Donna Clement

Christmas Cards through the years... 2011

2012-01-02T08:46:00.037-07:00

Now this year's 'card' (actually a book) started when my friend ND donated 12 scallops shells to me in November. I took them home and got busy thinking about what I could do with them...

Assemblage of materials:
Started collecting... the shells, pieces of mat board cut in various sizes, abalone shell my daughter brought back from her time in New Zealand, hand painted tissue papers in pinks and purples, and ripped pages out of the Lonely Planet Dominican Republic travel guide (picking particular pages that were about beaches around the island that were then painted browns and pinks, and stamped with shell images).

Glued four layers of mat board into a little platform to even out the bottom, so the book would lay flat.

Tops and bottoms...

The travel book pages were folded into a four-fold booklet. The abalone shell was glued onto the front cover to act as a weight. And inside was the coloured tissue paper with the Christmas message "shells... beaches... winter warmth... Wishing you a winter break, even if only in your mind!"

Now isn't that 'ooh and aah' worthy!

Christmas Cards through the years... 2010

2011-12-31T10:01:00.024-07:00

Inspired by the book Stitching The Textured Surface by Lynda Monk and Carol McFee, these pages are made with molding paste over Lutradur, dyed and coloured, then burnt back.

I especially like the quotes I selected this year!

These cards have large brass initials on the front BUT I was liking the smooth stones I brought home from the beaches of Vancouver Island BC last summer that I was using as weights for the gluing down of the initials so much that I forgot to get a photograph of the final products!

Nice rocks though, eh?
Don't they make you want to skip some stones!

Christmas Cards through the years... 2009

2011-12-29T10:43:00.047-07:00

2009 was the biggest, most time consuming 'card' I have ever done!

A structure inspired by Leilani Pierson in a Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine, I worked my way around the colour wheel producing 10 books with six double-sided pages in various papers and fabrics. These were collaged (paper term) or appliqued (fibre term) with beads, buttons, keys, phrases torn out of magazines, tin shapes, yarns, fabric scraps, shells, miniature cloths pegs, washers and charms.

This was made to commemorate my Book Making group which has been meeting every month for the past 12 years.

Here is the layout of one book showing each collaged page and its reverse. Repeat this for 9 other colourways!

Laying flat, you can see the bulk of the pages.

And lined up to see the colours.

I was really happy with how these turned out, and everyone was thrilled to receive one in the group!

Christmas Cards through the years... 2008

2011-12-27T10:15:00.050-07:00

Belonging as I do, to the local calligraphy guild (in Calgary it is the Bow Valley Calligraphy Guild - one of the largest in North America), it is de rigueur to hand make a Christmas card. And since joining in 1994 I have done so every year.

They started as actual calligraphic card - with the lettering and wording more important - usually colour photocopied to make multiple copies, or perhaps gocco-ed. Over the years, as I moved into Book Arts, they became more about the structure as each one was handmade and more time consuming - hence the production numbers went way down. (Originally I would make 75 cards, I am now down to 12 at the most.)

Here are images of them for the past four years...
(one at a time)

Assemblage of materials:
(Picking colour coordinated papers = hand painted + various Japanese tissues + Thai stitched ones. Along with linen threads, beads and sequins, grommets, copper tags, date stamp.)

The final card:
(Design idea inspired by a Kathy Guthrie card she once gave me for my birthday. Hanging on a vertical string, layers of papers with name tag at the bottom.)

Packaging into an 'envelope':
(Plastic CD sleeve with the slit in front for the copper tag with recipients name stamped on.)

You can click on images for more details...
More to come.

Women of Fibre, at the Whyte - part 3

2011-12-23T15:31:00.083-07:00

These are the pieces I have in the gallery:

GUIDE ME THROUGH THE DARK UNKNOWN 5
16" x 24"
Cotton - silk screening, discharge dying, hand embroidery, free machine embroidery.

Artist Statement: The charred remains of pine trees that are visible throughout the Rocky Mountains are signs of man's attempt to control the spread of the destruction caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle. Cross-sections of the growth rings of these burnt remains echo the shapes of the original scribbling of maps that the early explorers used to navigate the Rockies. With no roads, natives travelled along animal trails, and when the white man arrived, their native guides jotted jagged lines onto paper to direct them.

Description of archives: Early map drawn by natives to guide Mary Schaffer to Morraine Lake.

[The four other pieces in this series can be found in the gallery shop.]

