The June meeting will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 7:30 pm. This Guild Members meeting will be the annual pot luck and social evening. Please bring an item for the supper table, preferably “finger food”. Also, bring your own plate, cutlery, etc. and of course, your own mug for tea or coffee.

The program for the June meeting will be an extended show and tell. Everyone who attended a workshop last week at Capilano University tis encouraged to come and share their experiences with the Guild. It was a wonderful week and am sure there will be lots of new finished projects to be enjoyed.

NOTE ABOUT THE GUILD LIBRARY: There is no break during this particular meeting, so the guild library will be open only from 6:30 pm to 7:20 pm. Please arrive at the meeting early to get your summer reading! Books and journals that are borrowed at the June meeting are not due until September.

Next year we begin a a new schedule: day meetings at noon in October, December, February, April and June, and night meetings at 7:30 PM in September, November, January, March, and May.

The meeting will be held at Aberthau Cultural Centre, 4397 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6R 1K4.

Interlacement Symposium

The last of the workshops has finished. The samples are labeled. The notes are tweaked, tabulated, sorted. Tired but happy workshop participants are heading home to far corners of the Pacific Northwest and beyond to process all this wonderful new information and knowledge.

The workshops and lectures were a huge success. Group photos of workshops show tired and smiling faces. The lectures introduced us to worlds previously unknown to us.

Thank you to all who came to participate in our symposium and celebrate our milestone anniversary with us. And especially, thank you to Capilano University, Ruth Scheuing (head of the Textile Arts faculty) and the workshop student-assistants.

But it’s not over yet!

Interlacement at 75
May 25, 2010; 7 – 9pm
Seymour Art Gallery

It’s time to kick up our heels and celebrate! The Greater Vancouver Weaver’s and Spinner’s Guild is 75 years old this year, and in the evening on May 25th we’ll have a Exhibition Opening Celebration and special 75th Birthday Bash to mark this amazing milestone. Turning 75 makes the GVWSG the 2nd oldest Guild in the country – quite an achievement! And as one of our lecturers said, “…and you all still get along! That’s quite an accomplishment indeed!”

Interlacement at 75 is an impressive collection of work by our Guild’s weavers, spinners tapestry artists and basketmakers. There will be food and punch; wine and beer will be available for purchase. Bring your fibre friends and stash-enduring spouses and help the Guild celebrate.

The exhibition will be on display at the SAG until June 20, 2010. And on June 5, from 10:30 until 4:00, we’ll be demonstrating weaving, spinning and basketry at the gallery.

Come, eat birthday cake, see beautiful handmade work, and raise your glass to the GVWSG. See you there!

Capilano University’s Textile Arts Grad Show
The always-amazing exhibition of graduates’ work is being held at Cityscape Community Art Space, 335 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, from May 13 – June 5. Gallery hours are Tues-Sat, noon-5pm. When you’re checking out Interlacement at 75 on the North Shore, drop in to see the impressive creativity generated by this year’s graduates.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 from 7:30pm – 10:00pm
Aberthau Cultural Centre

Like a wine tasting, we will have a chance to see and touch a number of different fibres and yarns made with them, many perhaps familiar and some that may be new. The accompanying slides will acquaint us with the animals and plants that produce these fibres and the processes necessary to get them into a useful form.

Interlacement Symposium
May 17 to 23, 2010

In case you need further enticement to register for the dazzling lineup of Interlacement workshops, check out these tidbits. Greater Vancouver Weavers’ and Spinners Guild Member, Jo Skinner chatted with each of the Interlacement Symposium instructors to get the inside scoop on what makes each of these workshops exciting and unique.

Basketry and Spinning

Introduction to Basketry – Judith Olney May 20 & 21

Have you always wanted to learn how to make baskets? This is a step-by-step instruction class that will not only teach you the basics, but will encourage you to develop skills for adding techniques along the basket-making way – design as you go. Judith will teach why things “work” in basketmaking, lots of how-to techniques, and tidbits of information not usually found in written instruction – the stuff that’s “too silly” to write down. You’ll make at least one reed basket, including making your own handle – Judith will explain why this is such a great thing. Sit back, look at your finished basket, and bask in that great sense of accomplishment.

