notecards printed up, using images from my recent series of cityscapes. (My name is discreetly printed on the back.) I'm packing them in clear plastic bags, four to a set, with envelopes. I have a couple of events coming up that might attract people who are not necessarily interested in acquiring "art", but might spring for a set of note cards. There were some set-up costs to opening the file, so if I do another print run it will cost a little less. I'm starting with 25 sets of four, and we'll see how that goes.

Guy Glorieux at the McCord

This amazing image is one of eighteen large black-and-white photographs, some up to five metres in length, taken with a pinhole camera. The artist is Guy Glorieux, and the subject is Montreal.

For some years I have been intrigued with cityscapes, the interlocking shapes, the grid of the windows, the variety of structures and styles. My current series explores these elements. This show at the McCord Museum, continuing to May 27, was a must-see for me.

The images produced are "negatives"; the subject has been "flipped horizontal" by the process. The photos are taken in the daytime, and the exposure is three or four hours in duration. Because of this long exposure time, people moving in and out of the subject area do not leave their trace on the image. The result is like a ghost city, with the buildings almost "radioactive", and all the inhabitants gone. The strong contrast in value gives definition to line and shape.

More information about the show can be found at www.mccord-museum.qc.ca

CRDITM show

The Centre design & impression textile has mounted a fine show featuring the work of fourteen past graduates. Today, my text'art group had a chance to visit the show and then to tour the facilities of the school. This first photo shows the work of Sophie Jeanson.

 This second piece in three parts, below, is by Lucie Laurin.

 Finally, this piece, by Anne Simard, is devoré velvet.

The school is proud of the graduates it has produced in its more than twenty years, many of whom are employed by Cirque de Soleil, or who are working as independent artisans. You have likely seen some of their work at the annual Salon des Métiers d'Art.

We were treated to a glimpse of the students' working areas, located on the third floor of an old mattress factory, since converted into ateliers and small design-related business spaces. We were impressed with the enormous tables used for fabric printing, the many gigantic silkscreens, and the vast array of mysterious bottles of paints, dyes and potions. Smaller classrooms have been set aside for drafting tables, computers, and the "confection" of clothing.

As part of "en avril", the month-long event celebrating fibre in Quebec, the show continues until April 27, Tuesdays - Fridays from 1 - 4:30 p.m. It is located at 4710 Rue St.-Ambroise, in Montreal, not far from the St.-Henri metro station.

Log Cabin Exhibit

The Beaconsfield Quilters' Guild has an interesting exhibit of twenty or so log cabin quilts in the Media Room of the Beaconsfield Library, running until April 22.  Above is a detail shot of a quilt made by Suzanne Liddy. I love the square-within-a-square design, and I often gravitate to it in my own work.

The Guild will hold its annual show the first weekend of May. One of their special exhibits will focus on log cabin quilts. For more details, please go to their website, www.beaconsfieldquiltersguild.org.

new Hudson e-zine

Much energy around our little town of Hudson, with new initiatives to coordinate and promote our many cultural activities. Considering we number about 5000 residents, we have a surprising number of groups and individuals devoted to the production and promotion of the visual arts, theatre, music, film and literature, as well as history, gardening and crafts.

For a look at a new, English-language, on-line magazine, please go to http://artshudson.org

Hudson Artists show

I hope you will have a chance to visit this wonderful show. This local association numbers eighty members, about half of whom will be showing their work this spring. Michele Meredith and I both plan to have pieces on display.

Hudson Medi-Centre Gallery

For almost a year, I have been managing a showcase of local art at the Hudson Medi-Centre. One wall in the waiting room has been set aside for a rotating exhibit of work by local artists. Every two months, the display changes. The idea is a tribute to the memory of Rosemary Lombardi, who was an avid supporter of local artists. Rosemary's husband, Peter, was a driving force behind the new medi-centre building, as well as the general contractor. Patients and staff enjoy seeing the revolving display, and the artists appreciate the exposure.

This photo shows the oil paintings of Cork Winters, currently on display. Michele Meredith, Anne Pollard, Günther Mitsche, Tim Elliott and Kate Strickland have also had their work featured. The slot for September - November 2012 is presently unfilled, so please contact me if you're interested.

Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec

On Friday I visited the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec, located in a beautiful old church at 615 Ste. Croix in St. Laurent, on the campus of Collège St-Laurent. The permanent collection includes wood carvings, ceramics, and lovely antique furniture. It is well-lit and well-displayed, with informative explanations in both English and French. The small but interesting textile section features a crazy quilt, a woven blanket, several hooked rugs, a braided carpet, a finger-woven sash, and several implements used in their manufacture.

An exhibition of eight woven tapestries will run until May 20. The show is titled "Le Sacre du printemps," (The Rite of Spring) and the work is by Thoma Ewen, the founder of the Moon Rain Centre for textile arts in the Outaouais. Also on display during my visit were fourteen paper dresses made by young women who are recent immigrants from Haiti, Morocco, Algeria, Afghanistan, India and Iran. Each dress has a special, personal meaning to the maker, detailed in a short text posted nearby. This display of life-sized dresses continues until April 1.

For more information about the museum, go to www.mmaq.qc.ca.There you can access a 3-D visual tour of the facility by clicking on the image of the interior.

Galerie Diagonale

From March 17 - 24, Galerie Diagonale hosts an exhibition of work by twelve students in the undergraduate fibers program at Concordia University. Today I visited the show, called "Don't Call It a Comeback". Below is a photo of "Drawing Down the Moon," by April Martin. It features a web that incorporates vintage bits of lace, held in position like a cat's cradle by seven modelled hands, and suspended about one foot above the floor.

Another piece in the show that caught my eye is titled "Villages," by Lori Malépart-Traversy.

It consists of crocheted house-like shapes, connected by strands of yarn.

Galerie Diagonale is located at 5455 de Gaspé, suite 203, in Montreal. Its hours are Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. www.artdiagonale.org

Did you know that April is Fibre month in Quebec? For more information about lectures and exhibitions, visit enavril.com.

Old Montreal

Here is the fourth in my little series on Montreal and Quebec architecture. It's based on a photo taken last weekend in Old Montreal, and shows some of the different styles of buildings seen there: the 17th-century French Canadian style, the Victorian, the early mid-rises and the modern skyscraper, off in the distance.

I made a line-drawing based on the photo, and then translated that into black stitching on hand-dyed gray cotton. It's mounted on a 12"-square gallery canvas.

I now have four pieces in this series so they can be grouped together in upcoming shows.

PosteRazor...

... is a really useful tool that can be downloaded for free. It enlarges any of your images to the desired size, and then allows you to print it out on your desktop printer, using multiple sheets of paper. You can then reassemble the papers with scissors and tape into a "poster". I find it useful for my 12 by the dozen challenges, because often I want to work with a 12" square image, and I've also used it to make images of, say, 20" x 24". I'm using it today to evaluate a couple of my photos taken in Old Montreal this weekend.

Because my printer won't print to the borders, I have to add 1" for every sheet of paper used. If I want a final result to be 12" wide, I specify 14" instead. A little trial and error may be needed depending on your printer.

The software is available at www.posterazor.sourceforge.net.