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Find me on a walk poking into nooks and crannies, pockets full of rocks and treasures. Fascination with nature is at the core of my art- noticing textures, colours, and weird lines. It's been 12 years now, captured by wool, making felt in a crooked little studio, heated by trees in the Kootenays of British Columbia. Seeing what wool will do, what happens to the colour and the surface and the texture is endlessly fascinating. I have taken workshops with some fabulous felt artists in person and online and made an infinite number of mistakes to develop my skills. I have participated in local art shows, and for the last two felt:: feutre- canada exhibitions.
Why Shrouds? At one stage of my life I worked in long term care and palliative care. During that time I saw a lot of people die and I have observed that fear of death can rob us of joy in life. We only have Earth - it's beautiful and in trouble. Humans need to reconnect ourselves to the natural world including the messy business of death, and science tells us that we can't all be buried or burned the way we are now.
Everything living eventually dies- not knowing when is part of the trip.
I teach classes. I hope you can join me sometime.
hermit
NOUN
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a person living in solitude
synonyms:
recluse · solitary · loner · ascetic · anchorite · anchoress · eremite ·
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any person living in solitude or seeking to do so
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Much of my inspiration comes from being solitary and I often enjoy my own company better than most.
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al·che·my
noun \ˈal-kə-mē\
: a science that was used in the Middle Ages with the goal of changing ordinary metals into gold
: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way
My way of being in the world is as a heartfelt alchemist. Open hearted, open to synergy. Being a human, scholar, gardener, parent, artist, entrepreneur- all involve alchemy. The kinds of art that I love such as felt, dyeing and ecoprinting, involve a ton of alchemy and unexpected, surprising results. Felt making at it's most simple, changes the covering of a sheep (wool) using water, soap and hands into lovely warm fabric. Take felting further and it becomes a blend of colour, fabric, texture and beauty. Dyeing and ecoprinting take pigments, plants, fibre, cloth, and heat to combing colour. Gardening takes sun, water, air, soil, seeds and hands and turns it into delicious food to build bodies and then composts into more soil.
My entire life is a series of alchemy experiments, remaking, rebuilding, redoing, changing, failing and flailing. Some drastic, some sudden and some both!
