EARLY YEARS (1946-1976)
I decided I wanted to be an artist when I was 14 years old. This was
made possible through the efforts of my high school art teacher, who gave
me extra teaching throughout high school and “got me ready”
to move into the culture-making world. As well, he negotiated passage
into university drawing classes while I was still a high school student,
introduced me to a number of local artists and took me to their studios.
When it came time to apply to art schools, he guided me through the sourcing
of good schools, helped me produce the required portfolios, and eventually
sent me “on my way” with a solid grounding for the next step.
The Saskatchewan Arts Board ensured that I had access to scholarships
and grants that made my attending the University of Washington in Seattle
possible. Five years later I graduated with a BFA in Sculpture.
I returned to Canada in 1970 and moved to Toronto where I worked as the
slide librarian in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Toronto
and then went on to acquire a Bachelor of Education with a major in Art
and a secondary focus in Librarianship. For the next three years, I taught
Art to grades 9-13 in a metropolitan Toronto school. These were my least
productive artmaking years.
MIDDLE YEARS: (1977-1997)
Dissatisfied, I decided to quit teaching and move back to Saskatchewan
in the hope that I would be able to live there less expensively and, by
having a part-time job, focus my energies on developing myself as an artist.
In 1978, I was able to buy the United Church in Disley, population 48
persons, and secure a part time job in the Medical Library at the Plains
Health Centre, in Regina. I retained this job, working two days a week,
for 15 years.
It took two years to get a clear title to the Church and have all the
renovations completed. During that time I rented a studio in the nearby
town of Lumsden. Owning a sewing machine and being unable to create sculptures
in this space, I proceeded to “sew” a few artworks. This required
a whole new set of skills, which I began to acquire, mostly through direct
contact with family members and other stitchers/quilters, by attending
various workshops from the local guilds and by reading “the fine
print” in articles and books about fabric art. How quickly we dismiss
this kind of learning when it doesn’t cumulate into a set of credentials
after our names!
In 1984, I had my first fabric-based exhibition at the Rosemont Art Gallery,
in Regina, SK. The theme was a series of large scale landscapes based
on a trip I took across the lower part of the province. After approx.
10 years, I was sufficiently established and was able to focus on my artwork
fulltime - a privilege for which I am consistently thankful.
I am still engaged and challenged by the potential of fabric to reach
people in a different way than does the more traditional art media and
therefore continue to work primarily in this medium. We have a deep connection
to fabric that has been generated by our being wrapped in it since we
were born. I like to use that connection as a way to make people more
responsive to my work.
In the late 80’s I also became very excited about Artist’s
Books. Books offer a one-on-one interaction, a different kind of intimacy
than fabric works on a wall. Making books entails another set of skills,
which I am still actively pursuing.
I continue to live in Disley, SK with my partner of 20 years, Heather
Elliott. I am able to pursue my art practice in a separate studio in the
yard where I divide my time between both media. The stretches of concentrated
studio time are interspersed with teaching a variety of workshops in both
the fabric and book media. These workshops occur throughout the province
and across the country, usually in the spring and fall seasons.
It is a good balance.
Life is good.
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