In November, I completed a Community Arts and Artisanship Certificate With the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
We did a group show at the Snelgrove Gallery on campus and it was a great experience. My part of the show was a series of 10 watercolour and graphite drawings. They are a narrative of the past and present honouring old family photos I inherited and the ancestry centering around the farming community of Forget, Saskatchewan, where my family was one of the first residents.
I had an audio clip of my late father describing his memories and growing up there, which played as you viewed the paintings.
This show called ‘Not Fade Away’ has become available virtually and the audio clip is merged with the video.
Our Grad Show opens today at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery at the U of S Campus. Drop by if you are on campus – or join us for the reception on Friday, November 18th.
This article by Donna Beneteau was very special to me, because an article that my Dad, Harvey Laberge and I worked was accepted and will be included in the Data Hub Database at CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining) that Donna created. She was looking for stories about the Canadian mining industry, with a history of miner’s lives.
My Dad, Harvey Laberge, was working on the oil rigs and was on the team that drilled the exploratory holes for the development, worked on the shaft sinking and continued to work for the mine at Patience Lake, Saskatchewan – PCA or Potash Company of America which originated in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It is now known as Nutrien – Patience Lake.
Donna explains the project very eloquently below:
To experience the hub or read more about this project click here:
Summer Solstice is when the sun travels along the most northern path in the sky. The sun takes the longest to rise and longest to set. the Sun appears highest in the sky while the moon appears lowest.
How to Celebrate ! Pick strawberries and celebrate with what coincides with June’s full moon also known as the Strawberry moon. Enjoy a bonfire as the Midsummer’s Eve as the ancients called it, was celebrated the evening before. A bonfire party is a common theme on the longest day as we emerge from the long dark winters. Pursue a magical fern flower to bring good luck before cleaning one’s face in the morning dew. Ferns produce a magic blossom once a year, on the eve of the Summer Solstice. Whoever is lucky enough to find a fern flower will receive good luck, prosperity, and the ability to understand the speech of animals. The flower is believed to be protected by evil spirits. In some folklore, the Devil was said to appear and snatch the flowers for himself.
The Canadian Loon is a symbol of the Canadian wilderness and evokes a feeling of tranquility. This loon was designed from my collection of photos from one of the many lakes in Saskatchewan.
I reproduced this loon in a watercolour to colourplan the work and finished it in wool strips hooked into foundation cloth.
The hooked rug piece is currently available at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Boutique @skcraftcouncil on Broadway in Saskatoon.
We recently replaced our kitchen backsplash and had two areas where we didn’t want to replace the builder beige plastic switchplate that formerly housed a landline phone connection, and we no longer have a landline phone. There was also a box that housed a cable TV connector (yes, in the kitchen by the stove.. 😮 )
We created glass switchplates and drilled holes to accomodate the screw holes and tried to recreate a Mission-styled Arts & Crafts theme, a la Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window !
These are how they look in natural light ..
And finally installed in the stone tiles! These were created with clear glass, glass frit and powders and then finally kiln-fired !!
These will soon be available in our Etsy store with custom configurations! Please leave a comment if you are interested – Thanks !
Hand Painted stained glass copper foiled panel with traditional ground-glass paints, pigment oxides, enamels, stained glass, kiln-fired, soldered, patina application and framed in custom-made pine frame hand-cut dovetail joints with hooks and chain hardware. 18-1/2 x 21-3/4 x 1-1/2 inches
Laietana, the goose, in Carla’s protective embrace has a new lease on life at Santuario Gaia in Camprodon, Spain. The rescue and protection of animals is the primary function of Fundación Santuario Gaia in Camprodon, Spain. This piece was adapted from a photograph and with the gracious permission of the visual journalist Ana Palacios. Hand painted stained glass copper foiled panel with traditional ground-glass paints, pigment oxides, enamels, stained glass, kiln-fired, soldered, patina application and framed in custom-made pine frame hand-cut dovetail joints with hooks and chain hardware. Fundación Santuario Gaia a sanctuary to save animals, is a true cause in Camprodon, Spain. To learn more, please visit https://www.fundacionsantuariogaia.org
That Alley Downtown 2020. T Cote, watercolour on graphite, line and wash 9-1/2” x 13-1/2”
I always enjoyed this alley in downtown Saskatoon, with its iconic architecture, gaining access to some unique local businesses.
The two major buildings in the foreground are the Avenue Building on the right, which was built in 1912 and originally known as the MacMillan Department Store. It was built by Saskatoon’s then future mayor Frank R. MacMillan and designed by Winnipeg architect William Fingland. The T. Eaton Company purchased MacMillan’s store and it was the single largest department store in the city before selling the business, but not the building, to T. Eaton Company in 1927. MacMillan extensively remodeled his building, inside and out, to convert it to office space, and renamed it the Avenue Building.
In the left foreground is the Travellers block annex followed by a private alley and the original Travellers block. You can peer down the lane and see the street front of 3rd Avenue South, and the jewel in the vanishing point is an edit I made. I historically changed the storefront to be that of Mikado Silk in the McKay Block, 223 2nd Avenue South. The style of the McKay Block is characteristic of Edwardian architecture. The building is named for Dr. William J.McKay, a physician and Saskatoon’s medical health officer (1906-1912). and Dr. McKay’s office from 1907-1911. Mikado Silk is no longer there, but was a historic business in downtown Saskatoon starting in 1933 for over 40 years and being a prolific sewer, I had more of a connection to it.
Buttercream Roses, Sculptural Cake, Rug Hooking and Crochet Work
Update September 2021
Buttercream Roses was sold in the show ‘Luscious.Tasty.Delicious’ I was sad to see one of my favorite pieces go, but happy to know it is now enjoyed by a purchaser in New York.
Update – July 2021
Buttercream Roses was invited to show at the Barrett Art Center in Poughskeepsie, New York in a show called ‘Luscious.Tasty.Delicious.’ An International Juried Art Exhibition. The show runs from Aug 7, 2011 to September 11, 2021.
My recently completed piece ‘Buttercream Roses’, has been accepted into a show called ‘From Scratch’ beginning in August in Saskatoon.
Rug hooking is a traditional craft, using techniques from hundreds of years ago. I envisioned the concept and creation of ‘Buttercream Roses’ in my process and engaged with the theme ‘From Scratch’ to mean no pre-made materials, packaged, or kitted items were used.
I associated the theme ‘From Scratch’ with baking as that is where I first heard the term. To bake a cake from scratch meant to use a recipe and not a cake mix. I wanted to challenge myself in the textile arts area. My piece, a two-tiered cake structure, involved the design and creation of a three-dimensional hooked rug piece from sketch to completion. I sketched a repeating rose and vine pattern on a frosted buttercream background and created a watercolor to determine the wool colors. From this color plan, I transferred the design onto linen foundation cloth and chose the colors to resemble a frosted, two-tiered layered cake. The sides and top are hooked using the traditional rug hooking technique with strips of wool on linen foundation cloth. The second tier was joined to the first, using cotton floss and yarn crocheted together to resemble piped frosting. I then structured the piece over a form that I have sewn and assembled.
The show runs August 3 – November 6, 2020 at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery, 813 Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Camille BonSeigneur 1918-1940 Off to War, circa 1939. Camille BonSeigneur, pictured at his Saskatchewan farm home, shortly before leaving for London to become part of the Royal Air Force and ultimately becoming a war hero, making the ultimate sacrifice at the Battle of Britain.
Hand Painted glass, kiln-fired glass tile from a family photo. #paintedglass #glasspainting #instagramartists #ancestryportraits #battleofbritain #acommonthread #war hero
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