"We live," notes a book I am reading, "in an ocean of vibrating frequencies organized as a hologram in which each part contains the whole. Creating order in just one part automatically benefits the whole." Poor pilot, poor Philip, caught in war's incoherent frequencies. But creating order in just one part is manageable - as Lesley and Yvonne demonstrate in their work.

Lesley writes: I worked with applique/stitching process in the 60's and 70's, then specialized in painted fabrics in the 80's, working with interior designers and architects. After my introduction to new chemical processes at the US Surface Design Association Conference in 1996 I began to use these techniques to create textiles that suggest organic surfaces by changing the structure of the fabric rather than imposing a design on the cloth. Decomposition reveals intricate veining structures and in my Leaf Cloth series I explore the delicate cellular shapes and perforations of leaves. The finished fabric looks fragile, but is quite strong, not unlike the leaf skeleton itself.

Yvonne writes: My work is currently focussed on ways to apply my contemporary interpretation of the Japanese Shibori resist technique. It was developed in 1883 for cotton fabric which was wrapped around a pole, compressing into folds, and dyed with indigo. My focus is now on fabric, particularly wool, combining shibori with the fulling process to create a richly textured surface for wearables like the wool shawls and lace dress in the show. Inspiration for designs and textures comes from dwelling close to the sea, and in seeking to recreate its delicate beauty and fragility I use the precious Gunma silk. I appreciate that it has been woven for centuries in a small family mill, and using it connects me with my cultural language.

Yvonne's Japanese heritage and sense of design is a significant anchor in her work, gently instilled by the everyday, informal training she received from her mother, Koji. Yvonne has written a remarkable account of her family from the time her grandfather, Isaburo Tasaka, paid one dollar for his passage to Oregon on a steam powered sailing ship. Here is an extract: As you read about the members of this Tasaka family, you will find it is also the story of individual and cultural values..... It is about 'girininjo shikataganai' and 'kokai and serpar', those cultural forces that underlie the description 'inscrutable oriental' and results in behaviour that many North Americans find confusing 'Girininjo' is a complex sense of obligation and responsibility; 'shikataganai' is the ability to accept life as it comes; 'kokai and senpai' refer to respect for who comes second and who comes first.

Between Lesley and Yvonne there is no question of who comes first or second either in education or teaching, or the number and variety of exhibitions and awards given in many countries. Most importantly they are both teachers with Masters Degrees in Education. Lesley has taught Surface Design and Design in the Textile Arts at Capilano College since 1973. Yvonne instructed at Captilano College and the University College of the Fraser Valley, covering Surface and Fashion Design and Textile Science.

Lesley speaks for them both when she writes: I find the techniques and knowledge I need for teaching inspires me to expand my work in different ways, and conversely the concepts I use in my work often influence my teaching. These combined pursuits keep both my teaching and studio work alive.

And now I most appropriately introduce my guest this week, Katherine Soucie, herself a former pupil of both Lesley and Yvonne. Katherine enrolled in the Textile Arts Program at Capilano College as an advanced student with a background in fashion. On graduation in 2002 she received the North Vancouver Arts Council Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts Program. In 2003 the Circle Craft Co-operative gave her a scholarship for creative and academic achievement, and in 2006 she received the BC Achievement Award. Her current programme includes creating clothing for her successful business (neatly named 'San Soucie)'; being a Design Instructor at the Helen Lefaux School of Fashion Design; serving on the board of the Circle Craft Co-operative (and the Gallery Committee). Also she is currently taking three courses a week to explore new textile processes. But she found time to give us her comments on this show. Here are reflections from someone who fully understands her subject. Katherine writes:

Printing, stitching, tying, binding, dyeing, painting, burning and cutwork are just a few of the techniques to be found layered in this new work by Lesley Richmond and Yvonne Wakabayashi. Layering different processes in a single work is time consuming, and in this show are excellent examples of how exploration is affecting contemporary textile art. Lesley’s exploration in how to create an illusion of delicate skeletal-like forms was prompted by her interest in European lace, and the structures of decay in nature. Her 'Lace Cloth' series gave a sense that they were historical textiles just unearthed from an archeological dig. Although her pieces are produced in a two-dimensional manner, it is Lesley's use of heat-reactive pastes that allows her to transform and manipulate the surface forms. The imagery and techniques within this body of work not only challenge the viewer visually and physically, but also reminds us of the beauty within the process of decay.

