October 3 - November 4, 2008
Circle Craft Christmas Market Preview
As with so many people interested in craft, I value the opportunity to see the range of creativity and innovation liberally displayed each year at the annual Circle Craft Christmas Market. Further to this opportunity is the added bonus of seeing work that is being made outside of BC, and from across the Country.
The 35th annual CC Christmas Market will not disappoint. Along with many favorite exhibitors, this year’s Show will introduce just
over 50 new exhibitors. A very small – but very exciting – sample of these exhibitors is currently on display in the Gallery at the Circle Craft Shop. Wearables, jewellery, and toys are ongoing favorites in the craft world and these are well represented in this year’s ‘Circle Craft Christmas Market Preview’
From Saskatchewan, the hand knit garments by Laura Kapp are beautifully knit and constructed and posses elegance, quirkiness, and style. In particular, her ‘Tattoo’ sweaters, are designed with humour, a slight edge, and a keen understanding of shape and proportion. These pieces zip up front, are knit with a wide band at the waist, and culminate in a close fitting hood. On the grey front, back and sleeves (which have an opening for ones thumb so that they double as mitts) are boldly knit iconographic images of tattoos – skull and crossbones, images of birds with hearts proclaiming ‘love’, saucy blondes with a banner in which the word ‘SIN’ is knit, provoking mischievious smiles.
On a simply elegant side, Laura hand knits cardigans and pullovers which at first seem somewhat traditional, but on inspection of the detailing again indicate her sense of style, her creativity, and her innovation. Sleeve end like a French cuff, split and loose, or elbow length fingerless mitts have wired silk ribbons drawn through their length.
Clothing designs for children by Rosin Fagan, of ‘Bespoke Uprising Textile Studio’ from Halifax NS are made of 100% hand dyed, hand printed cotton. Her pleasing cloth is sewn into (often reversible) garments for young children. Dresses, jackets, and coveralls are further embellished by free motion machine embroidery, hand stitching, devoré and reverse appliqué. The garments are unique, playful, charming and of a sturdy construction. Pleasing to the eye and touch, these garments are undoubtedly delightful to wear.
Christine Philippe of Quebec City designs and fabricates cast pewter jewellery that is heavily textured. These unique pieces, sometimes done with stones are sculptural statements, as are the landscape inspired jewellery works by Allyson Simmie of Nova Scotia, often involving silver, gold, and gemstones. The indication is that the jewellery selection at the Market will cover a full and vast range.
Beautifully executed batiks by Lynn Blaikie present Northern imagery of people and nature and Michel Chayer, again from Quebec carves birds, elegantly simple in form, from a beautiful selection of interesting woods.
Making a wonderful and whimsical presentation are the soft dolls by Montrealer, Erica Perrot. Her company, Raplapla, offers colourful characters, endearing, beautifully designed and made, and fun.
September 5 – 30, 2008
PATTERNS OF EXPANSION - Felt Fashion
Jessica de Haas
What fun it would be to whisk back on the continuum of time and bring some special guests to this striking show of felt fashion that is both fashion and classic. The guests would be citizens of the Middle Ages and come from somewhere in the Northern Steppes, then known as the Land of Felt. It would even be more interesting to bring a few of their ancestors from the Neolithic times, roughly 8,000 years ago. Yes, 8,000. That was when human ingenuity devised the art of compressing wool fibres into versatile, durable cloth, which, over time, became all the rage for clothing tents, and even battle helmets and a form of protective armour.
From this ancestry steps Jessica de Haas to show felt clothing that has a spring in it. Her neat close-fitting hats would have been de rigueur in the 1920s, but being classic as well as fashion, the hats are not dated nor are the long coats, which fit and flow, the surface enhanced with felt patterns, stitching, and embroidery.
Jessica admits that her fascination with felt may well have begun when, on her eighth birthday, she was given a Fisher-Price loom. Weaving strands of fibre on a loom is very different from building your cloth by hand, but weaving was a first step into the world of textiles. So began her life as a textile artist, starting seriously with a teenage visit to Java to study batik.
The next decade is a typical craft story. In 1993 the Java experience spawned a batik clothing business, combined with teaching and batik demonstrations. Three years later she went off to study the roots of Asian textiles, which gave her "a huge appreciation of Indian textiles and their makers." Back in Canada, she moved to Nelson for more study of fibre art and the Kootenay School of the Arts. By 2003, she was ready to establish her clothing line, Funk Shui, and set up her studio on Granville Island in 2006, and last year a Circle Craft scholarship enabled her to attend a workshop at the Surface Design Association conference in Kansas City.
It is time for my guest. But first, in case you do not know how felt is made, here’s a rough description. Strands of wool are laid closely together on a flat surface; the more layers, the thicker the felt. When a sufficient length is prepared, the fibres are first dowsed with soapy water, compressed to extract the water, and agitated from side to side or stamped on. This is called ‘fulling’. It activates the fibre scales to hook firmly together into the dense fabric. Dyeing the fibres is, of course, a special, skilful process, which can have magical results.
So now, for the comments of my guest, Julia Manitius. She graduated from Concordia with a BFA in Graphic Design and taught drawing, design, and ceramics John Abbott College in Montreal before moving to Denmark "a century ago". Julia was a full-time studio potter for 18 of the 28 years she lived in Denmark. Following the completion of an ESL certificate from her alma mater, she taught English for Textiles, Exhibition Design, and Textile Materials at Bornholms Textile College in Denmark. Julia moved to Vancouver in 2004 where she opened "URBANITY" inspired by the wish to sell ethically made, beautiful textiles.