Adventures for Experienced Basketmakers – Judith Olney May 22 & 23

This is a heaven-sent format for basketmakers who know what they’re doing. You can bring the skills you already have to this class, and Judith will customize your learning experience to suit what you want to learn. After you’ve registered, you’re encouraged to view her website outlining your options and choices, and then contact Judith for input on what you’d like to learn. You can create the basket you want, or if you’d prefer to just learn some new, advanced techniques and not make a complete basket, that’s also an option. It’s almost like a self-directed study, but with an expert to guide you along.

Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics – Anne Field May 17 to 19

Anne Field comes from New Zealand, a land populated by 8 million people and 64 million sheep. This woman knows wool. This workshop is focused entirely on learning the differences between the fibres of different sheep breeds and how to spin them to their best advantage. Anne likes to create a friendly, informal atmosphere with lots of laughter, as it results in the best spinning.

Surface Design

Esoteric Cloth – Kris Abshire May 17 to 19

According to Kris, this 3-day workshop is so jam-packed with techniques and play, she can barely describe it all! The thing that makes handweavers so special in the surface design world is that we can manipulate both the warp and the weft before the yarn is even on the loom. She’ll teach techniques for both pre-woven warps/wefts and finished cloth, including (but not exclusively) block printing, screen printing, nature printing (using preserved leaves), devore, arashi, and a Kris Abshire exclusive she calls “reverse transparency”, which is done on-loom. Be prepared to use brushes, squeegees, and wood blocks, paints, dyes and metallics. Be prepared for 3 days of unfettered play. (No loom required.)

Serendipity in a Cup – Kris Abshire May 20 & 21

Kris has developed this highly popular and fun class to take all the fear and guesswork out of warp painting. She has a wonderful technique for laying the warp out like a canvas so you can see the entire warp while you’re designing and painting. All her techniques, including the dyeing of the weft, are “direct application” rather than immersion, which results in rich, character-laden colours. She’ll also teach the use of thickened dyes, either freehand or with stencils, for your warps. You’ll paint 2 silk warps and wefts, one using a soft, watercolour technique, and the other using a more predetermined design method.

Weaving

Colour & Design 1 for Contemporary Tapestry – James Koehler May 19 to 23

This workshop is based on a set of 4 Bauhaus design exercises: Geometry, Shapes from the Natural World, Dynamic Forms, and Symmetry. Each exercise will be explored, and a small tapestry will be created (or at least started). You’ll leave this workshop with a firm understanding of tapestry technique, and a confident approach to design. Some weaving experience is an asset, but you don’t have to be a tapestry weaver to enjoy this workshop. If you’re interested in the process of creating good design and colour, treat yourself to 5 days with this dynamic, talented and extremely popular instructor. (BYOLoom, either a vertical tapestry loom, a small floor loom, or a table loom – anything that will make 2 sheds.)

Collapse Weave: The Magic of Wool – Anne Field May 21 to 23

The best thing about this workshop is that you’ll be encouraged to break every rule you were ever taught in weaving school. How fun does that sound? Anne says that this workshop is not about advanced weaving – the weaving itself is quite simple – it’s about how the way we weave and the fibres we use create bendy, pleaty, flexible, drapey cloth that has loads of textural character. The first morning is spent warping the looms, with assistance provided where necessary. (Looms provided.)

Colour in Cloth – Cameron Taylor-Brown May 17 to 20

This workshop is all about weaving and how colour and weave structure work together. Coming from an archaeological angle, Cameron will show us countless examples, both images and actual samples, of weave/colour interaction through the centuries, and encourage us to use them as a vast library of inspiration for our weaving today. Armed with all this inspiration, we’ll weave our way into understanding how the colours we’ve chosen will be influenced by the weave structure, and vice versa. (Looms provided; warp the loom the day/evening before the workshop starts.)

Ready, Sett, Go / Spice it Up – Cameron Taylor-Brown May 17

This exclusive two-in-one workshop allows us to spend a bunch of time in the morning learning about and understanding sett, and then applying that knowledge in the afternoon to add accent yarns into existing warps. For those of us who always say a little prayer to the Loom Goddess when we guess at the sett of our expensive alpaca/silk warp, Cameron will teach us how to determine sett properly – no more guessing. Later Cameron will use a clever little device called a “tie-in board” to show us how we can swap out warp yarns on a prepared loom and replace them with dazzling accent yarns – on the loom. Imagine the possibilities! (No loom required.)