Yvonne's latest body of work is the result of her experimental approach in using silk and wool fabric. She is already renowned for her ability to manipulate the surface of fabric by incorporating the Japanese tying and binding technique know as Shibori. Her work in fabric sculpture has resulted in the development of patterns that are both textural and structural surprises, intriguing to look at, either behind glass or worn on a live body. The simplicity of these new expressions in Shibori has renewed my own interest in this age-old Japanese technique. Shibori continues to evolve and inform the materials Yvonne work with, but it is her inspiration from nature that is the basis from where she creates.

After viewing all the work in this show I was reminded of how both these artists inspired me while studying Textiles at Capilano College. I found their skillful and unique approach to colour, texture and shape extremely innovative, and influenced me as an artist and I was inspired by their attention to detail, and ability to transform traditional textile techniques into formative structures and wearables. Above all, both artists are informed by what surrounds them in nature. Both have produced work for this show that is not only beautifully executed but challenges the viewer to ask, "How is this made?"

Thelma Ruck Keene

The inspirations for Rachelle Chinnery’s work are reflected by an exceptional quality inherent and unique to porcelain: translucency. Her themes of water, light and movement are evident in all of her pieces, and the process by which she makes her work is also indicative of fluidity and movement.

Thrown on a potters’ wheel, Rachelle's porcelain vessels are then ‘altered’ into undulating forms which she then carves, creating patterns evoking the rippling surface of water, or the patterns left in sand by the receding tide. Far from static, these visions of water are inspired by her love of the natural world and kayaking - an experience that requires extreme discipline, knowledge, skill and a sense of reverence – as does working with porcelain.

First introduced to making pots while living in Japan, Chinnery has since developed an ongoing body of work motivated by her empathy for the physical beauty of British Columbia and the magnificence of Nature. Her thrown and handbuilt pieces are based on fluid, organic forms, whose carved surfaces are enhanced by the translucency of the fired clay body. The play of light , the wet sheen of her glazes, and at times a subtle touch of aquamarine gives quiet emphasis to the theme of water.

A special quality of these porcelains is their consistent strength and integrity. No distinction is made between concept and potential ownership which can range from public or private collections to homely funtional use. What Rachelle simply offers in every piece is an invitation to enjoy a sensuous visual and tactile experience.

And Rachelle writes, Standing in Art with Bare Feet

In 1996, my husband Doug and I went on our first sea kayaking expedition. Since that first trip we have taken two to four weeks off every summer, packing all our food and water, and heading out into the exposed Pacific coast. Experiencing nature this extreme has been the single most powerful impetus in my work.

Vast tracks of uninhabited beaches, huge breaking swells of frothing salt water, grazing bears and breaching grey whales move my imagination and translate directly into clay. I surf in rolling waves onto white sand beaches, paddle over floating kelp beds and, on one occasion, I looked a grey whale in the eye as it surfaced right beside my kayak. On shore, while Doug is out fishing, I walk the beaches with my camera. Through a macro lens I look very closely at the flora and fauna with magnified vision. Exquisite folds of a wild pea blossom, the arcing tendrils of trailing vines, or the soft curve of a sand dune later bring line out of my hands and into the clay. Inspired by the unparalleled art form that nature is, my camera becomes a sculpting tool.

My ceramic work has grown over the years with the experience of being in coastal wilderness with all of my senses engaged - standing in art with bare feet. Observing paintings, sculptures, ceramic work and other media have not provided me with the fundamental spark or the deep motivation to generate crafted form in clay. Learning technical aspects of the medium have only played a small part in being able to express the mood and the emotional experience of the Pacific coastline. Key to my work is distilling the essence of movement, the sound patterning, sand patterning, the peace of open space and ocean air, and forming it into the micro world of a single cup.

P.S. Don not miss one particular teapot. It has a slender, slightly curved spout which thrusts urgently forward, and there’s laughter in the impulsove twist of the handle. I swear it may, any time, just take off.

Thelma Ruck Keene

June 8 - July 3, 2007

Things of Beauty
Jo Ludwig

Jo Ludwig was born in South Africa, lived several years in Germany where his father was a diplomat, trained to be a Heavy Duty Mechanic (he worked on oil rigs), and holds a degree in Philosophy. "But," Jo writes, "I preferred sculpture and the brilliant colour of glass. So in 1996/97 I quit everything, moved to Victoria, opened KilnArt Glass Studio, and commenced teaching myself kilnforming (i.e. fusing and slumping) glass. I taught myself through trial and error and sometimes (when all else failed) through books. In 1990, I discovered dichroic glass, and have worked with it ever since."

