St. Lawrence College "Reunion Day"

Thursday, July 14th will find many students from St. Lawrence College's TEXTILE DESIGN DIPLOMA PROGRAM gathering in our favourite 12050 classroom in the LINK for a day of stitching and catching up! Summer is a time when quilting and fibre arts friends gather for "Stitch-ins" and days of visiting to share what is happening in their busy fibre related lives.

New work and techniques will be shared along with a collection of all new books, fabrics and inspiration. Students who are exhibiting work will share their news and locations with the group. Many are travelling this summer and we hope each student will share their adventures and great fibre finds with us. How, when and where they are headed on their travels around Canada and beyond is always a great topic for great stories and tips.

The college is offering several textile related courses this fall and we are hoping students will make their way back into the classroom for some fun and camaraderie. TEXTILE DESIGN, the first course in the 10-course line-up of required courses with Bethany Garner, Instructor, will begin the week of September 15th. The course will run for twelve consecutive weeks and be focused on design and composition of all new art.  Beth's evening courses run 6:00-9:00 pm on Thursday evenings in Room 12050 in the Link near the Administrative Wing at the rear of the college campus.

Another required course in the diploma program, PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT, will also begin that week with Janice VanDijk instructing. This course is designed to assist the students as they develop strong digital photography with their personal camera and photograph editing skills using ADOBE Photoshop programs in the college's computer labs. The course offers students a textile focused look at photographing one's work for submissions to exhibitions and for publication. A full day photo shoot is also included that will take each student through the steps to correct lighting to ensure the best use of the camera functions for clear photographs without shadows and clearly in focus. Classroom assignment to be provided with registration.

Hoping all students in the program will join us for the "reunion" on July 14th - everyone welcome. And watch the college website at www.SL.on.ca for news of the registration and course outlines. Just click on Part-time Studies, Kingston Campus, Creative Arts in mid August.

Happy stitching. Can't wait to see all of the new work when courses start this fall.

Kingston Fibre Artists Show in Brockville

Thirteen of the sixteen members of the Kingston Fibre Artists Group have joined together to share their beautiful work during the Summer of 2011 at the Brockville Museum. Located at 5 Henry Street on the waterfront in historical downtown Brockville, the small gallery inside the Museum is brought to life by the beautiful work of this group of close friends, whose work exemplifies the diverse techniques and talent of it's members.

The room where the work hangs is painted a brilliant Sunshine Yellow (almost orange) so the challenge was to choose work that would "pop" against the wall colour. This group of talented friends has done just that... made the work just literally jump against the bold wall colour. The current show will change in the next few days as a totally new exhibit is hung on Friday, July 8th. The second sharing of work will change once again on August 12th, allowing visitors in the Brockville area and the summer visitors coming to Brockville by boat from the nearby shores of the US to enjoy a hugely delightful sharing of it's Textile work.

The Brockville, ON Museum is open from 10-5 Mon-Sat. each week and 1-5 pm on Sunday afternoons. There is a $5 admission to the Museum, and visitors will enjoy many interesting exhibits, from old cars and tools, to local memorabilia and the lovely textiles and wearables that have dotted Brockville's history and now reside in their permanent collections. Husbands and friends welcome and the visit will not disappoint.

Please plan to visit the area often this summer and while there, drop by both Picket Fence Fabrics on King Street in downtown Brockville and Taylor's Sewing Centre located just west of the lights at Highway 29 and Parkdale Ave. in the north-end shopping district (a left turn noth at the lights and in a small shopping centre next to the Pizza Hut). Both shops have an excellent selection of fabrics, notions and patterns, as well as samples for upcoming classes.

Also on exhibit this summer, works at the Marianne VonSielfort Gallery at St. Lawrence College on Parkdale Ave, east of Taylor's Sewing Centre. The gallery is open to the public. There are always terrific summer exhibits to enjoy in this small but very beautiful gallery space.

Have a great summer searching the textile exhibits and shops in our area and be sure to include the Kingston Fibre Artists Show in your summer plans.