MARY'S MOCCASIN
11" x 9" x 2"
Mixed animal hides, paper, waxed linen - bookbinding, hand painted papers.

Artist statement: As a response piece to a photo of Mary Schaffer, my eye was drawn to the lettering in the top right corner of the tent. Writing on the tent leads me to writing of a diary, and further research showed that Mary kept diligent accounts of her days on the trail. As a calligrapher and book artist, I am always drawn to the written word and an obvious extension of this was to recreate Mary's diary - with weathered and worn pages, marked with coffee stains and leaf impressions. Bound in a leather cover (echoing her well-worn buckskin jacket) and contained in a leather moccasin (the shoe being one of society's constraints that she was glad to throw off), this package portrays an upper-class Philadelphian grand dame in the Canadian wilds at the turn of the 19th century.

Description of archives: Mary Schaffer's buckskin jacket.
[located on the floor, under the table]

PRESERVED IMPRESSIONS 4
16" x 20"
Cotton - rust dyeing and silk screening.

Artist statement: The fossils contained in the Burgess Shale, which show the incredible array of life in the early Cambrian period, have amazed the world with their detail and diversity since their discovery in 1909. Concealed in compacted mud, muscles, gills and other soft body parts are revealed along with bones, teeth and shell, exposing the mysteries of the beginning of the Cambrian era. This piece attempts to convey the richness of the layers of live found there.

Description of archives: CD Walcott diaries and field notebook (1909 - 1923)

[The three other pieces in this series can be found in the gallery shop.]

Actual fossils from the Burgess Shale site upon Mount Stephen above Field, BC.

This exhibition is up until January 29, 2012. I encourage you to get to the mountains and take in some art!

Women of Fibre, at the Whyte - part 2

2011-12-22T12:18:00.002-07:00

Photos of the six Articulation artists, along with their artist statements...

And here we all are, dressed in our artist black with identifying scarves, for the reception that evening.

Left to right: Vickie Newington, Ingrid Lincoln, Wendy Klotz, Gloria S. Daly, Donna Clement, Lesley Turner.

Women of Fibre, at the Whyte

2011-12-21T12:58:00.021-07:00

As you walk into the gallery, this is what you see...

The museum director, Michale Lang and the curator, Mary Beth Laviolette did a wonderful job pairing and arranging artifacts and archives from the Whyte Collection to go along with Articulation's art works.

Catherine Whyte's engagement dress, shoes and portrait inspired Ingrid Lincoln.

Right - Burgess Shale fossils inspired Donna Clement; central - Mary Vaux's photographs inspired Wendy Klotz into making felted hats; left - Mary Shaffer's jacket inspired a response piece from everyone.

And Lesley Turner has an installation based upon women's work being unaccounted for and largely unnoticed in society.

Show at the Whyte Museum of the Rockies

2011-12-20T12:58:00.001-07:00

November 26 was the opening of our latest exhibition in Banff, Alberta at the Whyte Museum. Called WOMEN OF FIBRE, we shared the main gallery with 94 year old Mary Garnham Andrews, a local weaver who has just donated her life's work to the Whyte.

The signage outside:

and walking into the gallery:

Gloria S. Daly's piece titled Glacier.

and Vickie Newington's felt and glass pieces.

Exhibition Opening 'ARTICULATION'

2011-11-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Exciting news is of our exhibition opening this Saturday night (November 26th) at 7pm at the Whyte Museum of the Rockies in Banff with my textile group "Articulation".

The exhibition at the Whyte Museum is the result of our two artist residencies at the Leighton Studios at the Banff Centre for the Arts back in 2008 and 2009. The show is based upon mountain culture and women who have lived through the years in the Rocky Mountains. Our working title was WOMEN ROCK.

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"ARTICULATION"
Where? Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff AB
When? November 26, 2011 to January 29, 2012

Opening Reception - Saturday, November 26 at 7pm with all 6 participating Articulation artists attending. Demos will also be done throughout the evening by Articulation.

Attending artists:
Donna Clement
Gloria S. Daly
Ingrid Lincoln
Lesley Turner
Vickie Newington
Wendy Klotz

Small Treasures

2011-11-22T20:06:00.001-07:00

Small Treasures Art Show and Sale

November 19, 2011 to January 17, 2012
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Alberta
Swiss Guides Room

Good things come in small packages! A favourite tradition of locals and visitors, the Museum hosts its annual holiday season Art Show and Sale. Choose from individual works of art or handcrafted artisan-made gift items. Artists have challenged their artistic boundaries by literally thinking inside the 144 square inch box to create these winter themed treasures.