My guest this month will throw light on the intricate, skilled process by which dichroic glass is transformed into things of beauty. For now it's worth sharing with Jo his sense of the word 'Beauty', because beauty is what this show is about. Even my dictionary, after listing twenty words, ends lamely 'etc.' But John Keats (1795-1821), in his Ode to a Grecian Urn, had no doubts: "Beauty is truth, Truth is Beauty. That's all we know, And all we need to know."

In this show, regardless of semantics, 80 small bowls lie in groups of refractive glass, the colours, vibrant and variable as a Prairie sunset. Jo writes: "At one time beauty was a necessary, even the principal quality in works of art. Sometimes beauty also was sufficient. Today beauty is not necessary, and certainly not sufficient... My work addresses this issue. I aim to present and re-introduce into the contemporary art space objects whose primary quality is beauty".

Of this primary quality Jo says, "One of the hallmarks of beauty was/is that it speaks directly to, and satisfies, the senses. Its appreciation is unmediated by other considerations. Consequently beauty is not perplexing. Nor is it alienating or threatening." Jo argues that beauty gets short shrift in a current trend of expecting art to 'say something', have a 'meaning.' I think of Picasso's Guernica, and how artists resonate with our world which is full of perplexity, alienation, and threat. A recent TV show featured a stunning ceramic teapot, the knob of the lid a nuclear cloud, the handle a curve of stacked dice. A friend said, "I had to turn that show off. The artist was obsessed with war and death - and skulls! "

I look back to when everything was made by hand. Be it a Grecian urn, a soup bowl, or a goblet for sacred wine, each had its legacy of form and purpose. And beauty? There's the rub. It has no meaning and cannot be measured, it's simply there, an infusion of the artist's spirit. I call it the 'Wow!' factor for it provokes a personal, sensual shock, lodging into memory whatever has been seen - or heard.

Now it's definitely time for Jeff Burnette, my guest this month, to describe the complex process by which Jo Ludwig forms his 'Things of Beauty'. Jeff has been blowing glass for 28 years. He can be seen at work, by appointment, in his huge Joe Blow Glassworks Studio, shaped from a warehouse in the Murgatroid Building. He will soon begin work on a $45,000 commission for UBC which involves facing, with glass, one of three massive walls to be built in the Library (the donor insisted on art glass).
Jeff writes:

Why are these things SO expensive????? I was asked to write something about Jo’s bowls. People are always amazed at the price of handmade art glass here in Canada. I can go to Ikea and get a goblet for $5.00 dollars, why do you charge $90.00 for yours. Or another good one is "How long did it take you to make a goblet?" And my stock answer for that one is “It took me 15 minutes to make this goblet, but it took me 28 years to be able to make it in 15 minutes." I did go to Jo's opening and had a lot of questions for him being the very curious person that I am, the first being "How the heck did you do that???" I even bought a piece. He was very informative and gave me the scoop on the whole process. I just had to learn how to blow Glass.  After hearing what goes into one of his pieces I figured I got off easy. Joe gave me this as far as what goes into his pieces. “My art glass vessels are created in an electric kiln by a process called fusing & slumping or kiln forming. Kiln forming involves two basic steps. First, I assemble my design, made from two to four layers of stained glass, on a kiln shelf. I put the shelf in an electric kiln and fire it until the glass melts (fuses) into a single piece at about 1500F. Then I slow cool the glass to ensure that it is structurally sound. Slow cooling, called annealing, results in a piece of glass called a “blank”. In the second step I place this blank on a mold I have fabricated and return it to the kiln and fire it until the glass forms (slumps) to the shape of the mold (about 1300). The glass is again annealed, because whenever glass is heated above 950F, it becomes internally stressed when cooling unless properly annealed. My art glass vessels require at least 4 of these forming firings. Between firings, I use a series of hand-built machines to grind a blank to the thinness and/or shape I desire or grind a flat rim onto a previously formed piece. Sometimes I sandblast designs into the surface. Where a vessel has feet and/or nubbies, I kiln cast and grind them separately before fusing them to the body of the vessel.

