2024, 75th Anniversary exhibition at the Almonte Textile Museum Part2
Welcome back to the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild 75th anniversary show. We are still at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in the upstairs gallery space. At the end of the last post, i left you watching the slide show and sipping your glass of wine.
18.1) Felted sheep workshop 2004 one of the slides from the slide show
Now if I can pull you away from the slide show, we can check out the little landscape on the window ledge.
19.1) Small landscape Felt
19.2) Jan Scott, Maureen’s Vacation (Spinning at the Arches, in Arches Provencal Park), Needle Felting, Wool on a felt backing (recycled pool table felt)
You have seen this little landscape in a blog before. Maureen Shared her vacation, Part 2 Maureen shared her vacation
Just past the slide show and landscape, and before the next window are the Elephant weaving and the small blanket
20.1) Elephant and blanket
20.21) Elizabeth Watt, Here Be Elephants, 2015, Summer and Winter pick up on rigid heddle, Cotton
20.22-20.23) close ups
The Elephants were really woven on a rigid Heddle loom, but from the details you would expect that Elizabeth used a very multi-harness loom!
20.3) OVWSG Members (Amanda Carrigan Ower) Ex and Sale Raffle Prize (Shawl), Hand Spinning, Weaving, Wool.
Now we have reached the far wall, which holds 3 pieces, the information for the show and the list of pieces.
21.1) Panel 8 End wall – Rug, Wovern shirt, Icelandic tapestry
21.21-21.22) Nancy Ingram, Memories of the 1950’s, 1980s, Plain weave woven bound rug, Warp-Seine Twine, Weft-2ply wool
21.31) Jean Sharp, Loom Designed Sweater, 1983, Handwoven, Reinforced front opening, tabby weave, wool (2-ply Briggs and Little Natural Colours, White, Grey, Dark Grey)
21.32-21.33)close ups of Jean’s Sweater. I like the subtlety of colours and how well it works in plane weave.
21.41) Sami Lemperger, Woven Dreamscape, 2022, Woven in tabby and twill with tapestry, embroidery and felting embellishments, Tencel, various wools, yak, cashmere, mohair and silk.
This is quite a spectacular woven piece. We got to see it at guild meeting show and tell. Sami wove it while she was in Iceland. Lets take a closer look.
21.42-21.46) close up of the long tapestry weaving
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Now we are at the last section of the show, the center. it is made up of the Coverlet stand, the Plinth and then finally we can look up and see who is swimming around up there.
22.1) Center, Coverlet stand, Plinth, Mer’s
Lets start with the Coverlet stand.
22.111-22.1111) Coverlet stand.
22.2) Ann Sunahara, Bewrtha Gray Hayes Coverlet, 2017, Overshot weave, cotton warp wool weft.
22.21-22.22) close ups Gamp of Birtha Grey Haze’s Miniture overshot coverlet patterns
we had a wonderful workshop exploring the work of Birtha Grey Haze who created many miniature overshot patterns long before the development of computer programs that do drafting for you. this is one of the coverlets woven on the old guild 100″ loom. it takes 2 people to wave on this loom. there were quite a few coverlets woven from this warp but each in different colours.
22.3) Judith Rygiel, Fundy Trees Afghan, mid 1990’s, 50 shaft drawloom, Wool (Damask)
22.31-22.32 Close up of Judiths afghan.
22.4) Judith Rygiel, Grey and White Coverlet, Mid 1960’s 8 shaft Summer and winter, wool, cotton
22.41-22.42) close up of Judith’s other Coverlet
Summer and winter is a weave that is darker on one side and lighter on the other side. One side is the reverse of the other.
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Next lets look at the pieces on the Plinth.
22.501 (Plinth) 22.502 (Plinth) 2
22.50) Diane Dillon (In Memoriam) Saori tunic/ Poncho, 2023, Handwoven Wool, Silk, and mixed unknown fibers.
