Kingston Fibre Artists present

 https://kingstonfibreartists.ca/

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Event

“Art Threads 2022"
The Kingston Fibre Artists are so pleased to announce that they will hold a spring show at The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning in Kingston, Ontario from April 2 to April 30, 202

 

2.

Restrictions are lifting and the world of Fibre Art festivals are coming to life

 

Dye Garden update

 

MVTM/Blakeney Project Dye Garden

Hi everyone,

Many thanks to all our participants. Here is where we are at with the garden:

1. The Blakeney Project (food growing initiative associated with the Lanark Hunger Stop) has offered 1000sq.ft. of field space for the garden. Below is an outline of the specifications for use, provided by David Hinks, Blakeney Project coordinator (thank you David et al!):

• The area is at the extreme eastern end of the garden very close to the Rail Trail.

• large open wooden shelter (approx 200 square feet) at that end of the garden and with porta-potty close by. Use of the shelter for will be for workshops and potentially for storage and work space. It is basically right beside the growing area.

• The soil is heavy clay so will probably not be ready to work until early May.

• The site is not locked (other than our larger barn at the west side of the property) so access is not limited. We may have to rethink this if theft/vandalism becomes an issue.

• The site was roto-tilled in the fall. It is currently not divided into growing beds but we (Blakeney volunteers) could help with that.

• Care of the MVTM area would not be integrated with the Food Bank gardens. The MVTM would be responsible for weeding and watering. That being said I believe that some of the Food Bank volunteers would be very interested in volunteering with the MVTM garden team.

2. The list of plants below are recommended for their yield, ease of use and care. The museum will order seeds and start them (soon!).

• If you have any experience with seed starting and seedling care and would like to help, please let me know.

• If you already have some of these plants in your garden and would like to give some to the dye garden, or know of any other dye plants that you can access, please let me know.

 

Next steps:

We will be holding a meeting soon, either virtual or in-person (socially distanced) depending on Covid circumstances. Please review the information in the next pages as I will need your thoughts/ideas/brilliance!

We need more volunteers! If you know anyone who might be interested in helping in any way (gardening, programming activities, cheerleading and beverages) please forward this email to them and/or ask them to contact me.

Thoughts? Ideas? Concerns? Please get in touch! It’s lonely out here and I’d love to hear from you.

Plants recommended for wool:

Annuals

dyer's coreopsis

marigold

scabiosa (pin cushion flower)

Biennials

weld

woad

Perennials

black eyed susan

dyer's chamomile/golden marguerite

lady's bedstraw

madder

tansy

rhubarb (leaves can be used as a mordant)

Japanese maple & Elderberry (both can be used for eco printing)

Proposed Calendar of Activities

Date	Activity	Description	Resources/Notes
Spring	Plant/seed selection and uses: botany and history, First Nations cultivation, and medieval European to industrial period.	Local seed/gardening expert (or possibly guest from Richter’s Herbs, Guildwood ON	See: Seeds/propagation/gardening, botany, first nations/european/colonial horticultural histories, arts/crafts collections at library. Dye bath recipes and artefacts at MVTM.
Late spring	Seed sowing and soil fertility	Potential for seed sowing and composting workshops
Summer	Plant care and interpretation	Interpretive signs identifying the plants and uses/colours achieved
Late summer	Cultivation and preparation of plant material for dyeing.	Possible guests: Textile artist Tania Love, Thea Haines (head of textile department at Sheridan College and natural dye consultant) Zoom presentation. Using plants to make dyes or direct printing	Eco-Printmaking/textile/art making collections at library
Fall	Natural fibre dyeing – wool fleece and cotton	See Late summer
Late fall	Seed harvesting for next year	How to collect and store seeds
Fall/winter	What to do with your dyed material. Contemporary and historical uses	Historical uses lecture. Spinning, knitting, felting, sewing workshops	tie-dye homemade face masks cotton scrunchies yarn for knitting, felting or macrame

SPEAKERS/WORKSHOP HOSTS (Working list/ideas)

Tania Love	Fibre artist/natural dyes		Guest speaker
	Head of Textiles, Sheridan College, textile artist and natural dye consultant	thea.e.f.haines@gmail.com	Plant information and donation, guest speaker

For more info please contact  Melanie m.girdwood@mvtm.ca   * PLease note that this is a summary of Melanie's brochure.   If you are interested in the full text please let me know so I can forward her entire email. Jane.ben.low@gmail.com

Fetival of the Trees

 Members of the WCFG graciously participated in Adrian Baker's challenge , contributing strips of fabric. These strips were showcased in an exhibit called the Festival of Trees.

Adrian has sent an update on her progress

 

I recently submitted a proposal to put up an “abridged” version of Net-Work at the “Mississauga Festival of Trees”. I’m calling this version “The Mother Tree” to represent the large trees in a forest that help sustain all the trees around them.

 

As mentioned earlier, there are 295 hand-crafted strands all carefully sorted and stored in my studio. As artists were given a 10’ x 10’ space for this festival, I could only use about 100 of the strands for this installation. What a difficult choice!! I went through them all and in the end selected strands that were of a similar length.