She writes: 
Jessica's designer name is Funk Shui, is a play on "feng shui", the art of creating harmony. She uses a rich palette of colour and by working with silk crepe and fleece, crests a felt that is soft yet has a robust quality. She does not take the fleece to the edge of the silk fabric, but leaves enough so that a ruffle is created, giving a feminine and almost rococo sense to her designs. She uses this fabric to make coats and jackets with button or zip closures that sculpt the body of the wearer. Jessica's hats mold to the form of the head, yet unlike most cloche-forms, her hats seem to mingle with the wearer's hair, not hide it.
For this exhibition Jessica has explored new paths of surface design for coats, jackets, and hats. In two of her jackets, she has developed the surface of the fabric by inlaying bands of fleece in distinctive, symmetrical patterns, and on one jacket she has used lines of stitch to emphasize the inlayed pattern. A tomato-red fitted jacket boasts a large embroidered red flower with a centre of clustered beads that grows from the center of the back across the shoulders. This very colourful and well-executed embroidery also embellishes a number of the hats in the exhibition. In addition to swirling embroidery, and allowing metallic fabrics to peak through the wool, "feathers" of tyvek and small beads are used to embellish the hats.
Jessica chose to use an image on her exhibition announcement of a calf-length coat that explores the movement of colour, as it changes from plum on the shoulders to acid green at the bottom. Subtle is the change of hues, exquisite is the garment. Bold, direct, yet with the distinctive ruffle edge that is synonomous with her Jessica's work.
It is always exciting to see the marriage of craft with fashion and Jessica has taken the richness of embroidery and colour to new extremes.
I am very grateful to Julia and all the guests who give their time to visit and comment on our shows. My guests are craftspeople or college professors or people like Julia, with a background in the arts. The partnership of writing gives a wider view of each monthly gallery show.
And a last comment. In her bio, Jessica mentioned that she was born in the interior of B.C. "where she gained an appreciation of the natural world." It is a simple statement, often mentioned by craftspeople. But it is not an affectation for they are profoundly connected to the phenomenon we call nature. Artisans use largely natural materials, and these must be understood and appreciated, if they are to co-operate. So crafts, by their nature, are a point of contact, a reminder of something infinitely valuable.
Thelma Ruck Keene
August 8 September 2, 2008
CHROMA
Jewellery by Monique Mousseau
Every show in our gallery provokes an immediate gut response, which can range from laughter to awe. Monique Mousseau’s pendants and matching earrings are presented in separate glass cases, each an individual statement, quietly offered. And, to me, they have an air of formally receiving the viewer, graciously and gladly encouraging close inspection. My guest this month, Penny Birnam, introduces them with understanding pleasure. But first Monique should speak for herself, for her comments offer the craft of words to partner the craft of hands. Monique writes: "My inspiration comes from the changing relationships that I see in the natural world around me. I am especially awed by the mountains and waters of the West Coast that every second are making and shaping each other and the material world I live in. As I move from image to concept, then back into image in my attempt to reflect and realize this beauty that is surrounding me, my relationship with my craft always moves towards a new beginning."
This sense of connection between the splendid world of nature and the creative artisan is as old as the hills and as beautiful. What delights me is that the creators are now voicing their inspiration, born from an innate knowing that we and the world belong to each other. The artisan simply has the advantage of understanding how to employ nature to form the work of hands. So here is Penny Birnam ceramic sculptor and a member of our four-person Gallery Committee.
She writes:
These pieces represent a new exploration for Monique. Instead of the strongly West Coast inspired blues and greens which characterise her work, with intricate swirling patterns and complex shapes, she has restricted herself to a disciplined oval. Like a potter limiting herself to bowls to explore form and color, she is working with color relationships in these concentric ovals, producing a great variety of effects from the different colors as well as the quality of color radiated by transparent or opaque enamel and by gemstones. In each piece, the size of the different concentric rings varies, as she works subtle magic with the impact of the area of each color, emphasised by the silver mountings and gold wire insets and wraps.
The play of color is beautiful, producing quite different emotional impacts. There are three pendants with opals, each of which is very different as the widely varying characters of each lively opal is enhanced by the two enamels chosen for it; one pendant with an amythyst set in transparent yellow and opaque black, one with amber set with transparent red and opaque black, and a beautiful formal gold spiral set in black enamel. Two pairs of earrings have the singing colors and classic shapes which make the kind of jewelry that becomes a lifetime favourite. Monique's mastery of this very labour-intensive art really shows in these simple elegant shapes, in the perfect ovals and color fields. The fact that she has restricted the work to a single form makes a show of strong quiet impact which rewards attention.
In conclusion, a note of thanks to the Georgia Straight for the sensitive review of Monique Mousseau’s show (August 7th page 8). Follow this link to read the review stunning-cloisonne-jewellery-fires-chroma. This review is linked to our website for our readers’ enjoyment.
Thelma Ruck Keene
July 4 – August 5, 2008
Hold That Thought
Woven vessels by Joan Carrigan
Yes, hold that thought as you look up at the centrepieces of this enchanting show. On the gallery wall is a sizeable cluster of corkscrew hazel which holds a small nest of root and moss. It is titled "Nesting Nest" and might have been just readied for the bird and the eggs and the new life to come. The intertwined hazel throws complementary shadows on the gallery wall, the whole work offering a concept and a delicate composition which is now lodged in my mind, and my heart.