22.51-22.52) Details of Diane’s poncho
Diane wove this fabric on her Saori loom. Most Saori looms have only 2 harnesses and weave plane weave. it is a meditative way of weaving and can be very relaxing. She was enjoying designing as she wove then used her yardage to crate the poncho.
22.60) OVWSG Members, (Amanda Carrigan, Owner), Indiski Shawl, 2011/12 (Spinning) 2018/19 (Knitting), Hand spinning, knitting, Cria (Baby alpaca)
22.61-22.63 Close up of baby alpaca, hand spun and hand knit
when i first saw this i thought it was qiviut (muskox), it was so soft and looked so cozy.
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We have now almost reached the end of the show, so look up and see the Mer’s having fun.
23.10-23.11) Hanging (above the plinth)
23.13) Jan Scott, Mer Family and pets (Mr. Mer, Mrs. Mer, Shark Boy, Sharkette, and Miss Manta) 2020-2024, Needle Felting with full armature, Various Wool, core wool, silk, Armature; Aluminum and steel floral wire
(Miss Mer is missing and is likely hiding in the living room looking for a boyfriend!) Lets start by checking out what Mr. Mer is up to.
23.21-23.23) Mr. Mer, Norther Pike Merperson, with his tennis racket and felted tennis ball.
Mr. Mer has decided his hunting Quadra-dent (like a Tri-dent, but has 4 dents instead of the usual 3 dents) is not quite appropriate for this venue and has grabbed his tennis racket and ball in hopes of playing Tennis with someone, possibly his lovely wife. A quick game of tennis will allow him to show off his lovely new silk-fiber pike-spots to Mrs. Mer!! unfortunately i have not yet made her a tennis racket.
23.31-23.32) Mrs. Mer, Butterfly Koi Merperson
Mrs. Mer, while appreciative of her husband’s lovely new spots dose not yet have a tennis racket. She is admiring her lovely new hair that Monika from the olive sparrow made for her. I am sure she will spend time admiring Mr. Mer’s Muscles later.
23.41-23.43) Shark Boy, hamerhead shark Merperson
Shark boy and Sharkette have been having fun swimming in circles over the people walking through. He is giving the girls a most flirtatious smile. I wonder where he got that from…. Mr. Mer. I wonder if he is looking for a girl friend?
23.51-23.52) Sharkette, adolecent femail grate white shark
Sharkette is having a wonderful time, you can tell by her smile (23.51)!
23.61-23.62) Miss Manta, adolescent female Deep water manta.
I don’t think Miss Manta has had this much fun since her photo shoot in the front garden, she has been doing loops and is grinning maniacally! There must be some invisible krill in the air as well as historical mill dust!!
24.1-24.2 One final look at the show before people join us!
Oh I can hear them coming up the stairs, hold on to your wine glass the Vernissage is starting!
25.1 One of our guild members checking out the show
There is a mix of people, ones I recognize and some I don’t. there are quite a few guild members, both past and present, stop and have a chat, many can tell you more about the pieces on display. I’ve spotted our Guild President Jean and Liane who took over organizing the show from Carl who is here too. If you have a chance, have a chat with Michael, who is the Executive Director and Curator of the museum, who is spotted here too.
Assorted shots of the vernissage
The show seems to be a big hit! I will let you mingle, go back and look at your favorite pieces again and maybe a bit more wine. (I sound like a lush, but this has been 3 weeks that we have been virtually touring this show, so your last glass is likely empty by now!)
I hope you have enjoyed the show! There may be a bit more wine left downstairs, if you hurry! The other show that opened in the main exhibition hall is fabulous too and you may want to take a quick look before you drive home.
Have a wonderful drive home and dont forget to have some fun felting!!
8 thoughts on “2024, 75th Anniversary exhibition at the Almonte Textile Museum Part2”
What a wonderful show Jan, thank you so much for the detailed tour. A few comments – I won’t mention too much or no-one else will have room to add theirs.
That Elephant weaving is phenomenal. It was very interesting seeing it in full detail. I think even I – who’s usually bored rigid (sorry, just spotted the pun!) by actually doing the weaving – would have loved doing this.
