Dear ALL
DATES TO DIARIZE:
- December 2019 - February 2020: "Mending the Scars" exhibition in the Schreiner Gallery at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg
- May 2020 Invitation to exhibit with FACT in Cape Town
- 13 September - 8 November 2020: Fibreworks XI Exhibition; Fibreworks Members' Exhibition at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg
The KwaZulu Natal Fibreworks members met at a Howick restaurant for a Xmas lunch at the end of November. It was fun to be together.
- FIBREWORKS XI EXHIBITION 2020
We are exhibiting at the Tatham Art Gallery in 2020 from 13 September to 8 November. The first newsletter next year will include information on this. . Meanwhile make your masterpieces for the exhibition!
It was agreed that the following works/categories would be included in next year's exhibition:
- Collaborative work : i.e. Member works with Roy Starke's work
- Member's own work
- Major Minors in 2 formats: A4 and square 25 x 25 cm
- Some of Roy's work that belongs to Fibreworks will be exhibited, depending on space at the venue.
- FACT exhibition: News from Sheila Walwyn:
Several Fibreworks members participated and I'd like to remind Fibreworkers that there is always an open invitation to participate as 'Friends' in our FACT exhibition. FACT (Fibre Artists Cape Town) comprises 14 active textile art members and the balance of participants in the exhibition (this year there were 45) are invited friends. There are representatives from various media, ie ceramic, embroidery, weaving, jewellery, painting and mixed media, and we welcome new artists.
Our theme this year was 'Living Coral', which was the Pantone colour of the year for 2019, and we found that the choice of a colour theme was a good unifying element. An addition to the exhibition this year was a wall of small items in 20x20cm tray boxes and the 92 entries created a really interesting display which often had clusters of viewers enjoying and discussing.
This year Fibreworkers who participated were Jenny Hearn, Tilly de Harde, Elaine Barnard, Lubi Koorts, Paul Schutte and Sheila Walwyn. Jenny, Sheila and Lubi sold some pieces.
We have decided to try holding the exhibition earlier in the year in the hopes of boosting the numbers of visitors and March is the goal for 2024. We will ease towards that by holding the 2020 exhibition in May. The date is still to be finalised but the second week of the month has been put forward at this stage.
A theme of 'Fragmentation' came out top of the voting log, so we invite Fibreworks artists to consider submitting work.
Further details from me at sheilaq@telkomsa.net, 0828878266.
Sheila, thank you for the open invitation to Fibreworks and for sending the report.
MEMBER'S NEWS:
- Corina Lemmer
A little magical memory slips into my consciousness every now and then, enchanting my days with brightly coloured images of Spanish colonial buildings hiding Inca treasures, such as a centuries old cloak covered in amazingly coloured feathers from the Amazon…. Amazing colour combinations all around me…
old ladies with their hair in two plats under wide brimmed hats, selling ,intricately knitted colourful gloves ,socks and beanies or hand embroidered bags…
Boutiques with high end stylish jerseys and cloaks, competing in beauty of design with the handwoven blankets peasants use on their backs to carry everything and anything in. …
Markets and fields with gladiola and other flowers, competing with the colourful hand woven and hand embroidered traditional clothes, worn by the villagers who come to Urubamba on marketday to sell their produce…
Strings attached to a piece of weaving tied around our studio's wooden pillar and my Canadian fellow resident complaining of backache after having to use her core muscles all day long to keep the warp tight! Us being served delicious quinoa,stuffed peppers and coca tea…
The shades of colours the Natural Dyes Instructor conjured out of plants collected in the hills around her homestead and transferred to the handspun wool from her own alpacas, through a process involving boiling pots, cochineal crushed in a beautiful stone mortar , mysterious powders and liquids, secrets patiently revealed to her pupils…
The view of the Andean peak from my bedroom window , gradually changing as the sunrise illuminates it ….
Oh, don't miss out on experiencing this for yourself!
Arquetopia has residencies in Puebla, Mexico, which I visited in 2017, as well as in Oaxaca, Mexico and Urubamba , Peru. I was offered a scholarship to stay in Urubamba this year. The residencies are run by the well known Mexican artist Francesco Guevara, who distributes and discusses a curriculum which stretches one's mind into unknown places, appropriate to each artist.
You will have to go through a selection process where you must propose a project, write a CV, get references etc. There are various courses on offer, most are applicable to Fibre artists , such as embroidery and natural dyes. You have to stay for at least three weeks , sharing a studio and meals with artists from all over the world. Google Arquetopia .E mail me for more: corinalemmer@gmail.com. Look at my facebook or Instagram for photos. Just Do It!
Photo below: A fellow resident learning traditional weaving
Corina, thank-you for sharing your wonderful, colourful artist's residency in Peru! Very inspiring….
- "Mending the Scars" exhibition in the Schreiner Gallery at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg
Annette McMaster, Sue Akerman and Corina Lemmer at the opening of their exhibition. Unfortunately Phumzile Dlamini could not attend the opening.
Have a wonderful festive time.
Helga and Odette
for Jeanette who is dealing with a family crisis.