For further information about each of the 9 workshops and 6 lectures being offered at the Interlacement Symposium in May 2010, including registration forms, please refer to the Interlacement Symposium brochure OR visit the website http://www.gvwsg.com/interlacement/overview-of-events/

NEW – Interlacement Symposium Hotel Information

The Holiday Inn in North Vancouver located at the bottom of the hill from Capilano University is offering Interlacement Symposium participants a preferred rate during the week of May 17 to 23. The rate quoted is $146/room per night plus taxes and includes 2 queen beds as well as a microwave, fridge and coffee-maker. If you are interested please contact Petra at info@hinorthvancouver.ca or 604 985-3111 or toll free 1 877-985-3111. Be sure to mention that you are attending the Greater Vancouver Weavers’ and Spinners’ Guild Symposium in order to receive this rate.

See you in May, 2010!

In 1935 nine women came together and founded our Guild. Forty years later the membership stood at 354 and today we are about 150 strong. In addition to our monthly meetings and programmes, the Guild has held sales, exhibitions, many workshops, hosted conferences including Convergence in 2002, built an excellent library, published a newsletter and contributed to many other endeavours. Most recently the Guild wove the samples for the Canadian Guild of Weavers Newsletter. Throughout all these years the stated purpose of the Guild has been “To promote, encourage and improve the art and craft of weaving and spinning.” Our longevity is due to our passion for what we do and the great friendships that have resulted from our many gatherings and activities. Over time many of our members have become interested in other aspects of textile arts but it is our interest in weaving and spinning that binds us together as a Guild.

It is to celebrate all we have achieved in the past 75 years and to look forward to the future that it has been decided to hold a symposium focusing on our core activities of weaving and spinning. No one else will promote and celebrate what we do, so we have to do the job ourselves and hopefully demonstrate to others that what we do is exciting. From May 17 to 25 we shall hold our symposium (we still need a catchy title) at Capilano University. We are very grateful to the textile programme for partnering with us and providing the space for workshops and lectures. The symposium week will end with the gala party opening our exhibition of “scarves” at the Seymour Art Gallery. As a prelude to the symposium we shall have a juried show at Crafthouse on Granville Island. When this is all over Vancouver will certainly know that we are a vibrant group within the textile community.

So watch this space for information about workshops and lectures as the details are confirmed. We begin this month with the calls for entry and submission to our two exhibitions. We encourage everyone to participate. We want this to be as inclusive as possible and challenge you to let your imaginations soar and to create your best and most exciting pieces to date.

Paper Like You Have Never Seen it Before
Summer in the city – what could be better than a week on Granville Island, enjoying the many exhibitions, large and small, as well as the ongoing demonstrations of work by Korean and BC artists working with fibre. Emily Carr University on Granville Island in Vancouver is the site for most Fibre, Naturally exhibit events. Other Granville Island locations will also feature paper-related exhibits and Hanji paper demonstrations by both visiting Korean and local artists.

Gallery Exhibit – August 11 to 16 – Emily Carr University – Concourse Gallery
Tuesday to Friday – 8am to 6pm; Saturday 9am – 6pm; Sunday 9am – 5pm
This exhibition focuses on Hanji paper – handmade Korean paper from the inner bark of the Mulberry tree. Two and three dimensional works feature paper in a myriad of formats: books and boxes, hangings and accessories, items that are felted, dyed, stitched and shaped. Artists have also used paper yarns in works that are woven, knitted, and crocheted. Paper like you have never seen it before.

Craft Council of BC Annual Gala Fundraiser
Tuesday, August 11 – 7pm to 10pm
Emily Carr University – Concourse Gallery
The Craft Council of BC will mark the opening of Fibre, Naturally with a fundraising Gala – ExtraOrdinary 2009. This event, with a silent auction of fine craft, and the ever-exciting Goblet Grab, will be punctuated with dance performances by Joe Ink, along with a few of the fabulous paper fashions by Korean Hanji designers. Tickets are $60 and may be purchased in person at Crafthouse, 1386 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver or by calling 604.687.7270. Please visit www.cabc.net for more information.

Joomchi Paper Felting Demonstration and Hanji Papermaking Lecture
Wednesday, August 12 from 6:30 pm
Emily Carr University – Concourse Gallery and Theatre
There will be a be demonstration of Joomchi paper felting in the Emily Carr Concourse Gallery Foyer from 6:30 to 7 pm. Following this, Sang-Jae Nam will give a free lecture on Hanji paper, sponsored by the Canadian Society for Asian Arts. The lecture begins at 7:30pm in the Emily Carr Theatre.