 

Attached are some images of the installation process, and the “Mother Tree” installed.

It consists of 2 woven willow hoops, 6ft & 3 ft wide, one inside the other. Strands hang down from each hoop, and lights shine down between the two layers. The whole “tree” is 13.5 feet high, and the “roots” stretch out to 10 ft.

 

The space was still wide open on Monday when I put this up, but there will be other tree-inspired installations and a craft show there as well. For those in the Toronto area, the Mississauga Festival of Trees runs from Dec. 9 to Dec. 19. https://www.creativehub1352.ca/festival-of-trees

 

 

 

 

Fibre event in Kingston Ontario

 

Date(s)

October 23 - November 4, 2021. 10AM–5PM daily.

Location

Tett Centre Gallery

Presenter

Kingston Fibre Artists

The Kingston Fibre Artists are so pleased to announce that they will hold their fall show “Art Threads 2021” in the Gallery at The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning in Kingston, Ontario, from October 23rd until November 4th, 2021, 10am to 5pm daily.

 

This is KFA's 22nd annual exhibition and features new work by local artists.

 

As teaser to their show, check out the Kingston Fibre Artists’ online gallery to view images of uniquely designed boxes created by members using fabric, stitch, beading, and other embellishments. Enjoy!

 

 https://www.tettcentre.org/events/the-kingston-fibre-artists-exhibition

 

 

 

Dye Garden

Project Overview: The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in partnership with the Mississippi Mills Public Library proposes a dye garden/bed featuring plants typically grown for use as textile dyes. The project connects with the history of the area as the Rosamond Woolen company in Almonte once had a dye house, and also addresses contemporary interest in natural dyeing processes. The garden will contain many of the plants that are typically used to make dyes. It will be a great opportunity for education, interpretation, and workshops, beginning in spring, throughout summer and finishing in the fall (possibly at Fibrefest). Supported by museum, gardening and other volunteers, the small dye garden bed will be located on site at the library to the right of the front doors (behind the Pillar Oak tree). Bed details: A raised bed is suggested as there is no soil in that location. The bed would mirror in size, shape and possibly materials, the existing raised bed located to the right of the bread oven. Materials can include cedar ties, boards or galvanized steel. Next Steps: Fundraising and/or sponsorship needed to obtain materials. Materials needed: Soil (½ cubic yard?), wood, seeds and/or seedlings (Thea Haines has provided a preliminary list of plants. See list below). Solicit more interest and volunteers (Men’s Shed for building?) Proposed Calendar of Activities Date Activity Description Resources/Notes Spring Plant/seed selection and uses: botany and history, First Nations cultivation, and medieval European to industrial period. Local seed/gardening expert (or possibly guest from Richter’s Herbs, Guildwood ON) See: Seeds/propagation/gardening, botany, first nations/european/colonial horticultural histories, arts/crafts collections at library. Dye bath recipes and artefacts at MVTM. Late spring Seed sowing and soil fertility Potential for seed sowing and composting workshops Summer Plant care and interpretation Interpretive signs identifying the plants and uses/colours achieved Late summer Cultivation and preparation of plant material for dyeing. Possible guests: Textile artist Tania Love, Thea Haines (head of textile department at Sheridan College and natural dye consultant) Zoom presentation. Using plants to make dyes or direct printing Eco-Printmaking/textile/art making collections at library Fall Natural fibre dyeing – wool fleece and cotton See Late summer Late fall Seed harvesting for next year How to collect and store seeds Fall/winter What to do with your dyed material. Contemporary and historical uses Historical uses lecture. Spinning, knitting, felting, sewing workshops tie-dye homemade face masks cotton scrunchies yarn for knitting, felting or macrame VOLUNTEERS NAME INFO CONTACT JOB INTEREST Jo Harris Weaver/West Carleton Fibres Guild joharris8@gmail.com Kathryn James spinner/natural dyer klj323@gmail.com Foraged materials? Jane Low West Carleton Fibres Guild jane.ben.low@gmail.com SPEAKERS/WORKSHOP HOSTS Tania Love Fibre artist/natural dyes Guest speaker Thea Haines Head of Textiles, Sheridan College, textile artist and natural dye consultant thea.e.f.haines@gmail.com Plant information and donation, guest speaker Plant suggestions (source: Thea Haines) If you're working primarily with wool, you have a wealth of choice in plants. Here's a list of plants I'd recommend: Annuals dyer's coreopsis marigold scabiosa (pin cushion flower) Biennials weld woad Perennials black eyed susan dyer's chamomile/golden marguerite lady's bedstraw madder tansy rhubarb (leaves can be used as a mordant) Japanese maple & Elderberry (both can be used for eco printing) Most of these plants are really easy to care for. A resource I would recommend is the book A Dyer's Garden by Rita Buchanan. A good source for plants and seeds is Richter's Herbs in Goodwood, Ontario.

Explore the Almonte Fibrefest virtually

Once again Covid has changed the look of Almonte's Fibrefest. From Sept 7- 30,2021 guest Artists will vitually demonstrate their craft such as spinning, weaving,felting,rughooking, quilting and more. Familiarize yourself with virtual workshops and participating Artists. http://almontefibrefest.ca