Kiln casting consists of making a mold, filling it with coarsely crushed glass and fusing it in a kiln. I use simple ‘open-backed’ molds to cast feet for my vessels or to cast starfish, slugs and bugs. Here I simply impress a piece of clay with a desired shape and fire the resultant clay till it matures. Then I pour crushed glass into the impression in the clay and fuse it. Such a mold can be used many times. More recently I began using the “lost wax casting” method to cast glass sculptures. First I make a sculpture out of wax. With a small brush I apply up to 10 coats of mold making material to the wax sculpture. Using a large propane torch, I melt the wax sculpture out of the 10 layers of mold making material. This is where the wax is ‘lost’ and the mold making material is cured to produce the mold. Next I put large chunks of glass into the mold, place the mold in the kiln and fire the kiln. At this stage I don special gloves and reach into the kiln to put more glass chunks into the mold. I then anneal the glass, which, depending on its thickness, can take up to 72 hours. After the piece has reached room temperature I break the mold off the glass; thus, the mold is lost and each sculpture is absolutely unique and one-off. Finally, when a vessel or sculpture is complete, I sign and number it with a diamond point, and it is ready to go out into the world.”

I still have more questions about the work but would like to take the time to go over to Joe’s studio. I did do a trade years ago for 2 of his pieces at Starfish glassworks in Victoria. And absolutely love the piece that I still have. It was amazing to be able to see so many pieces at one time in Circle Craft, I just wish that I would have had a camera and more money. I would also highly recommend checking this show out if your into color. The night we were there the sky over the city was extremely dark looking like Tornado weather, so going from that to seeing how bright these bowls are was pretty Kool. Take some time and check it out.

Mention should be made of Peggy Ludwig, Jo's wife. It was she who started the whole adventure when she began making jewellery with small sections of dithroic glass. Jo got interested, saw the possibilities if carried further, and did so. Since 1990 he has made over 10,000 of these little vessels. In 2003 the BC Glass Association awarded him a scholarship to attend a course at Red Deer College. At the 2005 Fine Arts Show in Sooke he was awarded Best in the Show, and his list of gallery shows include Dallas and Seattle. It happens that Jo is the only person in Canada working at this level in dichroic glass. He has wisely kept mainly to the small bowl shape because it focuses the light and colour: also it can be held in the palm of a hand. Remember Blake? To see the world in a grain of sand, A heaven in wildflower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.

Thanks Jo!

Thelma Ruck Keene



May 4 - June 5, 2007

RARA AVIS (L.= rare bird)
Gillian McMillan

Gillian McMillan combines a true love for birds, a fine eye for colour, hands which have learnt to mould clay, and a free-flying imagination ready to form a bird into a jug, or a jug into a bird. Either way, the combination of bird form and jug shape is without pretence. The splendid Rooster in this show asserts loudly, "I am a very fine Rooster, and a most effective jug." In fact the Rooster, some ten years ago, was photographed by Gillian in the small pottery village of La Bome in France.

Gillan writes of "exploring the amazing variety of shapes and colours in the world's bird population. I play with the possibility that the clay can be jugs or other functional vessels. Some are uniquely imaginary, and some are coloured using real species as inspiration. For each bird I make a drawing and decide how to break into the thrown shapes. The legs are merely indicated, sometimes forming a pedestal...or becoming part of the jug's volume. It amuses me to consider how I can throw beaks, tails and heads. It's important to me that the viewer can discern the methodology..."

There speaks the teacher. Gillian, who was born in the gentle county of Dorset in England, trained to be an Elementary Art Teacher in London, majoring in drawing and painting, but also spent a year teaching in Montreal, moved to Vancouver, and there met her husband. He taught archaeology at Douglas College and SFU, and it happened that the College ran ceramics courses. Naturally, Gillian took advantage of this, and by the time her two sons went to school she had become a full-time potter and teacher of wheel throwing.

Then in 1991 came a change. At age 48 Gillian was accepted for a 3-year programme at Emily Carr College Art and Design. She earned a BFA in 1995, and was awarded the Robin Mayer Faculty Scholarship. Gillian comments, "Those three years proved to be the most amazing fun and exhausting time, and led to a fulfilling career in Ceramics. Also it was the two preceding decades of pottting and teaching which made the time spent at Emily Carr more satisfying and effective."

