"Eagles"- after Robert Davidson

My next Guest Artist is Judy Schwartz - "Needlework is a hobby. I started about 10 years ago, and have learned much from the group of people (men and women) who come to our monthly table. Rosalyn is a major source of inspiration for the group. Sometimes the stitching is secondary to the socialization, sometimes some of us even blaspheme and knit, but eventually we get back to our main objective - needlework!"

"The piece above, is approximately 18"x18" It was inspired by the 1991 print 'Eagle Transforming', by the well known west coast native artist, Robert Davidson of the Eagle clan. In 'transforming' his painting to this medium, I became aware of the fact that the 'negative' spaces in the piece were as important as the coloured areas. Because the inspiration for this piece is a screenprint, I executed my interpretation of it in basketweave only, to retain the flatness of the original".

"I do, I do!"

"This is a detail from a larger piece which measures approximately 18' X 14". It is my attempt at Rosalyn's technique of canvas collage. "I do, I do!" was a gift for my Mother, Ginger, after her wedding to 'the love of her life', Mike in 1992. They were both floating on cloud nine. She was full of life; a vibrant red head who loved flowers. Her favorite colour was green. He was elegant with silver hair, and was a wine connoisseur. I tried to capture these elements in the piece. The bright colours were meant to capture the intensity of their relationship. I used copper and silver metallic to highlight their hair and lots of ribbon embroidery and French knots to add texture to the piece".

"Gazebo"

The piece "Gazebo" is irregular, approximately 18"across the top by 14" at the sides. It was done in a Catherine Coleman workshop, which focussed on the techniques of ribbon embroidery. We started out by painting the canvas with a light wash to create the sky in the background. I really enjoyed working with the ribbon on canvas and creating not only flowers and leaves, but also the texture of the flagstone path".

July 2006 - Judy is thrilled to have her daughter Vivian Kalfon join her here in the Guest Gallery.