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This is the announcement from the Whyte Museum of the first of my shows there. The gallery is downstairs in the museum, a small room full of Christmas treasures! I have small tabletop framed art + brooches + my newest item...

Smooth pebbles off the beaches around southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia which have been carted over the mountains to the foothills of Alberta, then felted with raw wool fibres, turning them into paperweights that can be stacked or used individually. So many colours and sizes.

These are so tactile (my favourite kind of stuff!) You just have to pick them up and fondle them - the soft wool over the hard stone. I love them!

Hope you can get to the mountains over the Christmas season and get to see all the different types of art on display.

My ETSY shop

2011-11-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

I opened an Etsy shop in the spring, doing it slowly, only listing a few items. With all the sales I've been involved with this fall, and now with small pieces in two galleries in the province... I have just updated my listings and will finally link it to my blog.

My Etsy name is "LovelyFibres".

Here is how it will be seen on my blog, and if you click on any part of it, it goes to my actual Etsy site. Enjoy perusing...

Calyx and Quilting

2011-11-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

The last month has been so busy with the Calyx sale in Calgary; going down to Kalispell, Montana for a week-long design class with Rosalie Dace from South Africa; then the Calyx sale in Edmonton; AND being picked up by a gallery in Olds for sales.

CALYX is a wonderful sale, full of so many talented artists in acrylic, oils and watercolour paintings, pottery, wood, jewellers, and other fibre artists. In Calgary it is highly anticipated and the lineup outside the door before they open first thing is always amazing to see. Almost 800 people come through in one day. Always good to see the regulars in Calgary, and in Edmonton the word is still building. But as that is my hometown, it is a good chance to see friends and relatives who come out to support me. Thanks to everyone who made it out.

The Quilt Gallery store in Kalispell, Montana brings in international instructors and this fall Rosalie Dace returned for the 6th time. She is a wonderful teacher who basically teaches a design and colour class in whatever the current theme is - everyone produces something totally different. I would totally recommend taking any class from her - as would the others who were there, most of whom had taken all 6 of her previous classes!

After first picking the colours I wanted to work in...

I made a design and started playing with the fabrics. I worked in reverse applique, layering 7-10 fabrics, and cutting through to reveal the colours below.

And laid it out in prescribed fashion...

This was the first working version, by the end of the week things had changed, been moved around, and reinvented - it was great. Unfortunately I have been too busy since returning home so it is not completed, but after the new year I shall get back to it and see where it all ends up.

Fall Art Sales

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have been busy all summer, dyeing silk scarves, sewing small framed tabletop pieces, making more necklaces and brooches...

Here are photos of some of what I will be selling at the three sales I am participating in this fall:

Infinity Scarf, also known as an Unisex Circular Scarf. One of four colourways:

Silk-Rayon Devore Scarf - many different patterns, sizes, with and without fringe:

ECO dyed silks, also known as 'natural dyeing'. These pieces are done with dried roses, coffee, hollyhocks, cherries, fresh rose petals, raspberries. Solid silk scarves, silk-rayon devore scarves, velvet devore scarves, and silk chiffon scarves:

Small framed pieces for tabletops, most 4"x6" size:

"Keepsake Pouch" necklaces. Made with linen thread and 2000 stitches, these are decorated with beads and buttons, and filled with semi-precious stones. Here are 2 of the 9 different coloured bags:

Brooches - an artist-made fabric of silks, organzas, cottons, tulle fused together with a wood burning tool, then beaded and hand embroidered. Various shapes:

Now I would like to share these with you - hope I see many of you over the coming months...

Calyx Distinctive Art Exhibition and Sale

2011-10-16T22:30:00.002-06:00

I got juried into the Calyx Distinctive Art show and sale for both of their Calgary and Edmonton shows this fall. In Calgary there are 2 separate sales, with 30 different artists each day. This will be their 12th year of the semi-annual art exhibition and sale in Calgary. They have just expanded in to Edmonton and this year will be their third show. I am looking forward to showing in my home town and having familiar faces visit. More details to follow on what I will have available...