What makes Gillian's story so cheerful is that it confirms how everything we do in life offers itself as a stepping stone to a new adventure. Gillian spells this out, explaining how her BFA in Ceramics "really expanded my horizons....taking printmaking I found it analogous to the ceramics process. The challenge of combining imagery with printing techniques helped to me to hone my ceramic process." Not least were the teachers who urged her to have confidence in her creative voice "and take my work beyond predictable and safe horizons."

This is a good moment to introduce Sylvia Ohrn, my guest this month. Born and raised in Vancouver, Sylvia has spent most of her adult life working, playing and experimenting with clay, and loves exploring colour to create eye-catching surface decoration. Sylvia is a long time member of Circle Craft, and has given her time to serve on several committees. Her work is sold at Circle Craft and in different stores and galleries in BC. She writes:

Gillian McMillan’s show is titled “Rara Avis (L.=rare bird)” and these are bird pitchers set against a pretty sky blue wall.

Gillian has put together a colourful assembly of bird pitchers that is fun, imaginative and extremely well crafted. Having a bird as a pitcher is a fun idea, as well as working well functionally because the shape of a bird’s bill can be an ideal pouring spout.

There are some 40 pieces in the show. Most of them are made using a dense terra cotta clay. She has thrown the bird bodies and added, either with additional thrown pieces, or extruded or pulled bits to form feet, tails, beaks, pedestals and eyes. Each finished piece consists of at least five separate parts, but the joins are done so well, they appear to be all of a piece.

Some are quite obviously jugs, while others are more sculptural, and it is only when you look carefully, that you see the jug in hiding. Some are short, squat and mug size, while others are large and quite sculptural. She has put together birds that are roosters, cardinals, puffins, eagles and even a “raincoast runner”. Some with attitude and others that sit quietly. Worth mentioning are her roosters, one of which is crowing and strutting forward, looking very lively.

After she has made all the separate pieces of the bird, she assembles them, cutting and fitting when they are dry enough to handle. While the birds are still leather hard she does her decorating. She uses coloured slips or terra sigillata that she paints on. Each bird is multi-hued. She has black and white birds, with red, grey, and terra cotta accents. Her bright blue birds may have a paler blue on the body with a white chest, and detailed feathers painted grey or black. Her colours are varied, with bright shades, as well as subtler hues in the browns, ochres and beiges. When the pots are dry she does a bisque, then glazes them and fires to cone 04, doing a slow firing, and a 20 minute soak at the end to even out the kiln temperature, which will also help her glaze with crazing (or rather not crazing).

In contrast to these birds, there is a bit of a surprise with some of the other birds. Although they are similar in structure to the colourful birds, these ones have a different look. They are stoneware and salt fired, so have a soft textural quality. They are in subtle shades of blue, green, grey or beige and have an old fashioned look and feel to them. There are also a few pieces in the show that are not pitchers. One is a large crock with a sculptured bird perched on the rim, and a painted bird on the body of the vessel.

Gillian has worked many months putting this show together, and though the pieces are painstakingly done, she has kept them alive and imaginative.

After leaving Emily Carr, Gillian shared a studio in Vancouver until she became involved with establishing the Port Moody Arts Centre and spent three years as their artist-in-residence. Now she works from he well-equipped home studio in Port Moody, taking time to teach at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and the Port Moody Arts Centre; she also offers workshops on tile and painting with slips.

A full life, with the jugbirds, currently take most of her studio time. I look through the list of show jugbirds and roll their names round my tongue: Oriole, Goldfinch, Cardinal, Puffin, Winter Whistler, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Rufus-sided Towhee. Finally I think of them as described by Gillian: "They are mostly functional and food-safe. Some may simply look down on their owners from a shelf, but many have flown far away around the world." Bon voyage!

Thelma Ruck Keene
Gallery Committee



April 3 - May 2, 2007

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April Fools!
an exhibition of slaphappy socks by Fiona MacLeod and Christine Lawrance

Mark Twain’s quote written beneath the title of the show reminds us that April Fools Day is the one day out of the 364 when we remember what we are. Well, yes, but I have something which fits this show exactly, written by Peter Oustinov who had a glorious talent to amuse: it is "Laughter is the most civilized music in the universe…" And on the opening night of this show the gallery was full of that civilized music, all because of the little characters whose bodies were made out of socks. So, I begin with thanks for the humour and skill of Fiona MacLeod and Christine Lawrance and their daring in taking on the show some six weeks before it was due to open. I’ll explain this later.