ExtraOrdinary Paper Garment Fashion Show
Thursday, August 13 – 7:30 pm
Emily Carr University Theatre
Join us for this unique showing of paper fashions. Art you can wear made with paper, tyvek and other, perhaps less unusual, fibres. You won’t want to miss this beautiful runway show featuring one-of-a-kind garments designed by members of the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts and Greater Vancouver Weaver and Spinners Guild, together with artists of the Millenium Jeonju Hanji Forum, Korea. Tickets $20. Contact Bonnie Adie by email badie@telus.net or telephone 604-988-3240.
Tickets are selling fast – call today!

There are many associated events and exhibits on Granville Island throughout the week. For an up-to-date schedule, visit the following web sites: www.gvwsg.com or www.cabc.net. Fibre enthusiasts might also want to check out the Emily Carr continuing studies summer courses, featuring among other things, a master class in paper, indigo dyeing, and shibori techniques. csinfo@ecuad.ca

Following the presentations on Granville Island, part of the Fibre, Naturally exhibit will be on display at Leigh Square Community Arts Village in Port Coquitlam, and other pieces will be shown at FibreWorks Gallery, Madeira Park, on the Sunshine Coast. Both Leigh Square and FibreWorks are presenting a fashion show on August 22nd from 2-4 pm.

Sent to you by the exhibition steering committee of the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts and the Greater Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild.

At least 8 Guild members attended the ANWG conference at Gonzago University in Spokane. Our first job after finding our dorm, was to set-up the booth. This went very easily together, thanks to all Cathie’s detailed instructions. We were bowled over by some of the other Guilds efforts, especially the winner from Galiano Guild. So we were pleasantly surprised to receive an Honorable Mention certificate.
Louisa and I missed the gallery tour, because we had to put finishing touches to the booth, although truth by told, it was so were could be first in line when the vendors opened.

Galiano Guild: Booth display winner

The next two days were a whirl of seminars, a fashion show with some wonderful garments. One of the winners was a felted jacket and hat from a girl in the valley. Diana has already snagged her for a future program. So every spare minute was taken up either looking over the booths, garments from the fashion show, or of course, running back to the vendor hall – just in case we had overlooked some goodie.

GVWSG Guild Booth: Honorable Mention

It was very hot in Spokane, and so with all the walking, to dorm, cafeteria, seminar and displays were we all back early to the “Vancouver” pod and anxious to share all our seminar notes, and purchases. Fortunately, ANWG had allowed for all us ageing weavers and provided some golf carts with cute young men to ferry us around, if only you were lucky enough to catch them.

The highlight was the Banquet on Saturday night. The keynote speaker was Ruby Leslie – Ruby Charuby Studios. Ruby is from Vermont and gave us a glimpse of life in the Purple House.

At least four of our members stayed for the post conference workshops. So come to the June meeting and hear their stories.

Beryl

Summertime – yes, it really is just around the corner, and so are all the exciting events connected with the exhibit, Fibre, Naturally, being held in the Concourse Gallery at Emily Carr University in August. The exhibit itself runs from August 11 – 16, from 8am to 6pm from Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 6pm on Saturday, and from 9am to 5pm on Sunday.

On the Tuesday evening the Crafts Council of BC will be hosting a Gala fundraising event in the Gallery – please check www.ccbc.net for more information or tickets.

On Wednesday there will be a demonstration of Joomchi paper felting in the gallery foyer from 6:30 – 7pm, and a free lecture on Hanji paper, sponsored by the Canadian Society for Asian Arts, and starting at 7:30pm in the Emily Carr Theatre.

Thursday evening we present a parade of beautiful and unusual paper garments in the theatre. The show starts at 7:30, tickets are $20 and will be available after June 1 through Bonnie Adie; badie@telus.net or 604-988-3240

But keep checking the CCBC and Guild web sites for more information – we are hoping to have several other exhibitions of work in paper on Granville Island at this time. There will also be demonstrations by the visiting Korean artists and others, and an opportunity to buy some of the wonderful hanji papers at a place and time to be determined.

Following the exhibition on Granville Island some of the work will go to Leigh Square Community Arts Village in Port Coquitlam, and some to fibreWorks Gallery on the Sunshine Coast. Both of these venues are planning a Fashion Show for the Afternoon of August 22, from 2-4pm.

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