Calgary, Alberta

Saturday October 22, 2011
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Crescent Heights Community Centre
1101 - 2nd Street NW, Calgary, AB

Free Parking, Free Admission, Free Draw

Edmonton, Alberta

Saturday November 5, 2011
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Pleasantview Community League Hall
10860 - 57 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB

Free Parking, Free Admission, Free Draw

The Art of Paper

2011-10-12T12:31:00.000-06:00

Just came across an amazing video by a Canadian singer, songwriter, performer, costume designer...

Krista Muir

Amazing paper work in this video...
Her fingers are busy creating furniture and furnishings for the doll house, and it takes a while to notice she is also clothed in paper. Enjoy!

ECO COLOUR - 7

2011-10-03T08:41:00.012-06:00

Round 2 for the solar dyeing in the jars that were packed full of goodies then left in the sun on my deck...

After 20 days of being in our hot August sun (and we had a very hot summer, with many days over 30c) I opened the various jars of silk and wool that I had packed with vinegar, copper, coffee...

Dried red rose petals from 30 years worth of anniversaries and Valentine Day roses...

Dried red rose petals with coffee:

Here is the one that used dried pink rose petals:

Freshly picked purple petunia blossoms:

Hanging to dry...

The petals shaken off and left in the grass to be re-used on the next round of dyeing...

ECO COLOUR - 6

2011-09-30T08:11:00.005-06:00

...results from the Cherries and Raspberries...

The cherries produced a browned pink - quite lovely. And the shibori worked wonderfully well.

And the raspberries were quite pink... but will it last?

These will be set aside for a couple of weeks before being washed and rinsed out to see the final colours produced.

Summer Dyeing continues

2011-09-28T11:07:00.015-06:00

The last dyeing I posted was at the beginning of August, opening the lovely jars of 'eco' surprises... I then had the opportunity to go out to our summer cabin alone for a week and do some 'regular' dyeing.

Using my favourite "Alter Ego" dyes on silk and rayon devore scarves, I got some lovely results. All in preparation for fall Art Sales selling silk scarves.

Laying out and sorting the blank white scarves:

Bubbling pots of luscious colour. The left will be green and purple, the right will be golden yellow and lemon yellow:

Some results drying gently in the shade:

Then I was throwing everything into the pots: wool blankets, silk and cotton threads, doilies, linen napkins...

The final scarf results:

And my helpers out there...
Bluejay -->

Goldfinch -->

and the Hairy Woodpecker-->

ECO COLOUR - 5

2011-09-25T11:00:00.004-06:00

Late July and August is CHERRY season here is Calgary, fruit coming in from the Okanogan, British Columbia - my favourite fruit, so I collected lots of stems and pits. Towards the end, the cherries get a little iffy and I could save some of the rotted fruit. So - what do to with it? Dye of course!

Silk scarves wrapped shibori style and ready to dye:

The pot of fabric and fruit cooking away:

I was leaving town the next day, so I just put the whole thing in the cold room and walked away...

But that same afternoon, I got called by a neighbour to come and pick RASPBERRIES, that were falling off the plants. I collected many good ones to eat fresh and make into jam, but I also collected the over-ripe ones in a quart jar, filled it with water, and put it in the cold room until I could deal with it when I returned to town.

But before I could put them away, an afternoon hail storm hit that the Prairies are so famous for...

The most amazing thing about this storm were the clouds - I have never seen ones that look like these before!!!

Babies bums! It was amazing...

And as quick as it came, it blew away:

Hiking in the Rocky Mountains

2011-09-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

Although we are not 'hikers' by any means, my husband managed to talk me into getting out to view the wildflowers in Banff National Park. So the middle of August we headed up to Sunshine Meadows...

Situated at an average elevation of 2220m (7300 ft), the meadows straddle the Continental Divide and the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. The Sunshine Meadows are known as one of the most stunning alpine settings in the Canadian Rockies, surrounded by some of the Rockies highest peaks.

As their brochure reads "wildlife abounds in the meadows, and the brilliance of the summer flowers and autumn larches guarantees spectacular scenery on every visit." I would say their guarantee works. Even though this was 4 hour hike for us, the trekking poles are a wonderful invention that enable one to go further and steeper than they imagine they can!

