A small group of the Vernon Silver Star Quilters, known as QuArtz, exhibited recently at Art Walk, a highly regarded art festival in the Okanagan region—Lake Country, BC. One member collected fabric during a trip around the world. Each artist was encouraged to use the selection of four fabrics, from South Africa, India, New Zealand and Hong Kong, in a water-themed piece. The resulting artwork is as diverse as each artist’s imagination. Here we share a sampling of that exhibit.
The photo above is Flamingos of Ria Celestun, Mexico by Linda Kuraoka, Lumby. Did you know flamingos get their pink colour from their diet of crustaceans (small shellfish)? They are grey when hatched, turn white, then pink! The Ria Celestun (inlet) ecosystem consists of ocean tides, nutrients from mangrove trees, the abundance of crustaceans and flourishing flamingos and birds. For flamingos, water is life!
Materials and techniques: commercial fabrics, netting, couching, appliqué, encrusted and machine quilting.
Elemental Dragons – Water
by Cath Phillips, Armstrong
Man embraced the concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present. I am always intrigued by dragons and thought they would be an excellent way to depict the four elements. Water is the first in a series. Inspired by the painting, Sea Dragon, by Sarrah Wilkinson of Red Nebula Studios and used with permission.
Materials and techniques: snow-dyed fabric, commercial fabric, fusing, free-motion stitching and embellishing.
Oceans and Oceans
by Catherine Henderson, Kelowna
Water is a common theme in certain textiles, depicted by colour, pattern, texture, shimmer and more. Using these elements,
I framed a watery-looking, felted-wool scene with the challenge fabrics to create an arrangement of layers and pictures of oceans.
Materials and techniques: wet felting, dry felting, appliqué, beading, a variety of yarns, wool roving, tulle and synthetic fabrics.
La Mer
by Sandie Guenette, Lake Country
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Jacques Cousteau
To choose the ocean to represent the theme of water was an easy choice. To capture its many moods was more difficult. The faces of the ocean are limitless. We stand in awe of its fearsome strength and power. We return to its soothing and comforting rhythms. The ocean cannot be tamed or controlled, but we are called to be its steward. And in return, the ocean nourishes us body and soul.
Materials: cotton, silk, yarn, tulle, rust-dyed fabric, sun-printed fabric, twine, beads, sequins, paint and natural, found objects, such as shells, sea glass, feathers and clay pieces.