But first, I hasten to add that the show is not a ho-hum makeshift. Fiona and Christine are both talented in the arts. Fiona has a BA in Art History from Queen’s University and a Diploma in Textile Arts from Capilano College in North Vancouver. Fiona has worked for several non-profit organizations and fed her love of art through studio work, gallery shows and extensive travel. Christine has a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph and over the last 14 years has worked as a curator, arts administrator and designer while keeping her skills lively by attending workshops and seminars.

Just by the way, both artists work for Circle Craft. Fiona is the Administrative Manager and Christine is responsible for designing and operating the website. Both have been having carefree fun comparing their individual sock characters until the April show was cancelled and looking at each other, said "can we do it?" And did.

Penny Birnham will introduce you to these engaging personalities, but first a brief look at laughter, that civilized music, whose wind blows away illusions on behalf of truth. For that is the purpose of mockery, and jesters were, long before professional psychiatrists an essential in the court of kings and gradually the particular skills of mockery were defined. "Fool" first described a "bellows", then a "windbag" and by implication the scattered wits of a madman – except for a "holy fool" who was blessed with innate wisdom – Shakespeare’s fools were like that. Around 1650 emerged the interesting name of "Saltimbanques" based on "saltare" to leap on a bench to capture attention. This became associated with quacks who sold snake oil or cant, thus spawning "mountebank". Finally the word comedy" surprisingly first meant either a "reveler" or a "village". Maybe the famous 17^th century Commedia del Arte began with a group of village revelers improvising what became a caste of immortal characters whose Harlequin and Columbine came, in another guise for me, a small child in England, wonderstruck at my first pantomime. That’s enough of word play and here is Penny Birnam. She is a member of our gallery committee, a ceramic artist, and gifted with Irish wit and will tell you about our "April Fools" She writes:

The new show at the gallery has been causing a stir in the Net Loft. The gallery staff say they see people catch sight of it, turn around, and come to investigate. Children have to be held up and each thing named, people pose in front of it, while others choose this one, then no this one and then oh no look at this – this is my favourite. What is it? It’s Slaphappy Socks, a parade of insouciant dolls of such strong presence that the viewer feels involved in their unique personality, a happy participant.

They are displayed against a background of vertically striped canvas like a fairground tent, and seem caught in the act of leaping, pirouetting and expressing their lively souls. Caliope music, or perhaps jazz played on medieval shawms, maybe the soundtrack playing in their heads. Each little character is somewhere between 6" to a foot long, made of wool, cotton or acrylic sock with vintage fabric and buttons as accents. Apparently the sock monkey is the survivor of a long line of sock dolls, from the days of less affluence, and now the tradition is revisited by this lively crew in their motley.

They are very reasonably priced, and almost all sold out in the first weekend so that Fiona and Christine are racing to replace them, with new individuals making their pitch every day. This show is a celebration of the human hand and spirit.

"What is truth said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer." He must have overlooked the importance of installing in his court a resident jester.

Thelma Ruck Keene
Gallery Committee

March 2 - April 3, 2007

In 2003 Cristina Alvrez Magliano retired from rewarding years as a federal court judge in Buenos Aires, her birthplace in Argentina. With characteristic exuberance she embraced a long delayed desire to develop her skill as an artist. But in the 90s she became fascinated with the art of creating pictures in wood veneer, the process called marquetry. Cristina enjoys challenges and when she moved to Los Angles she joined the American Marquetarian Society, and began to explore this ancient technique. It goes back four millennia to 17th century Florence and Naples. From there it spread to Germany, France, and England where the famous firm of Chippendale used it to variegate the wood surfaces of their furniture. The word, dating from 1653, is a derivative of the old French marqueter, to variegate.

This show is a true example of the legacy of form in art, a long connection of creativity in which one process is given a twist by a new crop of artists, and the changes reflect the infinite variety of human society. Cristina is a romantic, and several pictures in her show tenderly present the grace of women, using for her subjects characters from romantic opera whose tragic tendency is to fall in love with men who treat them badly. She feels strongly abut the pain and courage of women throughout history and in her picture of Madame Butterfly she presents a small, solitary figure, sitting beneath a cold full moon. On the other hand Cristina is in love with the endless renewal of nature, and her show is balanced with an abundance of flowers. What dominates her show is perhaps a final statement. It is large triptych, a city scape of streets and buildings. Halfway up on the left stride two purposeful pairs of legs, male and female. In the right hand corner stands a couple, arms encircling waists.