Having written that paragraph, I re-read a quote from an article written in 2004. The writer, Kevin Wallace is commenting on work being judged for the Handwoven Guild of America Award which Joan won that year – and the next year. Kevin wrote: "This work is utterly charming. Originally a more experimental or contemporary work was considered for the award; however, after spending time walking through the exhibit and looking at all the works, I realized that the restraint and subtlety employed by the artist was responsible for a powerful work that remain in the mind and heart much longer than those which offered a greater initial response."
I swear I did not borrow Kevin’s concluding comments – I had read them quickly and set them aside for later use. Now I see our shared use of "mind and heart" is a natural response to Joan’s delight in the "thought" of basketry. Oddly "basket" has no linguistic origin. "Not in Teut. or Rom." notes my dictionary with a sniff. But come to think of it, no work is necessary – you can simply act it out. Try it – it’s fun. Better still, make your own basket at one of Joan’s workshops on Salt Spring Island. As she says "I clearly remember the exhilaration of making my first basket."
So, here is a show of baskets, vessels and wall pieces woven, entwined or sculptured, mainly using the bark of willow, cherry, cedar and arbutus. One piece is formed in kelp and driftwood, and the Entwined Baskets variously use West Coast sweetgrass, cedar root and beargrass. And to comment on this creative combination of skills I gladly introduce Ruth Scheuing.
Ruth Scheuing is an artist, educator and writer working with textiles. She received her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Her works have been exhibited internationally. Her published writings include and a book of essays, entitled 'material matters: the Art and Culture of Contemporary Textiles', with the essay 'Penelope or the Unraveling of History'. She currently teaches in the Textile Arts Program at Capilano Univeristy in North Vancouver and was its coordinator between 1992-2004. Her work often combines old + new technologies such as computerized jacquard weaving, and the most recent project 'Walking the line', made mostly with a GPS, can be seen on digitalthreads.ca a webproject organized by the Textile Museum of Canada.
She writes:
My immediate reaction was awareness of Joan Carrigan's skill with so many different basketry techniques, her care and attention with the natural materials used, but also her sense of play and experimentation.
Joan's pieces walk a fine line between being objects to be admired for their visual and technical beauty, they balance sculptural qualities with a clear reference to their tradition as baskets. They may not be suitable to carry thing, but clearly speak to this tradition. She is clearly influenced by these traditions, but is adapting them to her own environment and today's reality.
The two pieces that drew my main attention were a small, formal study of 3 flat weavings, presented under glass, like fragments, studies or a poem, entitled 'Twill Triptych'. Each of the three pieces is a small weaving, that uses different materials to create distinct patterns. On the other side of the spectrum is a piece entitled 'Vine Vessel' a very loose structure, that reminded me of a slinky, held together in only some places, but letting the vine to be quite loose. Both pieces show the variety of patterns achievable with natural plants. The difficulty often is knowing when to impose the human hand and when to let the material loose. And as I am writing this, I realize that this is one of Joan's main points in her work as she says in her statement.
"In my work I am interested in blending the random aspects of the natural world with the control of human involvement; simplicity with complexity; yielding with exertions. " (Joan Carrigan).
As a techy, I went immediately to her new website www.joancarrigan.com and her Flickr Site and really like how Carrigan combines her life on rural Salt Spring, with a rich community presence on the web. Joan, who travels the world to meet basket makers, shows the existence of people still working today and keeping traditional knowledge alive. The fact that she can 'publish' her experience in her own voice on the web, shows how we can use today's technologies to support the traditions of the past and create communities ourselves, that need not be sanctioned or vented by anyone.
Thelma Ruck Keene
June 5 – July 2, 2008
Solstice
Ceramics by Jim Etzkorn
Jim Etzkorn’s show of strong, beautiful ceramics is rightly titled ‘Solstice’. Rightly? Because June 21 is roughly that moment in summer time when the sun seems to stand still midway between the two equinoxes. So for Jim the solstical synonym neatly identifies his turning from making closed forms to exploring the open forms of bowls and plates whose surfaces, curved or flat, are a spacious canvas for decoration and the adventure of playing with glaze.
Turning points, whether chaotic or quietly evolving, are always enriching. Jim writes, "From an early age the discipline, dogma and mystery of Catholicism was a somewhat constrictive, dominant force in my life. Solace was found at play in the woods and discovering the magic of nature". The woods must have been a blessing.
From this thoughtful basis evolved Jim’s first major solstice when, at art school, he discovered the sensuality of clay and its encompassing complexities. He was captivated by everything – the process, the cultural history, and the science. So he became a ceramacist, worked hard and, in 1987, visited Taiwan and Korea that enriched him twice over. The beauty of the ceramics reaffirmed his interest in Oriental form and, as he explains, "One aspect of Japanese culture is their recognition that the cyclical and transitory elements of nature are a source of contemplation and reflection. This reconnected me with the spiritual and natural world so prevalent in my formative years."
It is these delicate connections between Eastern and Western sensibilities which Jim poured into the pieces for this show in a concentrated burst of four months’ work.
So now my guest this month, Penny Birnam, will share with you the facts of these pieces and the feeling within the forms – that something we sense with our ‘seeing eye’. Penny is a ceramic sculptor and a long time member of Circle Craft. She has been President of the Board, served on the Selections Committee, and is our colleague on the Gallery Committee. Her work is boldly right there in the store – and you won’t have to search for it.
