Prep, Prep, Prep

 It's a bit unusual for me to post at the start of a week, rather than on the weekend, but needs must these days, as I've been very busy getting ready for the Next Big Thing.

The First Big Thing was the opening of the first venue of the Art in the Park 2022 Artists' Exhibit, which ran for a month at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre in Revelstoke, B.C.  The show ended April 2 and all of the artists are waiting to see where it's going next.  This was the first of three Big Things in my life that were postponed in 2020.

There'll be a Third Big Thing happening at the end of this month, when I travel to Toronto for the 2023 SAQA Conference -- also postponed from 2020.  

This happens every year but this one -- THIS one is very special, for a couple of reasons:

1. It's the first IN PERSON conference since 2019; and 
2. It's the FIRST IN PERSON CONFERENCE OUTSIDE THE USA.  (Note: Oceania Region -- Australia and New Zealand -- hosted it in 2021 -- but online only.  They deserve kudos for being the First SAQA Conference Hosted Outside the USA, though.  Well done!)

But the Second -- or Next Big Thing -- for me is the First In-Person Lacombe Art Show & Sale since 2019 -- and the first time that a Featured Artist has been one who works in textiles.  Yep; that would be me -- and many of you Gentle Readers know, from my emotional roller-coaster ride on this train since COVID hit -- how special this is for me!

The last while has been full of preparations.  

First came the interviews.  A few weeks ago, I had a phone interview with Mark Weber of the Lacombe Express -- a small, free paper delivered in hard copy around the small city of Lacombe, Alberta, but also found online.  The article was finally printed in the April 6th issue, which you can read HERE (use the right-hand arrow to turn the page; it's the 2nd page in.)  An acquaintance of mine from church brought me a hard copy clipping, which will be put in a page protector for Posterity!  😉

The second was a video interview with Christina and Todd from the City of Lacombe.  It's now on YouTube and you can see it HERE.  

Second -- preparing the hanging apparatus for the 'soft' pieces; that is, ones not on stretched canvas and/or framed.   I had several sleeves that needed to be attached, so I did that...and then...

I had to buy some dowelling...

Then I used my reciprocating saw to cut the lengths to fit the pieces:

Then I had to drill the ends to attach eye hooks for hanging.

Here are several pieces, "all dowelled up"

I also went to Curiosity Art & Framing in Red Deer to pick up my framed pieces.  The timing is perfect!  The shop/gallery is moving closer into the centre of the city in May, so I'll have all my pieces for the show and store any unsold ones until after the move.  A word of thanks is due to Andrea, the owner and a dear friend -- and her team -- because they posted the video interview on my Artist's Page on their website, and they created a QR code that links to my page on their site, so people can see what I have showing with them (well...once the Lacombe Show is over...)  You can see that code here on this blog -- in the left side bar.

Here are the framed pieces...in my kitchen...waiting to be packed into the car...

Today's job was paperwork -- ensuring there's a price tag for each and every piece!  There were many new ones to create because...well...it's been 4 years since the last show.  That's all done now, and my Show Inventory is fully up-to-date.

So...have I been doing anything else?

Well...I finished the second pair of socks for my friend and client, DH, and they'll go in the mail to here tomorrow:

Pair #1

Pair #2

Yes, they're both from the same pattern -- "Simplicity" by Janel Laidman, from her book, The Eclectic Sole.  I'm always fascinated by the difference a yarn selection makes in the interpretation of a pattern!

I finished a second hat for charity (no photo).  

I finished 64 units for the "Triple Treat" scrap quilt that I'm making for charity as well -- this one, in brown tones with pops of colour.  The blocks require four units each, so there'll be 16 blocks, finishing at 12" each in the quilt, and the quilt will be four rows of four blocks, plus borders.  Here are the first 8 blocks (not sewn into rows yet):

Yes, the photo is slanted.  I was standing at an angle!

And I finished my red sampler, "Ruth Gibb 1882".  I'll have it framed -- eventually!

Pattern source: Hands Across the Sea
-- a reproduction sampler

I'm still plugging away at "Here be Dragons" -- just about finished the bottom of the wide border -- and finished a little square piece from Jeannette Douglas Designs, but more about that will have to wait for another day.

With all that hard work...well, it was time for a break, so to celebrate, a friend and I went to Camrose on Saturday to fondle fibre at the Rose City Fibre Festival.  We ran into yarny friends and had a wonderful time.  Of course, it goes without saying that each of us came home with some goodies.  Here are mine:

Jacob (breed) single-ply in "Lilac" (NOT dyed)
Hill & Down Fingering
from Kalea the Luddite

A blend of
80% Camrose Alpaca
and 20% Prairie Wool
DK/Sport weight from
Gormalou's Fibre Den

and...

A small merino batt from
Nomad Fibreworks 
in the "Meringues" colour-way

Yes, I want to do more spinning this summer!

And so...it goes!

Tomorrow, I begin to dismantle my fabric rack in the studio, in preparation for taking it to the show as part of the hanging apparatus.  Each fabric-full basket on the rack will come off and (eventually) be sorted and refolded -- and maybe culled -- before it's all put back together after the show.  While it's down, there will be vacuuming of carpet and other assorted Spring Cleaning in the studio.

I've left this post too late to link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and by her next post, I'll be in Lacombe enjoying this latest Big Thing.  All for now, Gentle Readers -- and wherever you are, whatever you're up to, have a blessed week.  There's Life in the Making!

P.S. In answer to a reader's question about how my pieces hang on the wall:

Re: your question: I don't attach wires at all.  I hang the pieces on gridded racks using 'S' hooks.  If a piece is sold, I instruct the purchaser to put tiny nails -- ones with a bit of a 'head' on them -- into their wall at the position of each eye hook -- and the piece simply hangs on the nails.  The piece then looks like it's hung invisibly on the wall.  This is because the dowels/rods extend beyond the sleeves to the very edge of the piece, and the eye hooks extend just a tiny bit beyond that. (You can see this if you look closely at the photo above, with the caption, "All dowelled up". 😊)