Rock Isle Lake:

Columbia ground squirrel looking for a handout:

viewpoint overlooking the Simpson River Valley:

It was 'wildflower week', and the alpine wildflowers were in full bloom:

Wabi-Sabi

2011-09-16T08:54:00.001-06:00

These three, short sentences on the nature of the universe in the same book make me so happy:

1. All things are impermanent.
2. All things are imperfect.
3. All things are incomplete.

To me, this seems the essence of wabi-sabi. When I read these, it is like I have been given the okay to just be me today, and every day. Sigh, what a relief...

Wabi-Sabi

2011-09-15T20:52:00.001-06:00

From the book "Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers" by Leonard Koren:

“Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness. Wabi-sabi is ambivalent about separating beauty from non-beauty or ugliness. The beauty of wabi-sabi is in one respect, the condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly. Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace.”

ECO COLOURS - 4

2011-08-21T08:59:00.080-06:00

Back on July 31st I started three jars of sun dyeing as per India Flint's instructions - put fabric in jar, add plant material and fluid, seal and leave alone!

After two weeks of very hot weather I was seeing lots of action in the jars and decided to open them.

Jar 1 contained (1) a silk chiffon scarf wrapped around eucalyptus leaves and (2) a rayon scarf wrapped around dried cedar branches and leaves. Dill pickle brine was poured over and it was sealed.

Jar 2 contained (1) a silk rayon devore scarf scattered with dried red rose petals, rolled and folded, and (2) a wool fabric bit rolled with dried cotoneaster branches + dried red rose petals + a chain of rusty metal bells. Again dill pickle brine filled the jar and sealed.

Jar 3 contained (1) a pre-printed piece of linen rolled around a cotoneaster branch, and (2) wool wrapped around more cotoneaster branches and leaves. This time cold coffee was poured over top to cover and sealed.

Here is a shot of 5 of the 6 fabrics once they were taken out of the jars but left to dry in a green pail during a thunderstorm. In vertical rows they are: one of the first jar, the second pickle jar, and to the left, the coffee jar.

Rinsed and opened up they looked like this...

Silk chiffon with eucalyptus in pickle brine... (not much, as I afterwards learnt that wool takes the eucalyptus leaves better)

Silk devore and wool with the rose petals in the pickle brine...

Linen and wool from the coffee jar...

My favourite? The gorgeous rose petal printed silk devore scarf - luscious colours!

ECO COLOURS - 3

2011-08-19T08:24:00.057-06:00

These are the last of my steamed bundles that I had in a pot of rusted iron pieces and used tea bags.

This piece of dupioni silk was first pleated, clamped, stitched and simmered for a couple of hours. It was rinsed and left to dry (still clamped) for a week. It was then opened up and filled with fresh coral coloured geranium petals in between each pleat. Clamped once again, it went back into the same iron+tea dye bath. Left for another week to completely dry - this is what came out...

Love it! It is worth framing as is...

In that group was a silk rayon devore scarf that was wrapped in a dried branch of a poplar tree with the leaves and branches. After steaming and drying, here is the result...

Decent where it was touching the branch, but no action going further into the folds.

A piece of cotton was rust dye with a shovel end, dip #2 was crumpled up and covered with elastic bands and put into iron/teabag dye bath, dried, then dip #3 was folded and clamped and redipped into the iron/tea bath. Dried and opened revealed this nice grid over the shovel-printed rust.

And the 4th piece was again cotton, wrapped around three dried sunflower plants (stalks and heads) and tied tightly with cotton. The only print was where it was directly touching the plant head and the rest of the cotton was white.

But wait until you see what came out of the jars!!

ECO COLOURS - 2

2011-08-17T20:23:00.002-06:00

I have started opening my bundles... and you just never know what you are going to see.

This silk chiffon scarf was scattered with fresh rose petals and then wrapped tightly around a cotoneaster branch. It was steamed for a couple of hours, cooled off very slowly, then put out in the air to dry totally.

The first removal of cotton ties was promising...

and the outer wraps showed lovely colouring...

Here it is opened up completely...

And a closeup of the rose petals...

But on it is still light, so I shall leave it to cure longer before the final rinse.

Two of my wrapped bundles were put into a black garbage bag to "heat set". When I took them out two weeks later they were still wet, so I put them in a shady spot to dry completely.

This silk rayon devore scarf was scattered with fresh rose petals and wrapped - opening it was a treat...

Shaking out the semi dried petals... and the layout...

The third piece I did was a rayon scarf. Fresh geranium petals were wrapped tightly around a stick and steamed. Out of the black bag it was air dried. The unwrapping still covered with petals...

Still more bundles to come...