Penny writes:
The thing I like about this show is that it makes me want to touch everything, to pick up each piece, turn it over, and run my fingers over the luscious glazes. The wax resist gives a low relief that the rich glazes highlight, intensifying their effect. There is a smoky celadon, subtly darkening towards the bottom of the work, a rich temoku on a deeply incised plate, chocolate on the high points grading to black where it is deeper, and a beautiful tomato red crying for a human touch.
The decorative motifs are derived from nature – a pair of birds, a leaf, and a simplified peony. They fit beautifully on the forms, the wax resist process producing lovely colour and depth contrasts in the glazes. There is a blue line on an inflected brown, and other more complex shadowings that are the combined gift of glaze, experience, and the gas kiln god.
The strong forms show the depth of Jim’s experience, with hints of influence from Michael Cardew, Bernard Leach, and the Japanese and Chinese potters he has studied; but the synthesis is contemporary and his own. There are large plates and jars, butter dishes, tea and wine sets and small cruets where the simple line patterns and swelling forms meld perfectly together. This is a must-see show.
Reading Penny’s ‘seeing eye’ comments and her mention of the British potter, Bernard Leach, set up unexpected connections – beginning with the famous Japanese tea bowl known as the Kazaemon Ido. This bowl is the first in a list of 26 tea bowls from china, Korea and Japan and is reputed to contain the Essence of Tea. Bernard Leach was a close friend of Suetso Yanagi, the found of the Folkcraft Museum in Tokyo whose book, ‘The Unknown Craftsman’, Leach transcribed into English. Here is Yanagi’s account of seeing the famous tea bowl for the first time in 1931:
For a long time I had wished to see this Kizaemon bowl. I had expected to see that "essence of teak", the "seeing eye" of Tea Masters, and test my own perception…It was within box after box, five deep, buried in wood and wrapped in purple silk...
When I saw it my heart fell. A good tea bowl, yes, but how ordinary! So simple. No more ordinary thing could be imagined…just a Korean food bowl, moreover, that a poor man would use every day – commonest crockery.
Yanagi lets loose a list of everything wrong with the bowl and complains. But nobody minded, no-one invested the thing with any dreams. It was enough to make one give up working as a potter. But soon, very honestly, he admits he was wrong. This, and no more, was the truth about this, the most celebrated tea bowl in the land. But that was as it should be.
Later Yanagi wrote about "the beautiful truthfulness of the handmade domestic crafts". And that is talking about the Essence within any object made by hand.
So what has this to do with Jim Etzkorn? It is simply that Michael Cardew, who has been an inspiration for Jim, was a pupil of Bernard Leach in his studio in Cornwall, England a lifetime ago. It seems that energy is an inexhaustible flow. Just that.
Thelma Ruck Keene
May 2 – June 3, 2008
Natural Images (Bear Encounters)
Kaija Rautiainen
In Finland, where Kaija Rautiainen was born, it is not unusual to have a loom in the house. There was one in Kaija’s home, but though she says she cannot remember a time when she wasn’t sewing or knitting, she adds that, "mostly my mother and sister worked on the loom." Never mind, Kaija made up for this exasperating situation by making the weaving of tapestries a life work. It’s been a good life – learning and teaching, and more learning so her tapestries spoke for her. And always the subject was nature, pure and simple.
Fifteen years ago Kaija’s show at Circle Craft was titled "Hidden gardens." She wrote, "Inspired by tidal pools I depict the organic beauty and the mystery of the living world. "This year her "Natural Images" range from bears to antlers, sand and rope as if to say, "Look at this!’ like a child does, picking up a stone.
This kind of fierce innocence is palpable, and as I moved from the large bear images to a small tapestry of sand and sky, two poems of William Blake (1757-1827) came into mind. The bears brought a verse from "Tyger, tyger burning bright…"
When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who make the Lamb make thee?
And the sand….
To see the World in a Grain of Sand
A Haven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
Now here is my guest, Anthea Mallinson. She is a graduate of the Tapestry Department of West Dean College in Sussex, England, and an expert in tapestry, weaving and dyeing. She has exhibited her tapestries in England Canada, the U.S. and Japan, and her commissions include an altarpiece for a Calgary convent. Her extensive experience in dyeing has led working as a Key Dyer for many feature films. She also teaches in the Costuming for Stage and Screen program and the Arts Department of Capilano College. Somehow she makes time to work for large and small community projects – and commenting on Kaija Rautiainen. She writes:
Long time textile artist Kaija Rautiainen provides us, in this exhibition, with an interesting variety, a selection of her work with the Jacquard loom. The imposing bear faces are the first to catch our attention; her feeling of personal connection with these creatures (she was with photographer Albert Karvonen on a remote B.C. coast when the photos upon which these pieces are based were taken) comes through in her attention to details. Her careful selection of different yarns and skillful use of textures available to her through the Jacquard process, her use and understanding of linen, metal, paper, and her skilled use of the intricate 3-dimensionality of this fabric structure give her pieces strength.
The smaller abstracts included in the show utilize the textural quality of her approach to the Jacquard process which she enhances with subtle details of surface embellishment. Her embellishment with thread adds another layer of texture; her use of paint adds a subtle layer of unexpected colour change that serves but doesn’t dominate the texture of her work.
The graphic antler pieces with the strong red and silver symbols have a shamanistic presence. What you only learn from speaking with Kaija is that these pieces have a history and multicultural significance for her as well. The white bleached-like antlers are woven with contemporary Japanese paper fibre while the strip of red symbols on their dark ground are made of 
mid century Finnish paper yarn taken from old mattress covers that were woven during war time shortages. There is something unusual in the colour contrast of these materials, which adds to their presence even before we know the history.