The coverlets are wonderful too, especially the overshot one. I’ve found those fascinating for years.
And don’t the Mers look great swimming around up there? Mr Mer is certainly taking the opportunity of showing off what a fine figure of a merman he is, and it’s good to see the whole (almost) family together. Miss Mer is going to be really annoyed that she missed this.
Thanks again – just nipping off to see if I can refill my glass.
Ann
Thanks Ann! the show was a lot work, but well worth it. to see the scope and creativity of the guild members is impresive. when you are part of a group, in person or online, it helps push and inspier your creativity. we have wet dry and dramp felters in the guild, who are very good and inspier me to try to improve my work and inspier me.
you are rite Elizabeths Eliphants are quite amazing. she had a lot of the weavers who use floor looms amazed at what she could make her little rigid heddle loom do.
i have always like pattenrs particularly overshot, (it was what i started weaving after my first lern to weave classes). so the coverlet apeals to me too! i would have done it in shades of blue but the green with red borders is quite affective.
i think young master Mer is looking for a girl friend while playing with Sharkette, where did he lurn that? Yes i think Mr Mer is flurting again but this time with his wife, he dose like his new spots!
i am going to have to find a free day (when do i have one of those?) and try to figure out where Miss Mer has hidden herself. she is missing such a fun family outing. i am suprized at how happy the pets look, i need to get them out of there project bags more offten! (they were the first to be fully finished so they have been wating to get out the longest!)
I hope you enjoyed the vernasage, and had a nice chat with everyone. That wine was lovely and fruty, i wonder if i can find another glass… i sound like such a lush, maybe i will wate untill tonight so i can felt more safely today! (sneeky needles take advantage of my distraction and head strate for my fingers!!!!)
the show is up to december 14th, so if you happen to be near Almont i hope you stop by for a look in person! then come visit a guild social (i will probubly have candy and maybe some chockolet cookies!)
I wish I could get there Jan, but I’m on the wrong side of the pond.
Ann
i am glad you could visit vertualy untill a pond crossing can be arranged. you never know what might spark an idea or a memory of somthing you saw, can push an project in a new direction. Thanks for joining me vertualy and some day hopefuly we can visit a show in person!
Thanks for the exhibition tour. It’s great to see a range of pieces made over a range of time. Your guild is wonderful with such a mix of creatives using a variety of fiber related media. The Mers look like they are having a great time and I’m sure were happy to be swimming about above the crowd.
Thanks Ruth, the scope of topics the guild members cover is quite impressive. as well as the depth of nolage, from beginner to interniationaly recogized. the Ottawa/Gatineau contingent of the Blog are very lucky.
i think the Mer Pets are particularly happy to get out of their project bags, since they have been finished the longest and wating for the others to have fun. Miss Manta’s Smile is particularly contagous. i am sure Shark Boy will be flerting with all the girls wondering throught the exhibit.
when i realized the blog date, i hoped a vertual visit to the Museum helped to reduce the stress of the US election day, for a little while. (i could not watch the coverage any more, it was too stressful).
Thanks for a great tour with so much talent on display.
The Mer family (those that could make it) certainly had a wonderful view and I’m sure they also created quite a ‘stir’ too.
Thanks Antje! the show did showcase some of the guild members work, both past and present. Liane has since added work for some of the members who have passed in the last few years. she took over very last minit from Carl who suddenly found was doing 3 full peoples work at his work, for the paycheck of 1 (that sounds unfair). which ment he could not finish working on the show as well.
as we were setting up people were still tourring the Musuem Display on the other side of the space. it was intersting to watch what cot there attention as they came through the gallery section. the favorites seemed to be; the White and grey Nuno scarf, the Tapestry of the back of the parlement buildings, and then when they notice them the Mer’s got a lot of positive feedback. (even better since they didnt know i had made them.) they do seem to be having fun up there! i suspect i should make Mrs. Mer a tennis racket too.
thank you for vertualy visiting with me!