To explain the marquetry process is my guest, Dustin Doerntlein. Over the last ten years he has honed his skill in marquetry. He teaches marquetry at the Vancouver Community College, and devotes the rest of his time to producing, and selling, his work. He writes:

In trying to examine and understand what marquetry is, take a step back and disconnect from the completed artwork and look at each piece of wood which forms it. In taking the time to do this an understanding will arise of how great is the diversity of wood species in our world. Marquetry is not only about creating an image or design as a form of surface decoration, it is also about preserving a piece of history. This gives each piece of wood a final chance to reveal its story, a story which began as a seed a long time ago.

What strikes me most about Cristina's work is the feeling of depth and transparency that is achieved in certain pictures by utilizing what is often referred to as the de Vriz technique. This is a relatively new achievement in the realm of what is typically a very conservative and technically strict field of art. The feeling of depth and transparency is achieved by gluing multiple layers of different wood veneers on top of each other and then sanding through the layers to expose what is underneath. Sounds simple enough, but you're wrong!

So when contemplating these pictures in wood veneer the viewer needs to realize the challenges involved. For instance, veneer has a diverse range of colours as well as unique grain patterns, and these factors often dictate what wood is selected. Density is an especially important consideration in using the de Vriz technique. If soft wood is placed beside wood that is too hard the outcome of sanding will be quite difficult to control. Bleeding of colours between dark and light woods is another issue, especially when using porous woods. Keeping only these few points in mind, realize that all sanding takes place in order to reveal the many layers of detailed marquetry. Furthermore, this task alone could take up to hundreds of hours work, with no room for error.

I have written all this in the hope that those who come and view the marquetry work of Cristina Avarewz Magliano will take time to admire the work for what it is, a modern approach to an ancient art form.

Cristina comments on the innovations which th 19th century Art Nouveau movement in Europe brought about in almost every aspect of life. Furniture forms escaped from boring solidity, materials were printed with fluid designs drawn from nature, and marquetry artists combined wood veneer with glass and ivory and metals, an innovation with which Cristina has experiment with more than 100 years later.

When writing about the art of craftsmanship I take courage from knowing that, if we so decide, the creativity that is life itself is our saviour. Here's a quote from the English poet, John Keats: I am convinced only of the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of the imagination.

Thelma Ruck Keene
Gallery Committee

Bronwyn Morris has produced a remarkable show of beautiful, distinctive textiles, the product of seven months work on a new eight harness loom. She bought the coveted loom last year by blowing Circle Craft's $1,000 scholarship she received on graduating from the Textile Arts program at Capilano College.

Four of these scholarships were initiated by the Circle Craft Co-operative in 2003 to celebrate 30 years of working for the development and success of craftspeople in our province. Four colleges and four different craft programs are involved: Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ceramics), Capilano College (Textile Arts), Vancouver Community College (jewellery), and the Kootenay School of the Arts (Wood/Metal). The selection of recipients is rigorous, based on outstanding achievement and an intent to pursue their art professionally, or through further studies.

The first full show mounted by a scholarship winner was in June 2006. Katherine Soucie attended the Textile Arts program at Capilano College with a background in fashion and printing technology. By 2006 she had evolved a unique fashion line creating her cloth by combining deconstruction, blending, layering, dyeing and printing the surfaces. Bronwyn's textile background, though less advanced than Katherine's, has roots in a grandmother who inspired her to tackle a sewing machine, and even though she sewed the machine needle through a finger, she was undaunted. Now she is exploring how to combine and weave textile threads into textures and designs uniquely her own.

To comment on Bronwyn and her work I welcome my guest this month, Kaja Rautiainen. Kaja was born in Finland. In 1973 she graduated from Helsinki University with a BA in Textile Art Teacher Education. After some years of teaching she spent three years in Brazil, studied painting, and enriched her work through a deeper understanding of indigenous crafts and cultures. Back in Finland she built a worldwide clientele for her tapestries and textile designs, and in 1985 she moved to Canada. Currently she is working on computer facilitated Jacquard weaving and will be showing at our gallery in May 2008. Kaja has much to offer as teacher and artist as she comments on Bronwyn's work. She writes:

And I add a cheer for the Circle Craft scholarships!

Thelma Ruck Keene
Gallery Committee