One aspect of this exhibition that is a quiet challenge to the viewer and a conscious exploration on Kaija’s part is her choice to frame all the pieces but one and to put most of them under glass. Kaija has purposefully chosen this presentation format to state that this textile work can belong on a gallery wall. Certainly, in this guise, their identity as ‘textile’ or ‘fabric’ has very little presence. Some of the textural surface, especially in the antler pieces, is lost. However her use of weave structure and yarn characteristics shines through the glass especially in the imposing bear pieces, and this format seems likely to attract a broader, perhaps more conventional audience.
Happily, Kaija has also included in the show one of the Rope series, imagery she has worked with for some time. A large unframed diptych on its own wall, this polished piece has a strong presence. Made of thread, imaging thread, signifying passages of one kind and another – it is perhaps this intense realism in imagery – layered, coloured and abstracted through magnification and interpretation- that best reveals Kaija’s developed artistry.
Kaija’s journey in the art of tapestry began conventionally with a BA in Textile Education from the University of Helsinki followed by six years of teaching in Finald. And then her husband’s work took him to Brazil and suddenly Kaija had time, time to weave, time to study painting to strengthen her designs, and time to explore the riches of Brazil’s indigenous craft traditions. Three years later she was back in Finland and ready to develop her career in weaving tapestries and designing textiles. Then in 1985, she and her husband moved to Vancouver in Canada.
Vancouver cannot claim to be a Paradise, but Kaija writes, "I met an enthusiastic group of tapestry weavers, established my studio in Burnaby, and shifted my interest from weaving twill tapestries to the traditional technique done on an upright loom. Eight years later the BC Craft Council gave me a grant to travel to Finland and study the special skill needed to weave tapestries on a Jacquard loom." So began a series of courses including the Jacquard designing program offered by the Textile Department of Calipano College.
Now Kaija shares, with another weaver, her studio and the Jacquard Thread Controller TC.1. and speaks confidently of exploring a new level of creative space between hand and technology. So do not begin to fear that hand weaving is doomed. And if you still doubt, read what follow – Anthea wrote it for non-weavers:
Fabric is made of warp and weft. The warp threads stretch parallel to one another, strung on the loom before weaving begins. Any piece of fabric has many –hundreds or even thousands – of warp threads, which usually form part of the visible fabric. These threads are raised and lowered in groups so that a visible as well as a structural pattern is formed as the cloth is woven. The Jacquard loom, invented in 1801, used hole-punched cards to raise and lower one thread at a time, allowing for the creation of complex woven imagery. The Jacquard loom is seen as an important step in the development of the computer. (look up Wikipedia "Joseph Marie Jacquard", "Charles Babbage" and the "Analytical Engine") Today’s Jacquard looms are controlled by computers, and it is only in recent years that they have become accessible to individual textile artists for use in work such as this work of Kaija’s. The Jacquard loom allows for the mechanical weaving of fabric one pixel at a time. The pixels are formed by both the warp and the weft. The process has to be carefully planned by the textile artist; any texture structure must not only create the image desired, but must also create a stable fabric. The experienced Jacquard artist can play with the structure to create compelling imagery and interesting textures, to make threads sink below the surface but still have a presence in the shadows.
After all, invention is energy, humming around, ready to be handy.
Thelma Ruck Keene
April 4 - April 29, 2008
BUBBLE
Hand blown Glass by Jill Allan
Last Sunday at the opening of Jill Allan’s show, I became aware that many visitors were standing absorbed, not moving, intent on a chosen display. I noted this to Jill, and she smiled, and I smiled when I later read one of her written comments – "by using repetition of form and pattern I can make interesting, rich pieces and keep the work simple, while the optical qualities of glass allow me to introduce an element of mystery, surprise or wonder."
"Simple". This is a dominant factor in Jill’s work, and the work reminds me of something J.F. Schumacher wrote: "Any intelligent fool can invent further complications, but it takes a genius to retain or recapture simplicity." Yes, ‘genius’ is a word originally meaning "the attendant spirit allocated to everyone at birth to preside over their destiny."
"The work in this show," Jill explains, "is a departure from what I have been making until now, which were almost always vessels, which could be functional. These pieces are sculptural forms, and it was a real joy finally to make what has been haunting my sketch books for some time. I look forward to making these forms larger and build on the new simple themes I find in this new body of work."
It’s appropriate that my guest this month is Ron Kong, he was Curator of the Craft Museum in Vancouver which awarded Jill their Millennium Award in 2000. Sadly the Museum had to close though the shows Ron mounted there are unforgettable. But the closure was Circle Craft’s gain when Ron accepted the position of managing our store on Granville Island. Ron brings a wealth of craft experience and knowledge and a special skill in planning and mounting displays. This skill happily has a free hand every summer when he mounts a show of Circle Craft work at the Hong Kong Bank of Canada’s Pendulum Gallery on Georgia Street.
Ron writes:
As a medium for object making, glass is refreshing with its light altering qualities, duality of strength and fragility, and its sensuousness. In her newest body of work, Jill Allan emphasizes and exploits these specific qualities of glass in visually soft, pristine and well proportioned organic ovoid and bowl forms. Indicative of bubbles, these hollow forms however transcend our usual notion of them. Instead, Jill Allan has blown shapes of vitality and elegance. Her simple forms are evidence of a confidence and ease with working molten glass – and of an intimate knowledge of how the medium will transform, not only in shape, but also in colour and texture. Jill Allan clearly understands her medium in both its molten and hardened states, manipulating and working it with an informed sensitivity.
A duality in this lively body of work is the artist’s very insightful and assured use of colour. Singularly both strong yet subtle, her rich hues enhance these sensuous, curving forms. Our vision is directed around the pieces and into them, as our sight is lured by soft yet strong hues such as cranium yellow, amber brown, and steel blue.
Jill Allan has achieved a body of work that considers light, colour, form and beauty. It is as strong as it is gentle, as subtle as it is bold, with an underlying elegance and freshness. Arranged in groupings ranging from two to nine individual pieces, Jill successfully contrasts one colour against another, relating the pieces and creating relationships evocative of a school of fish, or floating bathers. A harmonious pair of egg shaped forms in contrasting robin’s egg blue and white, evokes serenity, calm, and grace.
The artist’s understanding of her medium is further emphasized in the surface treatment. Duality is also recognized in the process by which the artist achieves the velvety matt, yet glowing surfaces of her pieces. With an informed and intimate understanding of both the strength and fragility of her medium, the artist gently pits the surfaces of her works with a sandbelt, holding a piece against the belt in such a way as to texture its surface while allowing it to rotate, spinning constantly, allowing just enough ‘texture’ to form without allowing the piece to become overly worn away – a mishap with significant consequences to the final shape of the piece. Subtle patterning and markings further attest to the artist’s attention and skill when finishing the surfaces of her sculpture. The contrast of such an aggressive and abrasive technique to achieve such soft (visually and to the touch), velvet-like surfaces is intriguing.
Reading Ron’s perceptive comments I give thanks for him, and all the craft mentors who empower our artisans to keep on what Jason Marlow in his comments last month called ‘the long journey.’ As it happens I had a fine telephone conversation with Jill before her show opened, and what she said was so interesting I asked her to write down the gist of it. So she did, here in full is her very personal account of what it means to make the long journey with your attendant spirit.
I grew up in a small town on Vancouver Island and had a pretty lovely childhood. We lived near the beach and so a lot of my time has been spent beachcombing and swimming and rowing and fishing. My mum was a musician and teacher and I grew up in music lessons, orchestras, and taking part in amateur theatre productions. Taking part in those activities where people come together to make something out of thin air or whatever is available at the moment is a magical experience. My dad worked in a pulp mill and filled his free time with fishing, hunting and making up great stories to tell me at bed time. There are thousands of those stories I guess, all based around a character named Mrs.Tatroe who had a mountainside farm with livestock, and a family of bears (George and Isabel and their cubs Topsy and Turvey) who were her neighbours. So I come by my imagination honestly I suppose.
While working at Circle Craft in the shop (1991-92) I had become interested in glass and attended an amazing exhibit at the Craft Museum showcasing the work of Finnish Designer Oiva Toikka. The show was so beautiful and interesting! It really made me want to try working with glass. Toikka had made use of the glass in ways I had never imagined before. After mucking around for a few years in different art programs and with different materials I found a good fit with glass at the Alberta College of Art and Design. I was 25 when I started the program and I was ready to be there. After graduating I won a scholarship to travel and study and I took a class in Scotland at Northlands Creative Glass Center. I had originally hoped to take a course in Finland but the class was cancelled. Northlands is located on the northeast coast of Scotland in a picturesque abandoned fishing village, Lybster. The course centered on the theme of Moby Dick and we spent our time making a casket and sealing it with tar so that it would float, and then filling it with glass objects we had produced on the theme. We also made a giant glass bottle and filled it with many messages in smaller glass bottles. At our final gathering we carried the casket and bottle down to the North Sea with a piper in tow and sent both objects out to sea. Throughout the course story telling was of key importance and I was never really sure about whether what anyone was saying was actual truth or convincing fiction. It reminds me of a quote I heard once that goes something like this… ’I don’t know if this is how it happened, but I know this story is true.’
While I was away at school in Calgary Starfish Glassworks opened in Victoria and I started working for them in the gallery. It was a great way to learn about selling glass and also about all of the different artists in Canada working with glass. Later I worked for Starfish as a production assistant and what they fondly referred to as the ‘mixed bag lady’ I did a little of everything from shipping to cold work to sales and I learned a lot about how to survive as a self employed artist. Working for other artists is also a great way to figure out how you want to do things, what works and what doesn’t work for you. While I was in Victoria I also worked for Mel Munsen who taught me a lot about kiln processes and grinding glass. Mel’s work is so breathtakingly beautiful, gorgeously well crafted and has always been a great source of inspiration to me. Working in these two settings added so much to what I had learned in school. I am so grateful to the Starfishians for taking a chance and giving me a job and for supporting my work during its germination. After leaving Starfish Glassworks I travelled to Corning New York to take part in an artist’s residency at the Corning Museum of Glass for one month. Spending a month in a fully stocked state of the art studio with all of my expenses and needs provided for was like a fantasy lottery experience! All I had to do was make my work in the studio-no distractions no survival to interfere. It was glorious. It also opened my eyes to the opportunities available to me internationally. Spending time in the Museum was deeply moving emotionally. I had never experienced so much of the history of what I do before. It was very reassuring to see the ancient artefacts of glass, and exciting to see the international contemporary collections as well.
It was difficult for me to find my way to being an artist. And I struggled for a long time before I felt really certain and confident about it. Part of the problem was that I was so interested in everything! So it was hard to narrow it down and really focus on doing one thing well. I still want to do everything!!! I think that this is the sign of a designer instinct. So the idea of designing for materials other than glass is very appealing to me and something that I will pursue in the future. For a long time I was neurotic about the tempo of my achievement—it just seemed to be such a slow process and I always felt like I had to explain what I was doing and why I was doing it. It was always dubious whether I should keep trying or just give up and do something else. And of course chronic poverty is not compelling encouragement to continue and have faith! Each year I could find small reasons to keep going -- there had been some forward progress and there was hope! I have also realized and come to accept that I am a slow moving human! I think that I make good work and I am proud of what I produce but the reason that I am still making work is because I am lucky, stubborn and determined and also because I just feel like I have to try to manifest the ideas I have or they will haunt me. It is like a constant curiosity. What will happen?
I still crave mentorship and critique of my work. I always feel like I am just making it up as I go, and hope that I am headed in the right direction. Currently I am trying to fund-raise enough money to attend grad school in New York State in September of this year. I think that grad school would allow me the freedom and studio access to make the work that is filling my sketch books and would be an opportunity for mentorship and critical feedback. But I love living in Vancouver and feel like there are many interesting prospects here for me if my grad school dream falls through.
Thank you, Jill. What you have written will ring very true amongst all the creative people who are making something out of thin air as they travel their long journey.
By the way as well as Jill’s Millennium Award from the Craft Museum in 2000, she receied the Gold Medal for Excellence in Craft from the Circle Craft Christmas market in 2005, and the BC Creative Achievement Award in 2007.
Thelma Ruck Keene
March 7 - April 1, 2008
Coastal Impressions
Wood Sculptures by Dale Rouleau
When you visit our gallery this month, as I hope you will, pause for just a moment and sense that you are in the company of trees. 
For a while they were logs, carefully selected by Dale Rouleau from what might be called the log graveyards of building sites, old logged areas etc. but trees are special. Within the solid substance of their forms growth imprinted the lines of grain which flow in counterpart to sculptured surfaces; minerals in the earth gave the wood its subtle range of colour; wind and weather shaped the outline of its structure. All this is on offer for the artistry of the artisan who has carefully chosen and prepared his pieces of wood.
Dale writes, "I select the pieces in the form of large logs or burl so I have complete creative latitude. The turned pieces are all done green from start to finish. They are turned once to finished thickness and allowed to dry naturally before being hand sanded and a finish applied. I prefer this method of working. As the piece dries it will change shape slightly, and acquire a texture all its own. Most pieces take only 1-2 weeks to dry, but others, intended for boxes or ornaments where texture and colour is important, are air dried".
As this show offers work in the somewhat specialized field of woodturning and woodturned sculpture, I turn to my guest this month, Jason Marlow, for his comments. Originally from the UK, Jason established his wooturning studio on Vancouver Island in 1980. He is recognized internationally for his studio pieces and particularly for his woodturned signature helmets. Jason writes:
Dale Rouleau has been sculpting and turning wood for more than twenty years. He now works from his studio in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, using mostly stormfelled arbutus and maple. What strikes me in this show is the energy and vigour of the work. The horizontal lines of his arbutus ‘Current Vases’ remind me of sand patterns on the beach, and the vertical flutes on the ‘Seaplant Vessels’ have an organic feel in form and touch.
This ability to channel ideas and emotion into his work is very evident. The pieces are not held back by tradition, and show that Rouleau has taken the long journey. His sculpted torso ‘Reflecting’ lets the wood have its own voice, and gives promise of works still to come. This show confirms two important factors; the sensitivity Rouleau has with his medium, and how much he enjoys his work."
How right Jason is. That sort of joy exists because the work is original, not a copy made for quick gain or eagerness for public success. It is the reward of ‘the long journey’ Jason mentions, what Peter Ustinov calls "that magnificent, terrifying journey of discovery we call life." For the truly creative artisan the discovery is what matters.
Dale puts this very well: "I was born in Mission city and moved to Harrison Hot Springs in 1980 where I started experimenting with woodturning carving. I was self taught, and in 1985 did the first craft market locally, sold out, and was hooked. In 1999 I moved my studio to Cumberland on Vancouver Island. Being self taught, and not exposed to many other woodturners, I was able to develop my own style and work methods. Carving and shaping has always been of great interest to me. In this day and age, woodturning is very popular, and separating your work from that of others is of prime importance."
Dale concludes, "The influences in my work are the ocean, the shoreline, and it’s life, and I strive for this movement and flow in my pieces. My new work is in its infancy and has many ways to go. I wish I could do this work all the time, but the necessities of doing production work and making a living takes priority."
Do not be deceived by the work ‘production’. Dale has included a selection of his small ‘production’ bowls, light as a feather, elegant, and simple. They are not poor relations in the show, they are simply less time consuming, simpler. It took time to turn the magnificent ‘Tidal Pool’ bowl from the sliced of a great tree, the indent of the bowl one of the many pools in the surrounding seascape of sea life revealed on the rocks as the tide recedes. And it took time to shape the torso titled ‘Reflecting’ in which the human form and the tree an indissoluble whole.
Dale may feel his coastal impressions are in their infancy, but the infant is full of life.
Thelma Ruck Keene
February 8 - March 4, 2008
Circle Craft Student Scholarship Exhibition
This show is all about the pleasures of giving, and receiving, especially when the givers are as jubilant as the receivers. The gift is 
of course the student scholarships which Circle Craft initiated in 2003 to celebrate having stuck out, for 30 years, the hard road of putting into practice what became a written vision; to promote the development, recognition, and success of members and their work. Of course it’s very inspiring to write even such a simple intention, - though perhaps it worked because it was so simple. Better still, there’s a laugh in how it all began. Here’s the story.
In 1972 a young fibre artist, Yetta Lees, was asked to mount a Textile Festival in Victoria to boost the work of BC fibre artists. The previous year she had taken part in a similar festival and said firmly, "I’ll do it, as long as everyone follows my rules." And the rules? Yetta said, "No dope of any kind; no breast feeding in the public; no big dogs." Why the big dogs? And Yetta said, "Last year they pee-ed all over the weaving and everyone said it was groovy." The rules were enforced, the mainstram buyers attended and sales soared. As Yetta said, "The time was right." Also there was a job ahead in persuading craftspeople to do with the serious business of creating and selling the work of their hands.
The Circle Craft Co-operative was registered in 1973, and the next 30 years were rough. But the intention and the time was right. And now the outstanding quality of craft artistry displayed this month by the scholarship winners is intself a "Thank you!" – and, for good measure, they have put these thanks into their own words.
Lacia Vogel, Kootenay School of the Arts, Metal Program
This scholarship from Circle Craft has meant a great deal to me in terms of the opportunity to display my work. I feel blessed to have this chance to show my work in a public gallery setting. By this stroke of good fortune, I am Dorothy wearing ruby slippers, setting my foot down on the first golden bricks of the yellow brick road. It is an awesome gift to be able to do what I love so much, with a little help from the Circle Craft Gallery. As a result of this award, I feel a sense of genuine accomplishment, since I first started on one of these pieces almost a year ago. This award provided me with the impetus to complete a project which I otherwise may not have been able to complete. Thank you Circle Craft.
Elizabeth Burritt, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Ceramics
Receiving this scholarship from Circle Craft has, in many ways, afforded me the opportunity to transition my student art practice into a professional one. Specifically, it has allowed me to purchase equipment and materials that I needed to set up my studio, and has funded my attendance at an upcoming international conference. Perhaps the biggest advantage to receiving this scholarship was feeling acknowledged by an organization that I respect very much, and being able to approach my artistic practice with renewed confidence. This type of recognition is invaluable to emerging artists and I am very grateful to have been included.
Zuza Bartekova, Vancouver Community College, Jewellery Program
I am thrilled to have received the Circle Craft Scholarship for Technical Achievement. This prize has made it possible for me to purchase a Kiln and a Repoussage Bowl – two vital and expensive tools required to create enamel jewellery. Enamel is one of my favourite mediums in Jewellery Art and Design. For me, enamel seems to provide a means of self-expression that other forms do not. I think what I am able to achieve is a spectrum of colours that remind me of my childhood. As a girl growing up, I spent many long afternoons with my Dad, hiking the hills and mountains that surrounded our little town in Slovakia. These are very happy memories for me, ones that shaped who I am as a woman and an artist today. The colours I was surrounded by on the nature hikes were vibrant and plentiful, colours that were bright, some that were soft, some muted and others dark. Enamel allows for tremendous expressive possibility – I’m amazed and inspired all at the same time, by the spectrum of colours. As well, I am able to create pieces that reflect different parts of my personality – aspects of me that can be playful and fun as well as some of the deeper parts of me, which are sometimes quite vulnerable and soft.
What is exciting for me is also the confidence I gained by this form of recognition. The Circle Craft Scholarship gives me both the financial means to explore enamel work more fully, while relieving the burden of artistic insecurity. Artists spend a lot of time wondering if they are any good at what they are doing – and I am certainly no different. Receiving this scholarship is very affirming. The degree of self-criticism I now struggle with is actually quite manageable! It is liberating to let go of the voice inside my head that constantly questions if anyone else (besides my family and close friends) might appreciate my work. This alone is cause for celebration as well as being a major reason for my profound gratitude.
Circle Craft Co-operative is a unique organization which, for the last 36 years, has been dedicated to promoting fine quality crafts. Students, Teachers, Artists in trade – and the public who desire our work, all benefit from this legendary organization. Circle Craft together with the Vancouver Community College’s Jewellery Art and Design program has made what once seemed impossible, possible for me.
Vanessa Cunningham, Capilano College, Textile Arts Program
SUM OF ITS PARTS
When I was four years old I passed by a rock that was partly submerged in the rich Alaskan soil. It was a textured rock compiled of many ancient layers of sediment and happily cradled in the Earth. I passed the rock for three days amazed that it was in the shape of a valentine and by the third day I was convinced that I needed to bring this valentine home so I proceeded to pull it from its cradle of earth. To my great disappointment I discovered it was but a plain gray stone...the only thing that was creating the shape of the valentine was the cradle of Earth where it had rested.
Upon receiving the Circle Craft Scholarship I proceed to create with a fervour in the knowledge that my hard work would culminate in a gallery exhibition at the Circle Craft Gallery on Granville Island. The fact that I had received this scholarship began coming up in conversation with friends, clients, students and anyone who would lend an ear. Circle Craft is a well known and avid promoter of artisans in the Vancouver area and receiving this scholarship has given me a back-drop to my discussion of current philosophy and future goals.
Special thanks from the Gallery Committee, and a special acknowledgement to the work of the BC institutions whose in-depth programs are making the art of craft a serious profession.
Thelma Ruck Keene
